The following is a posting from Jess Butler who is an attorney and officer with COPAA.org one of the leading special education advocacy organizations in the U.S. She has summarized and explained the effect of the new amendments for school age children and in later life. These revisions represent a win for people with disabilities.
Continue reading "ADA Amendments Passed and Has Become Law!" »
The following is a press release from Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah who along with Senator Harkin of Iowa have sponsored a bi-partisan bill to overturn the Supreme Court's narrowing of the scope and application of the ADA. Here is an un-annotated version of the pending bill. Download ada_restoration_bill.doc The bill has already passed the House. The reforms in the bill would also apply to section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. (Nod to Jess Butler of COPAA for making both the draft bill and press release available)
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 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.
After quite some time the issue of the legality of the service dog a Long Island, N.Y. school district finally came to court before the Federal Court. The court heard presentations of both sides and will make a ruling at a future date. From the news accounts it did not sound like either side took the high road in argumentation which unfortunately has been one of the hallmarks of this case.
Here is the latest summary from the candidates of their respective positions. They have sharpened their differences on vouchers (Obama-con and McCain-pro) but with precious little that relates to IDEIA or particulars on NCLB. The candidates could take a cue from some urban education leaders who are clearly calling for greater accountability under NCLB; no ambiguity there.
I always give enormous credit to courageous teachers who take positions against their interests, in favor or children, even at risk of their jobs or job assignments. Here is a recent article regarding a Brooklyn teacher who was apparently reassigned to the "rubber room" (a term of art in New York Public Schools) for speaking out against violations of IDEIA in her school.
The common refrain is that schools are short on money largely because of the costs attributable to students with special needs. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin no school official can even remotely make this argument with a straight face. The school officials in Milwaukee applied for roughly $40,000 of the nearly $5.4 million available state-wide. Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin with a long history of not meeting students needs. Its problems are systemic and long-standing. Even in a time of great need, it left a lot of money on the table, that it would have received but for apparent administrative inaction or worse. Short on cash MPS, do not blame the students with special needs just look in the mirror.
Robert and Sandy Waters of Autism One Radio interviewed Nelly Aguilar and I regarding the new clinic. Nelly is the the Executive Director of the Special Education Advocacy Clinic and has been the driving force behind the the clinic. The interview starts with a folk musical introduction and then continues with a nice discussion of the new clinic.
There is good news to report that the U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed the ADA amendments. The bill goes to the Senate and if passed and reconciled on to the President for signature. As discussed in an earlier blog this legislation is critical for children with special needs both now and certainly in the future. We should celebrate this victory even though there are hurdles yet to cross. Kudos to COPAA for rallying popular support for this important bill. We also need to achieve success on the pending IDEIA Fairness Restoration amendments as well.
DePaul Law School, which has always been known for innovative law school teaching coupled with a mission of caring and compassion, is launching a new Special Education Advocacy Clinic in August 2008 (Download specialedclinic0408.pdf ). This clinic will be the first special education law clinic to open in the midwest and will serve special education students who are generally unrepresented and have profound legal needs. This is a wonderful development in the legal scene in Illinois.
Even more wonderful, is that I am going to be the clinical instructor as an adjunct faculty member of the law school, in addition to my full time special education law practice. I have never taught before and the challenge is most invigorating and exciting. I have a great deal of passion for my work and want to convey that feeling onto the next crop of attorneys who are coming up the ranks. The legal profession takes a lot knocks, some deserved, but there is a lot of good that lawyers are doing and can do in the future. It is my sincere hope that my teaching in a clinical setting will help inspire others to fight for the rights of children with special needs against the enormous resources of schools. However, I am also humble enough to recognize that as a new teacher, I should have a greater appreciation for the hard work that many fine teachers perform everyday, which will only make me a better and more balanced advocate.
In the coming months, I plan on sharing my experiences as a clinical instructor and may even have occasion to post some blogs from students in my class. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come!
