COPAA's 10th Anniversary:
Thoughts and Contributors
Almazan, Selene, COPAA Chair 2006-07, Board member 2003-present
Blakemore, Catherine, Board member, 1998-2001
Butler, Jessica, COPAA Chair, 2007-08, Board member, 2004-present
Chacon, Dean, COPAA Member
Dobel, Kathryn, COPAA Chair, 2001-02, Board Member, 1998-2003
Hammon, Deidre, COPAA Member
Hickman, Frank, COPAA Board Member, 2001-present
Hipple, Marcie, COPAA Member Services Coordinator, 2006-present
Holt, Teresa, COPAA Board Member, 2004-08
Howey, Pat, COPAA Board Member, 1998-2003
Hussey, Ramona, COPAA Member
Kamleiter, Mark S., COPAA Board Member, 2002-present
Kaplan, Dina, COPAA Member
Kerr, Sonja, COPAA Chair, 2000-01, Board member 1999-2004; 2008-present
Margolis, Leslie Seid, COPAA Board Member, 2001-present
Marshall, Denise, Executive Director, 2005-present
McClure, Marilyn, COPAA Member
McKnew, Mary, Board member 2001-2003
Philpot, Dorene, COPAA Board Member, 2003-04
Raskin, Doris, COPAA Member
Rosenfeld, James, Executive Director, 1998-2001
We thank everyone who contributed an essay or note. Please note each essay is the author's personal opinion; the essays are not statements on behalf of COPAA.
Almazan, Selene, COPAA Chair 2006-07
I have been a member of COPAA since 1998. It's been exciting to
see how far COPAA has come in its first 10 years. The annual conference
and the listserv are invaluable for practitioners. COPAA has experienced
tremendous growth in the last three years. Our Executive Director
and Membership Coordinator have been an asset to the organization. COPAA's
heart is its committees and the work that members undertake in order
to further COPAA's mission. I have gained far more from COPAA and its
members than I can ever give back. I look forward to the next 10 years
of growth, change and effective change for parents of children with disabilities.
Blakemore, Catherine, Board member, 1998-2001
Congratulations to COPAA on achieving its 10 year anniversary!
While IDEA (and its many predecessors) have always had a clear vision and wonderful tools for ensuring that students with disabilities received equal educational opportunities; too often the law is merely a glimmer of possibilities without the strong advocacy of students, parents and their advocates. The advocacy, training and support provided by COPAA and its members is a wonderful means of helping students and families turn that vision into reality.
It was an honor to be part of COPPA at the beginning and to work with so many talented individuals who created this incredible network of students, families and advocates. Here's to our continuing efforts to creating barrier-free and inclusive schools for every student!
Butler, Jessica, COPAA Chair, 2007-08
I want to say thank you to COPAA and its members—those who had
the inspiration to create the organization, those who did the heavy lifting
at various points over the years, and those who have more recently contributed
new thoughts and energy. Special thanks to the 57 people who have
served on COPAA's board for their incredible work over this last
decade. Their work has been an engine that has powered COPAA. Thanks
also to our wonderful and dedicated Executive Director Denise Marshall
and Membership Services Coordinator Marcie Hipple, and to COPAA's
first Executive Director and founder, Jim Rosenfeld. I look forward
to the excellent work of our incoming chair, Alice Nelson, and vice chair,
Wendy Byrnes, and all they will bring COPAA. I could not write
this essayette without thanking Bob Berlow for all of his Government
Affairs mentoring; Judith Gran for her COPAA leadership and mentoring;
and Selene Almazan and Jodi Siegel for their partnership and guidance
over the last 2 years.
But it is the hard work of our 1100 members that has made COPAA a national voice for special education rights and advocacy. You have created this vibrant organization and network that spans the country. You are there during the day and night to help each other, forming a lifeline for many. Because of the work of COPAA members, many parents across the country sit as equals at the IEP table and achieve justice for children with disabilities. And when they are denied these rights, you are there to help right the imbalance. You are also there for COPAA. I am grateful for the input, work, and volunteerism of all of COPAA's members: attorneys, advocates, parents, and other professionals. Members work in private practice, for nonprofits, or simply as volunteers. All of our members have much to contribute to COPAA, all are valued for it, all serve in COPAA's leadership. It is very fitting that COPAA's highest award honors Diane Lipton, who achieved tremendous heights in advocating for children with disabilities, and was herself a parent, an advocate, and an attorney at DREDF.
I am truly grateful for COPAA's creation, and all I learn each
day from my fellow COPAAns. I hope that the next 10 years of COPAA
are as wonderful as the first 10! And may we put ourselves out
of business by enabling every child with a disability to truly receive
a free appropriate public education.
Chacon, Dean, COPAA Member
I'd like to thank the COPAA list for being there. I am
reminded that no matter how bad things are in my school district, they
could be worse, and that there is a group of good folks some out in the
ether who will listen to my problems with my school district and try
to solve them. And even if I don't have a problem for them it is
always an entertaining read.
Dobel, Kathryn, COPAA Chair, 2001-02, Board Member, 1998-2003
COPAA, the first 10 years:
How can I best describe the early days of COPAA? "Inspiring" and "exhilarating" are the first words that come to mind, and yes there was also a large complement of "frustration." But, for the first time we had available all in one location a committed cadre of individuals from across the nation focused only on the educational rights of students with disabilities. As a side benefit, we would also have a more comfortable alternative to the usual special education conference with school district orientation. No shared podium with, or seat in the audience to listen to, someone talking about the dangers of the holding in your case. No argument over the importance of inclusion and services providing intensive intervention.
Our first national parent advocate and attorney conference and the creation of our dedicated national non-profit Board happened at once over a brief few days. Of course Jim Rosenfeld, our first Executive Director, had long worked on the vision of a national group with parent orientation before the initial Board first met as a group. But, what were we thinking? This sounds like an endeavor calling for many years of preparation to first raise funds for the support staff required to take on this large-scale national effort. Surely this was the job of more than one person or an all-volunteer Board. Instead it was the adrenaline from within and the incredible dedication of our planning group of committed individuals volunteering their time to COPAA that carried us forward.
We soon established an important email list where members could quickly access and share information across the country. This was fairly novel at the time!
I was the second COPAA Chair, beginning my tenure in March of 2001. I had no idea how formidable and exhausting that task would be before I signed on to the job. At the beginning of the 2001 conference, we met in teams at the Capitol to discuss the need for change during the reauthorization process. Of course the reauthorization would be delayed after September 11th, as would our next annual conference, and the reauthorization would take its toll on all of us for the next several years. However, the seeds of COPAA's national presence were planted in Washington in those early days, and the formation of COPAA's committee structure during my tenure provided the forum for a more focused national presence.
I want to acknowledge Matt Cohen, Joyce Ginsburg, Pat Howey, Judith Gran, Bill Dussault and Pete Wright (Sonja Kerr was out with an injury) for their support and assistance on the steering committee we convened at (and after) the 2001 conference, as we met and worked to create the committee format that has helped to carry COPAA forward with strong member support.
I am awed by the many accomplishments that COPAA has worked hard to achieve since that time on behalf of disabled students, especially in the legislative and amicus arenas, and the important allies that COPAA has gained in the process. Over these ten years, individual members have contributed greatly, but it is the collective strength of the membership that has always kept COPAA strong, effective and forward moving. I do not know of a more dedicated membership and all volunteer Board that accomplishes at the level of COPAA.
It is hard work to build a diverse organization, with a national base and a national network, based on the overriding principle that what the collective membership can do for COPAA is critical to the operation of the organization. The COPAA experience has not been easy for all. As with any organization, there are always individuals who find it easier to work in a group format, and there are individuals who can contribute more toward the day-to-day work. The sum of all contributions over these ten years has helped COPAA to grow in a positive way. As a result, COPAAns are now able to come together to celebrate the achievements of the first ten years with a commitment to carry on the mission of COPAA, so that no child with a disability is ever left behind.
It is with fond memories of Diane Lipton and Beth Goodman, who fought hard with us to keep COPAA going during the early formative years, even when they were critically ill, that I will celebrate COPAA's first ten years.
Thanks for the opportunity to participate with you in such an important national effort!
Hammon, Deidre, COPAA Member
Dial up Internet provider... $15.00.
A more comfortablechair... $65.00.
COPAA Membership... $50.00.
The wealth of information and support I get from brilliant attorneys
and advocates across the country who really care about students with
disabilities because they are parents...Priceless.
Hickman, Frank, COPAA Board Member, 2001-present
Among many other services, COPAA offers a unique opportunity for
advocates and lawyers at all levels of experience to receive focused training
in skills and knowledge necessary to represent families and their children
receiving special education. The training programs are only a first
step in developing a network of experienced and dedicated professionals
who work together to share their knowledge and experience to assist families
in need. Whether you are preparing for an IEP meeting, preparing
for due process or litigating in federal court, COPAA members are available
to advise and assist.
Hipple, Marcie, COPAA Member Services Coordinator, 2006-present
Congratulations to COPAA on the 10th anniversary!I
am honored to be associated with such a wonderful organization that helps
so many people. Over the past year, I have learned first hand from so
manymembershow COPAA positively impacts their lives and the
work they do on a daily basis. I am constantly impressed withthe
hard work anddedication shown inthis grass roots organization.
COPAA should be very proud of what has been accomplished and excited
about the future as it offers assistance to even more people in need.
Best wishes in 2008 and beyond!
Holt, Teresa, COPAA Board Member, 2004-08
My first COPAA conference was in Orlando. I attended the attorney's
preconference training and the conference with another advocate from my
office at the Alaska P &A. It turned out to be one of the best trainings
I had attended since starting as a special education advocate 5 years earlier.
I learned so much that I have come back to the COPAA conference every year.
I was upset when advocates were no longer allowed to attend the attorney
training, so I complained--that is how I ended up working with other advocates
to offer preconference trainings for advocates, became the co-chair of
the advocates committee and on the COPAA Board. I don't mean that as a
warning, but as encouragement to other advocates to step up and apply to
be on the COPAA Board or join a committee! It is a rewarding experience
as you have a chance to get to know others advocates and I am always learning
new things I can use on the job!
Howey, Pat, COPAA Board Member 1998-2003
In 1998 as I passed through the COPAA registration line in Orlando, I
was acutely aware that, except for knowing Pete and Pam Wright, I was
isolated in the State of Indiana. As far as I knew, I resided in the
armpit of the special education world. Things had to be better
elsewhere! Three days later my perspective changed. I knew that only
names and faces change. The stories are pretty much the same everywhere.
I was no longer isolated. I had met attorneys and advocates from everywhere! Many became fast friends.
The thing I recall most from that first conference is that Jim treated everyone alike. He welcomed attorneys and advocates alike. Jim understood that both roles are critical. He wanted COPAA to value the involvement of advocates and attorneys. It was not an organization just for attorneys. Jim's vision was that COPAA would increase access to and the quality of legal services to parents and special needs children.
For new members of COPAA who do not know its early history, here is my message to you: Had it not been for Jim, you would never have had an opportunity to be a COPAA member. He was our guiding light. He led us through our early growing pains. He was the glue that held COPAA together. He did it with little help from anyone else. If you ever get the opportunity, please express to Jim how grateful you are for having the vision to bring attorneys and advocates together in 1998 to form COPAA.
Hussey, Ramona, COPAA Member
I tell all new IDEA attorneys that joining COPAA is the best thing
I've done professionally, and that their membership in COPAA is "worth
its weight in gold."
Kamleiter, Mark S., COPAA Board Member, 2002-present
Joining COPAA took me from being an isolated sole practitioner, struggling
to learn how to function effectively in special education law, to being part
of a nation wide family of attorneys and advocates working through the same
issues. COPAA is a place of learning and growing, sharing and commiserating,
working together to make a national difference in education for children with
disabilities. I agree with others who say that COPAA is our bar association,
it is my professional organization, which inspires, encourages, teaches, and
works collaboratively to accomplish our shared goals. COPAA is more. The
advocates who make up such an important part of COPAA are an inspiration and
to me they are the true hope for a definitive change in special education. I
am convinced that while attorneys have their important role, advocates are
the grassroots answer to changing school districts. Things will change
when parents are educated as to their rights and obtain advocacy skills. Things
will change when we have hundreds of advocates in every school district, educating
parents, assisting and advocating for every child.
I have seen COPAA grow from a very small, almost unnoticeable group of attorneys and advocates to where we are today. Today we have a strong, working Board, assisted by a wonderful executive director and executive assistant. Numerous committees work year round not only to advance COPAA's mission, but to do the work of making COPAA functional. Our Amicus Committee is recognized and respected in the courts due to the many powerful amicus briefs filed. Our government affairs committee has wonderful, capable leadership, who have effectively inserted COPAA into the dynamics of the legislative world. This committee has acquired sophisticated congressional and legislative knowledge and very capably represents the interests of COPAA in the Congress, commenting on and drafting legislation for congressional sponsorship. COPAA has partnered with a university to create a prototype advocacy training program, the SEAT program. COPAA is a membership organization, which is propelled forward and which is successful only by the focused work and vision of its members.
Finally, the COPAA we see and are proud of today is only a baby compared to where COPAA is going. I believe I can see dynamic and powerful future COPAA. I see COPAA expanding its conference and training programs to bring its services closer to those needing them. I believe that COPAA can and will develop a publishing arm, publishing manuals and documents to under gird its advocacy and training. Imagine COPAA members organizing around the federal circuits, in order to collaborate and work together on issues and problems within those circuits. In the same way it will be essential for states to organize, working on their own legislative, due process, and district level issues.
The key to realizing and maintaining all the above is membership commitment. It is essential that COPAA members move from seeing COPAA as a helpful resource and realize that COPAA is and can be no more than what we make it. As wonderful as our executive director and her assistant are, they cannot, by themselves make COPAA what it is or what it must be. We need every member to find her/his place in COPAA and to commit themselves to some part of COPAA's many projects. Together we can change special education for our kids.
Kaplan, Dina, COPAA Member
Congratulations to COPAA and all of our members for ten years
of advocating for children with special needs!! Thank You for the annual
conference, the web site of useful information and keeping us all informed
ofeverything that is happening nationwide!
Kerr, Sonja, COPAA Chair, 2000-01
Dear Fellow COPAANs,
Chaim Potok's says that "All beginnings are hard" and COPAA's is no exception.But, I amthrilled at all COPAA has done and will do to help children with disabilities. I would like to sharea fewkey memories of COPAA.
The First Meeting. I received a fax note from Matt Cohen telling me I needed to get to Florida for this. Over 100 people were there all wondering how we might form "something" that would help children with disabilities. I remember watching people like Pete Wright, Judith Gran, Matt, and others go by and thinking, "man, oh, man, am I out of my league!"
The Donut Tale. This was the year we met in Houston. Jim Rosenfeld told me to "stop by" the COPAA board meeting as the Board was considering new members. I walked in and folks were already talking. I was drinking my juice and had just taken a bite of donut when a motion was made by, I believe, Pete Wright, that I should be a member of the Board and chair for the following year. Before I could swallow, Kathryn Dobelquickly seconded the motion and it passed. It was obviously a set up. So, that is how I became COPAA's first Chairperson.
The Chicago Meeting. Another key recollection about COPAA is "the Chicago meeting." COPAA was in turbulent waters. Some of us came up with the idea that a "face-to-face" meeting. We gathered at Matt's office in Chicago, on our dimes, and with very few dimes in COPAA's coffer. Others were by phone. I remember walking into the meeting wondering if it would be our last. But the folks on the Board then, as now, were strong committed advocates for children and we were not about to let this dream die. We talked and strategized and walked out knowing COPAA would not only survive, but "live long and prosper."
The Tundra Challenge. When I moved to Alaska, my biggest fear was that I would be isolated from others who knew special education at a time when I needed it most. The listserve that was a luxury in Minnesota truly became a lifeline in Alaska. My most common recommendation to parents and advocates who want to help children in Alaska is to join COPAA. Hats off to Meredith Warshaw who has swimmingly helped our listserves to be among the best. When parents in Alaska get discouraged, I tell them, look, this is bigger than you, this is bigger than your tiny school, this is a national problem, you are NOT alone. And it helps, it truly does.
So, to thosewonderful colleagues of mine who have tenderly but firmly steered COPAA into the powerhouse it is today, I say thank you. We have our ups, our downs, our good years and our tough years, but COPAA is here for the long haul. I am amazed at our growth, our financial stability, and our willingness to be the spokesperson for those millions of children and parents who need us to "be there." We are all collectively stronger together than we are apart and that is the true spirit of COPAA. I look forward not only to our 10th anniversary but to the 20th and beyond.
Margolis, Leslie Seid, COPAA Board Member, 2001-present
It has been a pleasure to serve on the COPAA board and watch the
organization grow over the years, as well as to help shape its direction.
I have particularly valued the opportunity to come to conferences and socialize
and strategize with other "old-timers" colleagues who have
been in this field as long as or longer than I have been. I wish
COPAA all the best in its next decade and in the decades to follow.
Marshall, Denise, Executive Director, 2005-present
Congratulations to the Board and membership of COPAA for an incredible
ten years of accomplishment and growth. Building a strong organization
takes the concerted actions of many over time. In thinking of COPAA three
words have always and continue to come to mind: Vibrance, Dedication,
and Expertise. These qualities are evident in member-member interactions;
in the work of committees; and through the tireless work of the Board of
Directors. COPAA is each of you, and I salute and thank you for all that
you do – and look forward to all that we will accomplish together
in the coming years.
McClure, Marilyn, COPAA Member
Congratulations! Thanks to all who have worked to make this a unified
national effort that helps prevent abuse and neglect of our kids. The
listserv is so helpful and the ability to purchase the recordings of
the annual conference is priceless. Thanks for all you do! Your
efforts help me advocate in MO/KS!
McKnew, Mary, Board Member, 2001-03
I joined COPAA at a time that I was still pretty new as a special
education lawyer. COPAA was new as an organization. COPAA gave
me the opportunity to attend training designed by plaintiffs' attorneys
for plaintiffs' attorneys. Before that, most of the training was designed
for school attorneys. COPAA introduced me to very talented SPED attorneys
from across the country. Attorneys that were willing to helpme brainstormdifficult
cases. COPAA is a wonderful community of parents, advocates
and attorneys working together to improve our schools for children
with disabilities.
Philpot, Dorene, COPAA Board Member, Board Member, 2003-04
COPAA is for me, a sole practitioner representing parents in Texas
and Indiana, an oasis of kindred spirits who are all out there passionately
and competently engaged in The Good Fight every day. I
didn't know of the organization's existence for my first couple of years
of practice in this area, so I was at first self-taught, which is not necessarily
the most efficient or best way to get up to speed in an area of law.
When I learned of COPAA's existence, I immediately joined and am so glad I did. I have found the listserves to be so helpful in terms of giving me knowledge and good ideas on strategies that can be used for the benefit of my clients -- and it gives me a way to help others as well. In addition to the knowledge I have acquired from others in COPAA, it also has been a support group of sorts for me. I count some of the COPAA members as among my best friends in this world.
Many times, after receiving a particularly heart-breaking ruling or decision in a case, I've also been buoyed and encouraged by others in COPAA and encouraged to keep on with The Good Fight despite the disappointments that we all run into from time to time. Going to the COPAA conference is one of my favorite things to do. After I attended my first one years ago, I knew then that I wouldn't ever choose to miss communing with my "kindred spirits" every year from then forward.
I strongly encourage anyone who is attempting to work for special needs kids' rights to join COPAA, as it as been a Godsend for me.
Raskin, Doris, COPAA Member
Thank you, Jim Rosenfeld, for your creative talents, diligence,
and energy. Without you, there would be no COPAA.
Rosenfeld, S. James, Executive Director, 1998-2001
Why I Founded COPAA.
The organizational meeting for COPAA took place in Orlando, Florida,
on January 23, 1998. In inviting speakers to that meeting, I explained
COPAA's purpose as follows:
"Establishment of COPAA is intended to increase the skills and resources of attorneys currently active in this field and to encourage other attorneys to undertake representation on an ad hoc basis by making available the basic information required to conduct a competent case."
The dearth of legal representation for parents of children with disabilities, and the scarcity of quality representation by non-attorney advocates, was brought home to me shortly after I moved to Florida in the mid-1990s (no doubt it had been obvious to many others long before that). I was receiving 3-4 phone calls a week, mostly from Florida parents, but also from people around the country, seeking representation or referrals. Even if I wanted, there was no way I could help most of these people.
Previously, however, while editor of (then) Education for the Handicapped Law Report, now IDELR, I had organized and presented many training programs on special education law. There seemed no reason that a similar approach would not succeed for parent attorneys and non-attorney advocates. But there was one big difference: those programs had financial backing; what I proposed to do for parent attorneys - at least those in the private sector - did not.
For whatever reasons, nonetheless, I believed that if a "critical mass" of private attorneys and advocates could be assembled and focused on this problem, an organization could be formed and become self-sustaining. Parent involvement would be welcome, but the mission I had in mind could be fulfilled only if organizational control remained firmly in the hands of the attorneys. That is why the original COPAA board was structured the way it was.
Thankfully the personal financial risk I assumed in sponsoring the organizational meeting was matched by the many speakers who agreed to join us for minimum expenses. Many of them are still active as COPAA continues to evolve to meet the needs of the parent community in the next decade.
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