The fight for the estimated 773,000 students in California with IEPs continues

On Wednesday September 27th, Innovate Public Schools hosted a parent-led with Senator Anthony Portantino to discuss Senate Bill 445 (SB 445). Nearly 200 people logged on to the virtual forum to learn about the proposed bill, authored by Senator Portantino and co-sponsored by Innovate Public Schools, Educate. Advocate. and Disability Rights California. This bill would ensure timely, quality translation of IEP documents for parents and guardians of students with special needs. The forum was presented with support from Parents Helping Parents, SpEducational, and Special Needs Network.

Attendees throughout California heard stories directly from parent leaders at Innovate Public Schools and SpEducational who have personally experienced the adverse effects of inadequate translation policies for IEP documents. 

“We represent families throughout California who have personally experienced months of waiting to receive translated IEP documents, making it difficult for parents to advocate for their children. If an IEP is delayed even a month, that comes up to 10% of the school year. This is not acceptable. It is more reasonable to request a document within 30 days.” – Aida Vega, Innovate Parent Leader

 

For years, issues impacting students with IEPs and 504 plans have driven families and organizations to push for state legislation like SB 445. Innovate Parent Leaders have been organizing in San Francisco since November 2020, advocating for timely and quality translated IEP documents that would help parents fully understand and engage in the IEP process. 

Parent leader Cynthia Segura at a public action with SFUSD, December 2022

In Spring 2022, Parent leaders’ advocacy and partnership with district leaders in San Francisco Unified School District resulted in the passage of a districtwide translation and interpretation policy. Then, in November 2022, Innovate’s CA Statewide Parent Leader Board identified timely, quality access to translation during the IEP process as a statewide priority, prompting them to ask Senator Portantino to author SB 445.

Innovate Parent Leader in San Francisco shared, “in addition to navigating this complicated world of special education, I have also struggled to get special education documents translated…I think it’s my right to ask for [these documents] in my language and also to be delivered before the meeting, so that I can process and understand what is happening with my child’s education.”

Parent leaders were commended for staying committed to students with IEPs

At the public forum, SFUSD Commissioner Matt Alexander joined Innovate Parent Leaders on the virtual stage to recognize the parent leaders in San Francisco who first brought this language accessibility issue to the board’s attention.

“Passing the policy was a really important first step and it was passed in March of 2022 with a unanimous vote from the Board of Education. And for me, really, this was one of my proudest moments on the board, because it was not about the staff or a board member coming up with an idea. It was really parents themselves saying this is what we need, and then us collaborating to write a policy and make it happen. And to me, that’s exactly what democracy is.”

After hearing from various parents and advocacy organizations, Senator Anthony Portantino commended parents for their tireless work organizing for policies that will ensure parents have the resources needed to both advocate for their child and fully participate in their child’s education. Other legislation similar to SB 445 has been introduced previously but were vetoed, twice by Governor Brown and once by Governor Newsom’s office–mainly due to concerns with the bill’s fiscal impact, to which Portantino responded, “we can’t afford not to do this, and I think we have to focus on trying to get something in the [state] budget.” 

In this past legislative session, SB 445 passed the senate floor unanimously. After learning that Governor Newsom may not sign the bill this year, Senator Portantino decided to make this a two year bill and advocacy organizations like Innovate have decided to move forward with working to develop a budget request to offset the potential costs of the bill. By doing this, organizations expect it will allow the Governor to support the legislation going forward.  

Senator Portantino urged more families to get involved to ensure that the state of California prioritizes students with special needs. “It’s not just a Spanish issue, it’s a Tagalog issue. It’s a Mandarin issue. It’s a Korean issue. You know, it’s a Farsi issue. I mean, we have parents and families from all around the globe who are in California who have kids that have IEPs.” 

Parent leaders’ meeting with Senator Anthony Portantino is a testament of parent leaders’ tenacity to move the work forward in service of the 773,000 students in California with IEPs. Now, parent leaders are working towards scheduling a meeting with Governor Newsom’s office to share their testimonies and see how the Governor can champion this critical issue in next year’s state budget. 

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This work wouldn’t be possible without Innovate parent leaders and the many advocacy organizations who led and supported the SB445 forum, including Disability Rights California, Educate.Advocate., Parents Helping Parents, SpEducational, Special Needs Network, and many more. We commend Senator Portantino for his ongoing commitment to supporting students with learning differences and their families statewide. 

Innovate will continue supporting parent leaders and their efforts with getting SB 445 passed. Your voice matters, and we are stronger together. We still have a long way to go before we achieve language access for parents of students with IEPs in CA.

Innovate Public Schools is a nonprofit community organization that builds the capacity of parents and educators working together to create excellent and equitable public schools.