Dr. Morelisa Sabb-Cordes

My name is Dr. Morelisa Sabb-Cordes. I stand before you today as an IEP Advocate / Coach, and most importantly, as a voice for families navigating a system that too often feels overwhelming, intimidating, and unequal.

Today, we are gathered at the South Carolina State House.

This building represents policy.

It represents power.

It represents decision-making.

But for parents of children with disabilities, the decisions that shape their child’s future rarely happen here.

They happen in small conference rooms across this state.

Around long tables.

During IEP meetings.

When I serve, I assist families.

I teach them their rights under federal and state law.

I help them understand evaluations.

I show them how to analyze goals.

I help them walk into meetings informed, not intimidated.

Because knowledge shifts power.

I lead.

I ensure compliance.

I monitor timelines.

I insist that decisions are based on data, not convenience.

I ask the questions many parents are too overwhelmed or too afraid to ask.

And let’s be honest.

IEP meetings can be intimidating.

A parent may walk into a room outnumbered five to one.

They may be handed reports filled with language they’ve never heard before.

They may feel pressured to agree quickly because they don’t want to seem “difficult.”

But advocacy is not about being difficult.

It is about being deliberate.

It is about ensuring that a child with a disability receives a Free and Appropriate Public Education, not just access to a classroom seat, but access to meaningful progress.

When families are uninformed, the imbalance of power is real.

When families are unsupported, decisions can be rushed.

When oversight is weak, children pay the price.

And that is why advocacy must live here, in this building, not just in meeting rooms across our state.

Because what happens here determines what happens at that IEP table.

Funding matters.

Oversight matters.

Training matters.

Accountability matters.

Behind every statute...

Behind every regulation...

Behind every budget line...

There is a child.

A child who deserves to be challenged.

A child who deserves to be supported.

A child who deserves dignity.

An IEP is not just paperwork.

It is not just compliance.

It is not just another form.

It is a promise.

A promise that disability does not diminish potential.

A promise that support is not optional.

A promise that equity is not negotiable.

And now, I speak directly to the legislators in this room.

If we truly believe in equity, fund it.

If we truly believe in accountability, enforce it.

If we truly believe in inclusion, train for it.

Do not pass policies without protecting implementation.

Do not approve budgets that leave special education under-resourced.

Do not allow compliance to become a checkbox instead of a safeguard.

Because when funding falls short, services shrink.

When oversight weakens, rights erode.

When accountability disappears, progress stalls.

And children cannot lobby.

They cannot vote.

They cannot stand at this podium.

So we must.

We must demand stronger monitoring of IEP compliance.

We must ensure districts are adequately staffed and properly trained.

We must invest in early intervention so gaps do not become lifelong barriers.

We must protect the integrity of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, not in theory, but in practice.

This is not a partisan issue.

This is a moral one.

The measure of a state is not how it serves the majority.

It is how it protects the most vulnerable.

So today, I challenge you:

Do not let this be another awareness day.

Let it be a turning point.

Strengthen oversight.

Fund what you mandate.

Protect the promise.

Because if we fail to protect that promise...

It is not the system that feels it first.

It is the child.

And they feel it in lost confidence.

In delayed progress.

In doors quietly closed.