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From: era@ncar.ucar.edu (Ed Arnold)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: discrimination: schools of choice
Message-ID: <15274@handicap.news>
Date: 1 May 91 03:38:52 GMT
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Reply-To: era@ncar.ucar.edu (Ed Arnold)
Organization: Nat'l Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR); Boulder, CO
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Index Number: 15274

Only in Colorado ... do our lilly-white middle-class bigot legislators
pass bill after bill discriminating against one minority after another.
Here's their latest effort ... it's ok to have schools-of-choice, so
long as you are part of the majority without disabilities ...
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SCHOOLS-OF-CHOICE LIMITS FOR DISABLED OK'D
Denver Post	24 Apr 91

The Senate yesterday gave the nod to a controversial bill that could
limit the schools-of-choice option for disabled students.

HB 1326, by Sen. Mike Bird, R-Colorado Springs, had been the target of a
protest last week by the Atlantis Community, a group of activists for
the disabled.  They urged Gov. Roy Romer to veto the bill.

Yesterday, the bill was sharply criticized on the Senate floor.  "This
is discriminatory - any way you cut it," charged Sen. Regis Groff,
D-Denver.  "This bill says that schools do not have to make changes to
accommodate students who are not, quote, normal students ... This bill
says that choice should not be made to provide assistance to all kids.
That's wrong."

But supporters of the bill said it wasn't realistic to provide access to
every "special needs" student in every school.

"You can't have elevators in every building," argued Sen. Al Meiklejohn,
R-Arvada.

Noting Colorado's critical school-funding problems, Iliff Republican
Sen. Don Ament added: "The limit of our good intentions is ... our
ability to spend."

The bill attempts to clarify last year's schools-of-choice bill, which
allows students to transfer within their local school district to take
advantage of special programs.

The bill passed with the support of 19 senators.
--
era@ncar.ucar.edu