Editor, Gazette-Journal:

As chair of the Mathews County Special Education Advisory Committee, I would like to invite interested and concerned parents and community members to join us at our monthly meetings, and to consider joining the committee. The meetings are held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on the third Thursday at the Mathews Memorial Library.

State Special Education Advisory Committees are mandated by the federal government. Local committees are, in turn, mandated by the state. Your local Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) is charged with the responsibility of advising the local school division about unmet needs in the education of special needs children, assisting each school in formulating and developing plans for improving the performance of special needs students, and participating in the development of priorities and strategies for meeting the identified needs of children with disabilities, to list just a few of its responsibilities.

The belief persists that, since the ...