Special Education Law Blog

Student with LD Prevails in 9th Circuit Case

A  California school district (Compton) lost its appeal in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for failing to identify the student as needing an IEP. The San Francisco Chronicle reported:

"Parents of a child with learning disabilities can sue a school district for ignoring the problems and failing to arrange tutoring or other educational help, a federal appeals court ruled Monday."

The student's work was described as being "gibberish" but the school failed to discharge its child find responsibilities to identify the disability. The fact that after Forest Grove that this case was not settled makes it newsworthy.

What is noteworthy about this case is that the decision was 2-1. One Judge on the panel reportedly stated:

"Dissenting Judge N. Randy Smith said the law authorizes parental complaints only to protest a school's wrongful actions, not its inactions or negligence."

Huh, really omissions to act are in this instance the flip side of the same coin. The U.S. Supreme Court in Forest Grove noted that failure to act was actionable. In fact the Supreme Court stated that:

"Indeed, by immunizing a school district's refusal to find a child eligible for special education services no matter how compelling the child's need, the School District's interpretation [of the statute] would produce a rule bordering on the irrational."

Apparently that "irrational" analysis has not trickled down to this Federal Court Judge in California. It always amazes me how some  courts and hearing officers can distort even clear and basic principles of law to reach the conclusion that lets the school district off the hook, which fortunately in this instance did not happen.

 

Illinois Considering Allowing 4 Day School Weeks

The after shocks of 8 years of George W. Bush just keep rippling outward with no end in sight. The Illinois House approved a bill to allow schools to move towards a 4 day school week. Supposedly all hours of instruction would still be accomplished with shortened summers or longer days. Will related services and all special educations services be delivered? I doubt it!  This is a variation on the theme seen in Hawaii where the state instituted furlough day and suits were filed over missed special education services. Stay tuned as this type of educational rationing may be coming to your state.

Sec. Duncan Putting Some Teeth Into Enforcement?

The popular perception, and reality in my experience, is that State and Federal enforcement of educational rights complaints have been sorely lacking in any real effectiveness. I have seen some notable exceptions, but on the whole, unless the parents bring an action in the role of a "private attorney general" in the form of a due process, enforcement of the law at the State and Federal level  has been very limited. Almost any "plausible" justification often suffices as a good defense to the complaint. Unfortunately, due process is expensive, time consuming and addresses cases one at a time; not the model of efficiency to improve outcomes and to reform systems. 

Summary of Restraint Bill from NDRN

Below is a press release from NDRN on the restraint bill.

[Thank you to my colleague Debra Wysong for passing this along to me.]

Arne Duncan Receives Close Questioning on Proposed Funding for Special Education

I do not believe that Secretary Duncan has his on the ball when it comes to special education, and that is in part reflected in his limited request for funding increases for special education. He received close questioning from Congress during budget hearings, according to Edweek:

"Rep. Kline also asked why the president proposed only a $250 million increase for special education in his fiscal 2011 budget. The program is slated to receive $12.5 billion in the budget proposal, about a 2 percent increase over fiscal year 2010.

'I just want to tell you how deeply disappointed I am,” Rep. Kline said. “There had to be groans from coast to coast” when districts saw the request, he said. “It should have been billions of dollars, not $250 million.'”

Let's hope he gets more questioning like to this from Rep. Kline (R-Minn.) so that more flows to the students who need it the most.

Race to the Top Round 1 Finalists Announced

Secretary of Education Duncan has announced the following states have made the first cut for the bonanza of "Race to the Top" money. The list of finalists for now are: Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee. If your state is not among them perhaps you should email your State Education Director and find out why. Whether this money will ultimately trickle down to special education departments remains to be seen down the road. Edweek has a preliminary analysis of those states that were chosen with more analysis to follow.

House Passes Restraint Bill H.R. 4247

The following is a press release from TASH regarding the passage today of the Restraint Bill H.R. 4247 which now goes to the Senate where hopefully it will be taken up in a timely way.