Oregon Parents United will remain flexible in pursuing activities that assure that our children receive the special education to which they are entitled. We cannot accept applications for membership from parents or guardians who are employees of a school district, an Educational Service District, or employees of the Oregon Department of Education. Our listserv is not open to educational or related service professionals unless the professional has a disabled child and is not directly employed or is not a contract specialist with a public educational institution at any level. The information posted on our listserv often contains frank assessments of public institutional performance as well as discussions regarding professionals serving our children. Many articles and notices from other lists are posted on our listserv with permission of the original source, and parents posting to the list refer to websites and other resources of educational value to our members.
Discussions are often frank and of a confidential nature.
For that reason, confidence and privacy is best maintained without self-censorship or posts made and read involving possible conflicts of interest. We encourage parents to privately post one another regarding more private issues. While we feel that all children's needs should be met, we cannot allow ourselves to be spread so thin that we become ineffective. Several members of OPU are experienced parent advocates. A number of us are members of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a national special education advocacy organization.