Drop the 504 suit, Florida: grifters want to kill your disabled child's prospects and services
Call GOP representatives Scott Franklin and Laurel Lee and tell *them* to call the grifter James Uthmeier and end his attack on MAGA and lib children alike.
Scott Franklin’s offices: Washington (202-225-1252); Lakeland (863-644-8215)
Laurel Lee’s offices: Washington (202-225-5626); Tampa (813- 393-5077)
“My child is on a 504 plan; and I need some help getting it enforced at my school.”
I heard this from constituents hundreds of times — from MAGAs and libs alike (probably more from MAGAs) — during my four years as a Polk County School Board Member. It took up at least half my considerable constituent work time.
But if Florida’s grifter Attorney General James Uthmeier gets his way, no elected School Board member will ever hear it again.
Republican Attorneys General are attacking a 50-year-old law that protects disability rights. Texas v. Becerra is a case in federal court brought by seventeen state Attorneys General, who are arguing that Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is unconstitutional. Section 504 protects people with disabilities from discrimination, requiring that institutions like schools and hospitals provide reasonable accommodations.
If Texas v. Becerra is successful, Section 504 and its protections would be weakened or destroyed entirely. Children and adults with disabilities would see their rights eroded, and schools and medical providers could stop providing accommodations.
What is a 504 plan?
Specifically, Section 504 provides civil rights protections to all individuals with disabilities in programs that receive federal funding, which includes public schools. The Rehabilitation Act broadly defines a person with a disability as “A person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.”
What does it mean in practice?
Sec 504 applies when a disability substantially limits a major life function, including learning. When a student is being excluded from an activity due to disability a 504 Plan is needed to provide accommodations and supports to access both academic and extra-curricular activities.
This is not an exhaustive list, but students who may be considered for a 504 plan could include those with health impairments, ADD/ADHD, HIV/AIDS, alcohol/substance abusers, students with temporary physical disabilities or mental health issues, and students returning to school post-operative. Some examples include:
A student with chronic asthma misses instruction due to numerous absences and hospitalizations.
A student with diabetes requires snacks at regular intervals and leaves class on a scheduled basis for injections.
A student dealing with trauma or mental health issues that misses instruction due to needed counseling sessions.
A 504 differs somewhat from its relative — the individual education plan (IEP) —because 504 recipients do not have a learning disability, per se, and do not need “special education” services. They need some help accessing “general education” services.
In a very personal example for me, I have three brilliant cousins (all young women) who have physical disabilities for which they required some basic accommodations as students. All three were spectacular students and have become successful, (far beyond) contributing adults. If I’m lucky, I can convince one of them to edit my book.
They want to hurt you and your kids; will you just let them?
James Uthmeier is a grifter freak and cheap bully. He enjoys hurting vulnerable people. All he will understand is equal and opposite pressure. Pressure has already given the grifters pause in Kansas and South Carolina at least. The Kansas guy is a psychopath — so for him to blink, you know pressure works.
By all means, call Uthmeier’s office at: (850) 414-3990. They will put you on hold because Florida state government is terrible and inefficient. Far worse than the federal government. We’ve all experienced it.
So I also recommend, if you’re in Polk County, that you call U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Lakeland and Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Tampa and tell them to demand that Uthmeier drop the suit.
Section 504 is federal protection; and Franklin and Lee are your federal representatives. Demand that they work for you — lib and MAGA alike.
Just finished my write-up. Thanks for the help, as always, Billy!
The thing to remember about 504, like so many other regulations, is that it never would have been enacted nor enforced if organizations were already doing the right things. Its requirements are little more than what a normal person would consider common courtesy or common sense. That we need to have so much legislation and enforcement in so many arenas to simply deter just being an asshole says a lot.