Special Education Law Blog

Baltimore Special Education Still In Flux

The Baltimore special education system remains in a total state of flux after 22 years of litigation. There is little planning or implementation of the court ordered compensatory education. Many of the top administrators have resigned and many positions remain unfilled.  The new interim head of the school system has promised that special education will be a top priority but those words do not appear to have much substance.

The one thing that is certain among all of this uncertainty is that the school district's high powered Washington D.C. law firm has been approved for $1 million in fees for next year.  Well even if the children's needs remain on hold, the school district's law firm will have its contractual obligations met. Wow I feel so much better knowing that.  Is there something wrong with this picture ? Maybe we should recast these school district fees as expert witness expenses for the parents so it is not payable under the precedent of Arlington Central case; just a wild thought !

Arlington Central v. Murphy: Making Parents Partial Not Whole

The U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Arlington Central v. Murphy [Download Arlington Central_v. Murphy.pdf ]. The decision was 6-3 in favor of the school district's case and essentially ruled that prevailing parents can not recover expert's fees as part of recoverable "costs" under IDEA. A longstanding legal maxim is that the winning plaintiff should be made whole; under Arlington Central the Supreme Court has put prevailing parents in the position where they will be made partial not whole after winning a due process case.  So parents are 0-2 in recent years before the U.S. Supreme Court.  For a legal analysis of the case and its potential legal doctrine ramifications click here . The question remains to what extent has the legal landscape changed as a result of Shaffer and Arlington Central.

Next Time Just Ask....

Behavior, behavior, behavior everything is a behavior in the minds of many school people. Sometimes my head could explode trying to explain to school people that if you simply asked some basic questions, you would discover that there are other non-behavioral explanations for actions of students. Failing to ask, everything appears to be a behavior. Here are some prime anecdotes that illustrate the point.

Disability Pride Parade July 22, 2006

The annual Disability Pride Parade is set for July 22, 2006 in downtown Chicago. This is a national event.  The deadline for registration is July 5, 2006 !  The mission statement of the parade organizers is as follows:

The overall mission of the Disability Pride Parade is:  

    To change the way people think about and define “disability”;
    To break down and end the internalized shame among people with  Disabilities; and
    To promote the belief in society that Disability is a natural and beautiful part of human                     diversity in which people living with Disabilities can take pride.

 

The specific objectives for the parade are:
      

To organize a fully inclusive, annual event that will celebrate and strengthen the pride, power, and unity of people with disabilities, our families, and allies;
To generate national visibility of the Disability community.
          



      

Fatherhood and Special Education

Perhaps because it is Father's Day I feel the need to reflect on the role of fathers and men generally in advocating for their children's rights. In the vast majority of cases the burden for advocacy falls on the mother.  Fathers and men too often fail to realize that sometimes just showing up at a meeting in support of the child can make an enormous difference. In my list of essential advocacy points, I list that "men must attend meetings."  [number 11] I was actually accused of being a male chauvinist for stating this position at a parent training.

Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer School by Lori Miller Fox

School is over for most of us, and summer school’s already begun for some.  As parents we often fight for extended school year even though the regular school year experience has failed miserably. So why do we delude ourselves into expecting that even if the school year has gone poorly that summer school will somehow miraculously cure it all.  It reminds me of how Woody Allen once described life.  He said it was like two older ladies sitting in a restaurant.  One says “the food here is terrible."  The other replies, “and such small portions.”   

Next Stop Special Education

According to the law special education is a set of services and is not a place. Well truer words were never spoken. It is not a place for many children that I represent, it is many places from year to year.  I have numerous children who I represent that come to me having been in five different buildings, albeit in the same "program" in five years. It gives new meaning to the phrase "mobile classroom".  When the parent protests they are of course told that special education is not a  place...

Reflections on a School Year by Cole Fox

The following blog post is from my son, Cole Fox, who just finished 7th grade in an inclusive placement. He has physical challenges and a seizure disorder. This post reflects back on the difficult times he has had this past year.  I suspect that he has put into words what many students feel at the conclusion of a challenging school year.

The Time is Not Right...

As the school year winds down to the last few weeks for many children, what I hear from many school people is that various suggestions can not be done NOW because the year is almost over. Curiously, throughout the year the time never seems right.

A Survival Guide to High School for Students with (and Without) Disabilities By David A. Kuriniec [Part 2]

Below is the second part of the essay and observations by David Kuriniec, who is a young adult with a disability who attends a 4 year University.