Special Education Law Blog

Advocates Play A Vital Role in the Sped Process

It is great having Pam on staff as a full-time advocate. She is able to bring her "mom-sense" and special education expertise to the table without making every case a replay of her personal battles with the school. Not every advocate I have seen is able to maintain this level of objectivity, which can lead to increased hostilities instead of moving towards possible resolution. My colleague and fellow COPAAN, Robert Crabtree has written a useful list of dos and don'ts for parents and their advocates. If this list was followed there would lot more effective non-attorney special education advocates, which would be a good thing for parents. Parents would be well advised to insist that their advocates follow many of these points.

Pam Labellarte-An Experienced Advocate To Assist Families

Over this last year I have unfortunately let the blog lay fallow. I have many excuses such as being busy with teaching (that has now ended) and family obligations, but I am back and happy to report that the  I have hired Pam Labellarte, a veteran advocate, to further help students receive a FAPE under IDEIA and 504. She will no doubt also be blogging.

Pam has been involved with:
          "Educating and counseling parents as well as attending their child’s Special Education meetings.         Providing Disability Awareness presentations to schools, hospitals, physicians offices, corporations, community groups and medical schools · Instructing youth with disabilities, in self advocacy and employment readiness skills."

She is also a parent of 2 young adults with special needs who are in the thick of the transition process. So she brings that personal perspective to the table as well. I am fortunate to have such a caring and experienced advocate to work with families to realize an effective and successful  outcome for their students, and to keep me from letting the blog go fallow again.

Tropic Thunder Protests Grow

The deserved furor is growing against the degrading movie Tropic Thunder. Click here and here for more information and how to participate in the national protest against this movie. Here is a pledge against the use of the 'r' word.

Buzz Words and Lingo in Special Education

Every field has its lingo and jargon. Special education has more than its share and sometimes the language contains coded or veiled meanings that are hard for parents to discern or decipher. The following link is a useful and sometime humorous decoder ring for the phrases, jargon and lingo used everyday in schools and at IEP meetings. It might be good to bone up on this table of buzz words just in time for the new school year in the Fall.

Thanks to a friend and dedicated advocate Jean Kulcyck for bringing this link to my attention.

Majority of Due Process Cases Resolved Without Hearing

A recent study from CADRE, a federally-funded organization that studies and trains interested parties in dispute resolution in special education cases, found that 80% of due process cases that were filed resolved through mediation, resolution sessions or other informal means. State by state data on resolution of disputes is available here.

This report is totally consistent with my experiences and supports several of my long held beliefs and refutes myths about parents, their attorneys and the system:

• the prevailing wisdom in some circles is that money hungry attorneys are driving numerous cases to hearing to recover large sums from school districts. In the wake of recent court decisions (in most states), there is no fee-shifting when a case settles pre-hearing. The findings of this report flat out rebut any notion that fee hungry parents' attorneys are driving the system out of control;
• another popular view is that parents are unreasonable and file due process without a valid claim. The simple fact is that without a valid claim the majority of cases would not settle to the degree described in this report.  It is a fair inference that the vast majority of due process claims are valid with at least a colorable basis that lead the parties to settle;
• schools are being swamped and tied up in hours of unnecessary hearings. Obviously this belief is not founded since most cases are not even going to hearing.

The simple reality is that parents file due process in incredibly small numbers relative to the violations of the law that occur systematically and frequently. The reason for the small number of filings are numerous among them are a deep-seated need and desire to work with the school, limited personal resources which are already taxed when raising a child with special needs, and the enormous disparity of know-how and expertise that schools have relative to parents.   Schools need to stop complaining of parents' imaginary abuses of the due process system and stick to the facts.

Special Education Webinars

One of these days I am going to tackle the mechanics of presenting advocacy trainings through a webinar. For me I am still stuck with old fashioned in-person presentations. However the following website is offering a series of webinars on useful subjects related to special education (e.g. IEE) for attorneys, advocates and parents. I do not know anything about the quality but the cost is not exorbitant and you do not need to leave your house to participate. Anyone who tries one, please comment so others can know if they are any good.

Great Epilepsy Legal Resource

Some of the most serious disabilities are those that are unseen like diabetes and epilepsy.  I have had more than a few school administrators who have refused to recognize the serious needs of the child and the resulting legal duties under IDEIA, 504 and ADA. The Epilepsy Foundation has put together a very useful guide for parents and even for attorneys/advocates who do not practice regularly in this area. Just because a child has epilepsy which is not readily visible does not diminish the students rights to fair access, support and accommodations as needed.

Resources on RTI May Clarify Issues

Response to Therapeutic Intervention (RTI) is frequently mentioned in a variety of contexts and is often misapplied and misunderstood. Here are a collection of free resources that may help clarify the abundant confusion in this area. It is worth looking over these resources if RTI becomes a stumbling block to receiving appropriate services. [This guide came to my attention from my friend and colleague Sandy Alperstein].

IEP Strategy Checklist

Back in March, I presented to a very enthusiastic group of parents and advocates at the COPAA conference. It was a great time and for those of who can attend next year in Washington DC (in early March 2009) I strongly recommend it. COPAA is a time not only to learn a lot, it also recharges and revitalizes. For a short while, it is so wonderful to be among like-minded people and not have to defend and explain yourself.

I have been meaning to post my presentation outline on the blog but I have not stopped running since coming back from COPAA. The following pdf file was among my speaking points during the conference. Download strategy_checklist_for_IEPs.pdf  I certainly hope this helps for the remaining meetings this year and for all of those meeting yet to come.

IDEA Fairness Restoration Act Call Congress on May 6, 2008

It is time that we make our voices heard in C0ngress. The following pending bill is one in a series of measures to overturn ill conceived and damaging Supreme Court decisions that have harmed the rights of parents.

PLEASE CALL YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES (202-224-3121)
ON TUESDAY, MAY 6, AND ASK THEM TO CO-SPONSOR THE IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT, H.R. 4188.  This bill will allow parents who prevail in due process or litigation under IDEA recover their expert witness fees.  Few parents can afford the thousands of dollars needed to pay for expert testimony. 

School districts use tax dollars to employ and pay for psychologists and other paid experts at IEP meetings and hearings.  Parents have fewer resources and yet must bear a greater financial burden.  H.R. 4188 is important to help level the playing field for the nearly 7 million children with disabilities.  Introduced by Congressman Chris Van Hollen (Maryland) and Pete Sessions (Texas), it will restore Congress’ original intent and allow parents to recover their expert fees.

Over 100 disability organizations, including the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities, Arc, Easter Seals, the Council of Parent Attorneys & Advocates, Inc., National Disability Rights Network, National Down Syndrome Society, National Down Syndrome Congress, Learning Disabilities Association, National Center for Learning Disabilities, CHADD, and others support H.R. 4188.  But we need your help to get it passed.

Call to Action - Tuesday, May 6, 2008

On Tuesday, May 6, 2008, please call your Congressional Representatives (202-224-3121) and ask them to cosponsor H.R. 4188, the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act.  Have friends and family members call.  It will only take 2-3 minutes!  Please join us for this national call-in day, May 6.

If you do not know who your Congressional Representative is, go to http://www.house.gov and put your zip code into the box in the upper left corner.   (You usually only need your five digit zip code.)  You can also use http://www.congress.org to look up Representatives and phone numbers.  PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES INSTEAD OF USING EMAIL.

It helps if you ask for the Education Aide, but you can also talk to the person who answers the phone.  You can also leave a voicemail message.  Tell them you are a constituent and would like the Congressperson to co-sponsor H.R. 4188, the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act.  Congress needs to hear from as many parents, advocates, attorneys, and others as possible.

Please make a phone call on May 6, even if you've made one before.  We want Congress to hear from parents and advocates for children, and one way we can make sure they hear us is to call them.  If you can’t call on May 6, it’s okay to call afterwards.  Ask your friends and family to call, too.  Congress needs to hear from all of us!

It’s Important to Cosponsor the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act (H.R. 4188).

The IDEA Fairness Restoration Act would override the Supreme Court's decision in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy (2006) and allow parents who prevail in due process or litigation to be reimbursed for their expert witness fees. H.R. 4188 is important to level the playing field and protect the rights of the 7 million children with disabilities. 

When prevailing parents cannot recover expert costs, the playing field is neither level nor fair, and children are denied a free appropriate public education and other fundamental IDEA rights.

Hiring qualified medical, technical, and other expert witnesses can cost many thousands of dollars.  Few parents can afford this high cost, putting due process out of reach for most parents, who struggle to afford what their children with disabilities need.

School districts use tax dollars to pay for psychologists and other paid experts.  Parents have fewer resources and yet must bear a greater financial burden. Approximately 36% of children with disabilities live in families earning less than $25,000 a year; over 2/3 earn less than $50,000 a year.

Congress intended for parents to recover their expert witness fees in the Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986.  Allowing parents to recoup their expert fees simply restores Congress' original intent.

If due process is not affordable, the IEP process becomes even more one-sided and unfair.  School personnel control the IEP process and often vastly outnumber parents.  When the right to due process is meaningful, it helps ensure that school districts provide appropriate educations to children with disabilities.

Most parents turn to due process and litigation only as a last resort.  In 2003, the GAO reported that there were only 5 hearings per 10,000 special education students.  But when parents are forced into due process, they should be able to afford expert witnesses.

Want more detailed information? 
Download COPAA’s complete brochure on the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act and enabling parents to recover expert fees, http://www.copaa.org/pdf/MurphyBrochure.pdf
There is also a Spanish language version, http://www.copaa.org/pdf/MSSpanish.pdf
(Lea aqui en Espanol: Murphy y los derechos de los padres para recuperar el costo de los expertos: http://www.copaa.org/pdf/MSSpanish.pdf )
You can read H.R. 4188 here: http://www.copaa.org/news/IRFAct.html
You can read letters from over 100 disability organizations supporting H.R. 4188 here:
http://www.copaa.org/news/organizations.html

For more information about H.R. 4188 and this alert, please contact Bob Berlow and Jess Butler of COPAA at protectidea@copaa.org  Together, we can make the difference and restore a balanced playing field for children with disabilities.