President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education
80 F Street, N.W., Suite 408, Washington D.C. 20208

January 15, 2002

Dear Friends:

This is an open letter in response to comments I made on the PBS NewsHour broadcast back in 1997 regarding special education services for children with disabilities. This letter clarifies the comments I made and provides me the opportunity to share with you my interest in serving as Chairman of the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education.

In the NewsHour interview, my comments were certainly not meant as a criticism of children with disabilities who receive special education services, because all children have a right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE)—especially children with disabilities. I intended my comments, although I wish I had said it more clearly, as an expression of concern for the growing regulatory burden of Federal requirements on State and local efforts to provide education. I was also then, and remain so today, concerned that there are occasionally extraordinary circumstances with medically fragile students or students with other severe disabilities that present enormous financial challenges before local districts.

I am concerned that local school districts, particularly small districts, are placed in difficult circumstances when children with severe disabilities require significant related services to receive FAPE. In these situations, the cost of providing such services can be so expensive that school systems are faced with a financial strain, exhausting all available resources, including special education and related services for other children with disabilities in the district. Moreover, litigation continues to increase when disputes over special education occur, causing parents and school districts to spend time and resources that would be better spent collaborating and serving the educational needs of children with disabilities.

Be assured that I support special education services for children with disabilities. During my sixteen years as Governor of Iowa, and ten years before that as a state legislator and Lt. Governor, I consistently supported a strong state commitment to special education. I am proud to have voted to establish Iowa's Special Education Law while a member of the Iowa General Assembly in the early 1970's before the Federal law was created. I'm also proud of our consistent record of making improvements to the special education program and funding throughout my twenty-six years of public service in Iowa.

As Governor, I had the opportunity to talk to folks from all over the state about education—folks with grand ideas for reform, folks with complaints, and most importantly, folks who tried to think of new ways to solve problems. I am enthused about this opportunity to have those kinds of conversations again all over America as Chairman of the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education.

My Commission colleagues and I want to have an open and transparent process of meetings and hearings and collect as much data as we can on what works and what improvements we all can make to improve special education services throughout America. I do not come to this with any agenda of any sort—but to serve President Bush and improve educational opportunities for children with disabilities.

Very sincerely,

Terry E. Branstad
Chairman

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