Special Education Law and Advocacy
Frequently I am asked what someone’s state law says about special education. Another variation is people say, “OK, I understand that is the law in [New Jersey or Texas or California], but what about in my state?” Hopefully this blog post will clear up this misunderstanding. _ One tip before I go farther: Don’t look […]
How does your child with a disability become eligible for special education and related services? For starters, it is not simply having a disability. Read on to understand this process from a legal perspective. First step is that either you or one of the teachers (or school staff) suspect your child has a disability. This […]
Wait, what? You are probably having that reaction to the title, but it is the law. A medical diagnosis – by itself – is not enough to qualify your child for an IEP or special education. Let me give you some examples before I cite you the law. Example 1: Tara is a 9 year […]
ESY stands for Extended School Year and is special education and related services provided to a student with a disability during periods the public school is not in session. The following will break this down into more specifics. The Law The regulations for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provide as follows: “Each public […]
Dedication: I dedicate this article to a truly inspiring child advocate and professor, the late Irwin Hyman, Ed.D., who fostered my education throughout my time at Temple University. He was a man of brilliance, boundless energy, and intense devotion to the well-being of children. He had a vision of change and helped his students to […]
Filed today is a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking the Justices take up a case involving burden of proof in a special education case when a school district or public agency seeks to change the placement of a child with a disability. The question presented is: Under the Individuals […]
Before I answer the question in the title, let me share a true story. I appeared before a special ed hearing officer on behalf of a child with a disability – let’s call the child Chris (changed to protect identity). Chris has severe learning disabilities and is far behind age-equivalent peers. Chris does not do […]
Possession of a college degree as well as a Special Education credential does not necessarily mean one is ready for all the challenges of meeting the needs of diverse learners. If one thinks having a curriculum guide and a set of text books is going to do it, one is mistaken and must seriously reconsider […]
There is a common belief among the education community that education theory is evolving. Ph.D.s and school administrators keep thinking up new ways to ‘improve’ our education system, for example ‘common core’ and ‘standardized testing’. Problem with that theory is we are graduating more children from the K-12 system now who do not have the […]
Here are my thoughts and observations about what is wrong with our public education system today: 1. Too much is spent on school administrators and not enough is spent on teachers 2. Too much is spent on extracurricular activies, particularly sports, and not enough is spent on arts, music, home economics, and trade (auto shop, […]
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