Erin Upton | Oppose HB1221

The proposal to study moving students with higher support needs into centralized locations instead of educating them in their neighborhood schools does not feel like forward progress in educating our children with significant disabilities. Students with higher support needs were only first welcomed into public schools a mere 50 years ago when IDEA became federal law and yet, as a person who attended school in a large city in Massachusetts during the 1980’s, I never encountered a peer or saw another student who required higher levels of supports in my 13 years of public education. However, in 1993, in the same city where I grew up, my daughter attended preschool with disabled children who required higher levels of support. She developed empathy, compassion and a strong belief that people with disabilities are peers, equals, students in our schools, people in our community, our lives. Children with significant disabilities were in her classroom throughout her educational career in New Hampshire. They were her peers and she benefited from their presence and participation as much if not more than they did. It has truly shaped who she is today. This is just one of many examples of how inclusion benefits all students, all children. Moving forward with a study to assess anything different is a huge step backward to a time in history when disability meant less then. We have come too far to go backward. I urge you to oppose HB 1221. Thank you.