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.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. -Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken,” 1916, lines 18-20 I am a young adult with a disability. I atttend a 4 year university and have an enoromous amount of experience to share regarding survival both in High School and in life. At six months old, I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy ("CP"). The only limitations resulting from my CP are physical. Nevertheless, those limitations required the district to provide an aide whose tasks were to take notes and assist in any other essential daily functions. With the role of the aide came the immediate suspicion on the part of my peers that he or she was the one completing assignments and not me. I was, despite the aforementioned fact, the talk of the town; you see, I had a motorized scooter, and everyone’s day was made if he or she had a ride on its back at recess. But as junior high school came, cliques began to form; in other words, students realized that I was different and began leaving me out of activities and sometimes acted as […]
At a High School prom in Southern California , an openly homosexual senior was voted prom king and his prom queen was a senior girl who has Downs syndrome and a condition that causes baldness. [For another view of prom click here.] Both students have been very popular with their peers over the years. The school has actively cultivated an enviroment of mutual understanding and has embraced diversity in more than just mere words. Inclusion can work with the leadership of staff and adminstration and a commitment of resources. Nice to be able to report on meaningful success.
A teacher in Connecticut is challenging the law prohibiting sexual relations with students who have reached the age of 16, the legal age for sexual consent in that state. His claim is based upon a right to sexual privacy. Somethings to do not require explanation; sex between a student and a teacher at the grade school or high school level is just wrong, and ought to be illegal.
Kevin Bartol apologized to staff at the Baraboo School district, but even in his moment of contrition he still did not take responsibility for the ugliness and wrongness of his statements toward families and children with special needs. Here is his apology with some additonal news coverage from the school district administration: "It was my attempt to get clarification of some wordage in one of the school policies. I should have chosen my words more carefully to adequately convey my true attempt. I inadvertently created a very ugly situation. For this, and for the inconvenience, I am truly sorry. My intent was to clarify and not to attack the hard work and wonderful actions of our special education department. I am 100 percent behind them. I ask that the good people in the Baraboo School District accept my apology." he said in a statement to the News Republic.Earlier in the day, School Board leaders and District Administrator Lance Alwin said they gave Bartol two days (from Tuesday) to apologize for remarks they termed insensitive and inappropriate, but he did not. Alwin said he advised Bartol to include an apology in a press release the district issued Thursday, but Bartol declined."I […]
Federal Court Judge Robert Payne of Richmond, Virginia ruled in favor of the parents in a 4 year struggle on behalf of their child with autism. The parents brought due process to seek reimbursement for their unilateral placement in a private school that specializes in teaching children with autism. The private school had the needed expertise and more importantly intensity to teach this child. The progress between the public school program and the private school program was profound. The case in full can be accessed by clicking here.
Thanks to the creativity of Liz Ditz who writes the blog I Speak of Dreams, the following is a suggested public apology for Kevin Bartol. Now if he would only be smart enough to actually adopt her statement, he can then rejoin the ranks of thinking people everywhere. To the parents and students in Baraboo and other districts around the nation: I was elected to the Baraboo school board, but I didn’t study for the job. I was shamefully ignorant of federal legislation under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation act of 1973. I didn’t even try to learn about the realities some of the students in my district face, those with mental and physical disabilities that hinder their ability to learn. Students, when you don’t study for a test, your ignorance only hurts you. My failure to study hurt a lot of people. I am truly sorry. I will try to master the law, and I will try to understand the challenges facing students with mental and physical disabilities. I know my job is to make decisions that affect all students in the Baraboo district, and I pledge to understand the opportunities and […]
The blogsite Dr. Chris’ Autism Journal has some useful information on ESY and summer programming. While it is geared towards children with autism, there is useful information for other families of children with special needs.
A school board member, Kevin Bartol, in Baraboo, Wisconsin, publicly questioned why public schools are open to students who are not"educable." Those students who are not educable should be sent to a place known as "elsewhere." Dr. Bartol, who is also a chiropractor, was quoted as stating that some students " may have their eyes open, but there’s no one awake upstairs." Even when given an opportunity to retract or to clarify his statement Dr. Bartol refused to back off this unqualified ugly ill-informed stupidity.
A new study confirms earlier reports of the linkage between heavy metals and autism. According to this report, a large of number of cases of autism are linked to high levels of heavy metals. This report does not discuss the source of the heavy metals, but there is a body of data that demonstrates that mercury (a heavy metal) from vaccines are a source.
A recent news report from Ohio shows that over a 5 year period 100 teachers have been accused of having sexually abused their students. Click here for details.