Palin rallies for special needs funding

    Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was in Pennsylvania yesterday. At a special event for advocates and caregivers, she told parents of special needs children, she would be a friend in the White House.

    Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was in Pennsylvania yesterday. At a special event for advocates and caregivers, she told parents of special needs children, she would be a friend in the White House.

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    Transcript:

    Speaking before about 350 people in suburban Pittsburgh, Governor Palin outlined several policies she would champion.

    Palin: Under reforms that I will lead as vice president, the parents and caretakers of children with physical or mental disabilities will be able to send that boy or girl to the school of their choice, public or private. Federal funding for every special needs child will follow that child.

    Palin says the obligations of the Individuals with Disabilities and Education Act have not been fully met. She says children with special needs continue to be set apart and excluded at school.

    Palin also wants money to assist pre-school-age children and ready their parents for the challenges ahead.

    Echoing John McCain’s disdain for earmarks and so-call “political pet projects,” Palin says there’s plenty of federal money to fund her plans.

    Palin: This is a matter of how we prioritize the money that we spend, the public dollars that we already have and are spending. This is a matter of re-prioritizing.

    Palin’s infant son has Down Syndrome and her sister’s child has autism. The governor says her initiatives in Alaska will triple that state’s funding for special needs students by 2011.

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