Special Education Law Blog
A special education legal resource discussing case law, news, practical advocacy advice, and developments in state and federal laws, statutes and regulations. Postings include insight and sometimes humor from Charles P. Fox, a Chicago, Illinois attorney who is also a parent of child with special needs, and other guest authors.
While it is not secret that the economic decline has affected all areas of the education system. A new poll recently showed how special education administrators are blaming the economy on problems that have been happening for years. It is apparent from our increasing call volume that the special education system is suffering. Special educators were polled in a national survey and pointed to budget cuts which force larger class sizes, layoffs and other changes that compromise their ability to serve students with disabilities. In the poll of 701 special education administrators from 45 states, nearly all reported that they are experiencing or expect to see an “increased strain on the availability of services” for students with disabilities, according to the Council for Exceptional Children, a professional organization for special educators, which conducted the survey. The budget squeeze in most districts is inevitably challenging the special education departments, however it is not a reason to limit services, evaluations or to remove eligibility. This is what we are seeing in our office. School districts are using new techniques to remove services and supports or in the worst case scenarios, eligibility. The school districts are also using RtI as a long-term alternative despite […]
School district's have a nearly infinite ability to argue for the most strained construction of the law. The make these arguments because given the conservative nature of the judiciary they may just meet with a positive reception to their strained arguments. Moreover, the the old legal adage applies that "if the law is your side your pound the law, if the facts are on your side you pound the facts, and if neither are on your side you pound the table." In the case A. ex.rel.D.A. v. N.Y. Department of Education, 2011 U.S. District. Lexis 9475 (S.D.N.Y.2/1/11), the parents won their claim for a private unilateral placement for their child. The child was enrolled for some period of time, the parents had not paid the past tuition but it was due and owing to the private school. The school district argued that the court could not order reimbursement for past tuition because that remedy only applied when the parents had the ability to pay tuition and in fact had paid. The court rejected the school district's argument finding no support for in IDEIA for this position. It applied the well established statutory principle, that permits the court to fashion a […]
School personnel claim to have expertise in all things educational. When it comes to transition assessments, too often the attitude is "what is that" or just do career cruising. Career crusing may be part of the process but it should not be the whole process. Here is a good list, albeit not comprehensive, of transition assessment to fill that void in the conversation with school personnel when they ask parents "what kind of transition assessment do you have in mind?" Download 4933_0001
Congressman Gregg Harper is the only member of Congress with a child with Fragile X. He is putting his life experience to good use in his proposed amendment to the transition provisions of IDEIA. He has proposed a bill that contains a significant set of amendments to the transition sections of IDEIA, which would greatly bolster the rights of students to have more robust transition planning. (see copy of the bill by clicking on the pdf Download 4926_0001). This bill proposes to reduce the age that transition planning begins to 14 from the federal level of 16 in the current IDEIA (in Illinois it is 14.5 years of age). It calls for the development of objectives as part of the transition plan and that the IEP should contain: "a strategy to address the needs of the child related to academic and school-based prepatory experiences, work and career readiness, youth development and leadership…" Sounds very good to me expecially compared to the often non-plans that I see every day in my office that are generic and missing in any real specifics. We need strategies and we need enhanced definitions and delineation of transition needs that this bill provides. I hope Rep. […]
Imposing money damages on schools for violations of IDEA rights and other violations is far from easy. Parents are often dismayed to learn that very blatant and egregious violations of their rights will not support an action for damages. Failing to provide services, prompt evaluation or implementation of the IEP are all bad, and can result in a hearing officer ordering compensatory education and reimbursement to the parents for relevant out of pocket expenses, but not damages. To reach the level where a court will allow a case for monetary damages to go forward the facts must be "shocking to the conscience." A tragic recent case from Detroit Michigan unfortunately helps illustrate what facts are shocking to the conscience. (See Shinn v. Detroit Public Schools, 09-13799, February 2, 2011 Download 4924_0001) A paraprofessional working with a student with CP and a seizure disorder berated the child, caused her to fall and have a seizure. A witness stated that as the paraprofessional pushed the child she yelled "you know I don't like you." The child died a few days later following the incident. Usually there are no witnesses who are willing to step up and testify, and the facts of these […]
The House voted to restore the $557 million cuts for special education funding. It is not time to celebrate quite yet. First, the budget bills are far from final and there may yet be cuts before this process is over. Second, as CEC, a lobby group for educational issues, stated; "it amounts to robbing Peter to pay Paul. That’s because under the [funding] amendment, the funds restored to special education will be taken from other [general] education programs." Taking money out of general education funding will have a negative effect on students with special needs when they are in general education settings. President Obama's budget proposal contemplates modest increases in education funding. I will keep you posted on the budget battles as this unfolds so we can keep up the pressure on Congress.
The GOP recently proposed a $500 million cut from special education when local school districts are contemplating and about to approve stiff cuts in funding and services. Fortunately President Obama has come out for more spending for special education. Big cuts are being proposed at the state level as well. Of course, in times of crisis, the first line of attack is to blame the special education students for causing ruination to the overall state educational budgets. The issues is systemic and not caused by the needed funding for the special education.
This is a critical time to step up make your voice heard. Congress and especially the Tea Party members think the way to balance the budget is to make drastic cuts to special education. If you have never called or written Congress before this is the time to do it. Below is an urgent appeal from CEC with the salient points.
A recent report finds that many students who claim to be abstinent from sexual activity are testing positive for STDs. The conclusion is that doctors need to do more than just take the teen patients word on their sexual activity and more outreach needs to take place. While the report focuses on teenaged students generally, it further highlights students with special needs, who are especially vulnerable for a variety of reasons. For many students that I represent there are particular issues of impulsive behaviors, lower self-esteem making them vulnerable to peer pressure, and lack of a meaningful curriculum that applies to them. I was recently at an IEP meeting where the teacher actually modified the curriculum and adopted curriculum for her self contained class of students providing a diagnostic report at the end of the unit. The teacher is young and enthusiastic about teaching, but most importantly she had the support of her special education director and superintendent. Without this leadership she would not have had the leeway to take such an innovative approach to her teaching. Hopefully this new report will put even more emphasis on appropriate teaching to keep all students safe, and especially those who are the […]