Special Education Law and Advocacy
Any teacher will tell you that managing classroom behavior is critical to surviving the first days and weeks of the school year. But how? The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2009 provides guidelines of procedures that must be adhered to when disciplining students with Special Needs. Teachers have the legislation to guide them, but […]
As you may know if you have been reading my 2 Things: Special Education Law Tips Newsletter, there are laws which grant access rights to parents of their student’s educational records. This is especially true when the student is a child with a disability. Such rights are granted by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act […]
I am an attorney who represents children with disabilities and their families in special education matters. I am also a member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (“COPAA”, www.copaa.org), a national organization of special education lawyers and advocates with the same client base. Recently, my colleagues and I have witnessed a substantial uptick in very […]
Sometimes you just need some quick tips to help you through the maze that is special education law. Fair enough. Here are my Top Ten tips for parents and advocates: 1. Put everything in writing! Document every single thing you do as it will only help your child and help if you find yourself in a […]
Since the U.S. Department of Education more or less mandated implementation of the ‘Common Core‘ education standards on a state level, I have seen numerous examples of how such suggested teaching method fails. As a small example, several states have opted out of the Common Core or backed away from some of the assessments associated […]
I filed a brief in a special education case recently opposing a motion to dismiss the case. Want to share the Introduction as it spells out my view of how school districts (and their insurance companies) are treating kids with disabilities: What is getting lost in the legal gymnastics of the pending motions to dismiss […]
Your child is not receiving the attention or services he or she needs in school. As a result, your child is doing poorly in school. You’re not even sure of the cause of the problem, but you know something is wrong. What do you do? If you are the parent of a child with special […]
Article on the wrong way and right way to evaluate a child for a disability is available on Special-Ism.com website at this URL: http://special-ism.com/evaluating-a-child-for-disability-the-wrong-way-and-the-right-way/
I did a seminar recently. My seminar was on what to expect at an IEP/504 meeting. Here are some of the comments I heard from parents spoken to them by school districts: “We are at our quota of eligible disabled students already. We can’t have more.” “Evaluations must be done in the summer time.” “Your […]
On January 6, 2011, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law one of the toughest anti-bullying civil rights laws in the United States. As with most laws, the creation of the law was the easy part. The difficult part is the enforcement. Most states have anti-bullying laws (some, like New Jersey apply to cyberbullying) […]
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