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Show With Love... a budget will definitely discourage legislators. Step Two: Find out how many children will be included in the law. "We had a hell of a time getting that survey", said Taggart. "Special Education would not do it, but, eventually, the governor's budget office was able to get the figures." The group formed a team called Education-Por-All, EPA,and met Sunday evenings at Breck's apartment. Ideas were exchanged, detailed plans drawn up; see Senator X; meet with Y's legislative committee. Tasks were assigned and done. They agreed that the future lay in political action and they knew that organized parents had political clout. The EPA wrote a basic draft of the law, then met with organizations for the blind, deaf and physically handicapped to learn what else might be needed. The draft was rewritten nine times with compromises to make it more acceptable, but with the EPA goal always in mind: mandatory education for their children. They traveled all over Washington State to meet with PTA, labor organizations, teachers associations, church groups. They were on TV and radio talk shows. Success or failure still depended on the actions of the legislators, so EPA did its homework. It learned of the concerns of the legislators; what help they needed and what possible objections they might have to a mandatory education law. ^©lan said,"Many approach the legislature with malice. We helped them with jobs that needed doing, such as ringing doorbells and stuffing envelopes." |
