Special Education Law Blog

Effects of Romney/Ryan Health Plan on Children and Adults with Disabilities

Bill Clinton, in his address to the Democratic convention this month, decried the effects of the proposed Medicaid restructuring on the elderly, the poor, and families with children who have autism, Down syndrome, or other severe disabilities. Clinton, who said that he didn’t know what these families would do under these cuts, asserted that he knew what he would do: “I’m going to do everything I can to see that it doesn’t happen. We can’t let it happen.” We as parents of children with disabilities and those that care about children with disabilities need to vote for the vital interests of our children, and make sure our children with disabilities, who are over 18, register to vote and do vote. Medicaid is just one of the many issues that must be on the radar of voters for this election.Approximately 60 million Americans—including 29.5 million children, 15.2 million adults, 8.2 million people with disabilities, and 6.1 million seniors--rely on Medicaid to meet their health care needs. These numbers include 40% of our nation’s poor, 20% of those with severe disabilities, and nearly two thirds of residents of nursing homes. 

Romney’s Educational Vouchers a Disaster for Special Education Students

Schools are not like private corporations. Governor Romney’s goal to privatize, voucherize, and let the market determine winners and losers is simplistic. The reality is we do not have to wait to project that under his system special education students will be losers. To be clear, I advocate on a regular basis in appropriate cases for students to be tuitioned out to private schools with their IEPs intact, even if that school is more restrictive because it has what the child needs to receive a FAPE.

 As a primary part of his education platform, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is proposing a pro-choice, pro-voucher system that will allow parents to choose which schools their children can attend.  Romney is arguing that market forces and competition will force improvements in public schools.  Additionally, Romney is proposing to allow federal Title I and IDEA funds (which will also likely be cut) to become “portable” for low income and special needs students.  These funds would follow the students to any district or public charter school, private school where permitted by state law, or toward tutoring or online courses. In theory, these proposals sound wonderful.  Who wouldn’t want their children, both regular and special education, to go to the best possible schools?  These proposals, however, could be disastrous for special education students.

One District's Effort to Educate Parents on Unilateral Placements

It is always nice when district's go out of their way to educate parents on the need to provide a 10 day notice prior to making a unilateral placment see Download 2500_0001. What this notice neglects to inform parents is that the statute carves out certain exceptions to the need to give notice, such as, when the parent is illiterate,the school district "prevented the parent from providing notice" or providing the notice "would likely result in serious  emotional harm to the child." 20 USC section 1412(a)(10)(C)(iii)(III)(iv) [the good stuff is always in the fine print]. Nor does this notice inform parents that even if notice is given late, that there is a line of cases that allow for reimbursement after the 10 day notice period has run, or emphasizing that this provision is discretionary using the word "may" not "shall".  While I subscribe no ill-intent to this notice, I am sure that it would be used against a parent if they failed to comply with the exact terms, as expressed in the notice, even though it does not fully advise parents of all of their legal rights. Thanks school district (and their attorney who undoubtably drew this form up), but let the parents' attorneys do their job protecting and fully advising parents of their rights.

The Epidemic Effects of Non-Vaccination

As an unfortunate legacy of the now discredited Wakefield “study” in many areas of the country, it has become too common that parents are opting out of vaccinating their youngsters before entering kindergarten. The negative consequences for their children is obvious, but for the school and the community as a whole the results can be quite significant. While some parents are legitimately opting out of vaccinations for medical, religious or philosophical exemptions from vaccinating their children. In the cases where parents have a sincerely held religious belief that prohibits vaccinations, those beliefs need to be respected; that is the small minority of cases. Similarly some children must not be vaccinated, either because they have medical conditions or have had adverse reactions which contraindicate their receiving vaccinations.  These children depend upon what is known as herd immunity to protect them against serious if not lethal cases of contagious but preventable diseases.  To achieve herd immunity, a critical mass of the population must be vaccinated, usually about 95% depending on the illness being vaccinated against.  At this level, disease transmission is contained because it cannot be transferred.  Outbreaks of disease, however, can occur in areas where this threshold is unmet, and those individuals who are not vaccinated; e.g., the young, the immunocompromised, the medically vulnerable, or those who are vaccinated but for whom the vaccine is not working, all become at risk.

 

It's Time for Individuals with Disabilities to Vote

Given the current environment where the rights of a segments of society to vote is being limited and challenged, it is especially important to examine the rights of people with disabilities to vote. While often an overlooked and ignored segment of society, people with disabilities need to make their voices heard in the political process. As President Bill Clinton expressed in his nominating speech on September 5, 2012, this election will have a significant effect on the health care and educational rights of all citizens but especially the most vulnerable among us which obviously includes people with disabilities. Make no mistake voting for the Ryan budget and overall plan will have a permanent and regressively harmful effect on my clients, my son, families of children with disabilities and many people who I care about. It is time to register all people with disabilities and to in fact vote. We must be active  citizens in the political process.