Leadership Roles
I am interested in serving on my school district’s Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC). How can PACER help me find information on the committee and the work that they are doing?
You can contact your district’s special education director. If you do not have this information, feel free to contact PACER and we can help you access it. When you contact the special education director, ask for contact information for the current chair and if minutes from previous meetings are available on the district’s website. You can find additional information regarding SEACs on PACER’s website at PACER.org/leadership.
I am interested in learning how to contact my state and federal legislators, and how I can tell my story or comment on a piece of legislation. Where can I find this information?
You can find contact information for your local leaders, and state and federal legislators at www.usgov/ elected-officials. If you want to learn how to tell your story, you can find information on PACER’s website at PACER.org/leadership/handouts.
I would like to take on a leadership role, but I am not sure that I have enough knowledge about special education beyond what I have learned about how to advocate for my own child. How can PACER help me learn more?
To begin, you may want to attend some additional workshops at PACER in order to get a solid foundation of special education law and policies in Minnesota. The PACESETTER and the PACER workshop e-blast both have information about upcoming workshops, all of which are free to families. If you are not currently subscribed, go to PACER.org/newsletters, click on the publication you wish to receive and then click the subscribe button.
PACER has developed an Individual Effectiveness Plan for Parent Leaders in Advisory Positions. This publication can be downloaded as a document for you to complete. PACER also has many publications that are free to parents in Minnesota. You can also access and download many handouts that discuss various issues in special education. These are available at PACER.org/publications. You can also request that they be mailed to you.