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At
Wrightslaw, our goals are to help you gain the information and skills
you need to navigate the confusing world of special education.
Highlights:
Advocacy
- what will you do this week; 1st Circuit rules parent can represent
child in IDEA dispute; cases about advocacy by parents; Game Plan
to resolve eligibility disputes; Wrightslaw: Special Education Law;
advocacy training programs in MS, NY, OK; A Call to Action on October
18.
Download
newsletter in html: https://www.wrightslaw.com/nltr/03/nl.1001.htm
The Special Ed
Advocate newsletter is free - please forward this issue
or the subscription
link to your friends and colleagues so they can learn about
special education law and advocacy too. We appreciate your help!
1. What Will You Do This Week?
In
recent newsletters, we asked readers: "What will you do this
week to improve education outcomes for children in your community?
Think about it."
Attorney Bill Byrne wrote a letter to the editor, No
Child Left Behind - Really? Why I Like This Law. Sue Heath
wrote an article about how to use
flyers to educate others.
Pete and Pam will attend A Call to Action
at the University of Richmond on Saturday, October 18. Topics
include IDEA and No Child Left Behind. What will you do this week?
2. New Case! 1st Circuit Rules That Parent Can Represent Child in IDEA Dispute
On October 9, 2003, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit breaks new ground, rules that parents can pursue IDEA claims in federal court without an attorney.
The
case involved parents who appealed a special education administrative
due process decision to federal court without an attorney. The
New Hampshire District Court ruled that the parents could not
proceed with the claims without an attorney and dismissed the
case.
The First Circuit reversed ruling that the parents could proceed
without an attorney because parents are parties under the IDEA
and have a right to proceed in federal court with or without an
attorney. The case is significant because it is the first in the
nation to allow parents to pursue claims under the IDEA without
an attorney. A number of other circuit courts of appeal have ruled
that parents cannot proceed in IDEA claims in federal court without
an attorney.
In
rejecting the reasoning of other circuits, the First Circuit created
a "split among circuits" on this issue. The First Circuit
includes Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and
Puerto Rico.
Download the decision in Maroni
v. Pemi-Baker Regional School District:
https://www.wrightslaw.com/law/caselaw/2003/1st.maroni.pemi.baker.htm
The parents were represented by Scott F. Johnson, Esq., NHEdLaw,
LLC, www.nhedlaw.com
3. Cases About Advocacy by Parents
Collingsru v. Palmyra Bd. of Education, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Parent rights - Can a non-attorney parent represent his or her child in court? Why? Why not?
G. v. Cumberland Valley , U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Tuition reimbursement, LRE and "vigorous advocacy" by parents
Learn about Special
Ed Advocacy by Parents, Advocates and Attorneys: https://www.wrightslaw.com/info/advo.index.htm
4. Game Plan to Resolve Eligibility Disputes
A parent writes: "My son has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), ODD, learning disabilities in written expression and a graphomotor disorder. The school staff agree with this diagnosis but say he doesn’t qualify for special education because he is making good grades. Is this true? What guidelines exist about grades and eligibility for special education?"
From Wrightslaw: How are eligibility decisions made? What role do grades play? Good questions.
Your position is that your child has a disability AND that your child needs special education. The school’s position is that your child has a disability but does NOT need special education.
Game Plan To Resolve Eligibility Disputes
Most eligibility disputes involve disagreements about whether a child with a disability needs special education services, not whether the child has a disability.
Here is a game plan to help you resolve this dispute. Although you won’t be able to resolve EVERY dispute with this plan, you can resolve many disputes by taking these steps.
First, you need to learn about:
*
Legal Rights and Responsibilities
* School Culture
* How to Use Tactics and Strategy
* Presentation
Learn about Eligibility disputes and get the Game
Plan to Resolve Eligibility Disputes
https://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/ltrs/eric_eligibility_disputes.htm
5. What People Are Saying . . . Wrightslaw: Special Education Law
Special education law is confusing to most parents, educators, and even to many attorneys. Ignorance of the law can be as damaging as the child’s disability.
What does the law say about evaluations and reevaluations? Test procedures? Eligibility?
What does the law say about Individualized Educational Programs (IEPs) and IEP teams? IEP Goals, objectives, benchmarks? What does the law say about inclusion? Least restrictive environment?
What does the law say about discipline? Positive behavioral intervention plans? Interim alternative placements? Manifestation Review Hearings?
What does the law say about parent notice? Independent educational evaluations? Tuition reimbursement? Mediation? Due process?
Where
can you find accurate answers to your questions about special
education law? Look up answers to your questions in Wrightslaw:
Special Education Law. (The deluxe edition includes the
Special Ed Law CD ROM)
Tip:
"I
take a laptop and the Wrightslaw
CD to meetings. When someone says "We can't do that",
I search the CD to find out what the law really says on the subject.
This strategy has been very effective and our team members have
learned a lot. Now the teachers ask me to look things up for them!
The CD has been a great team-builder!" - Jan B. from Indiana
"If
you are involved with special education, you should read this
book." Sandra Koser Steingart, Ph.D, School
Psychology Resources Online
“Makes
you feel you have an attorney at the IEP table with you!"
- Janie Bowman, Olympia, WA
Wrightslaw: Special Education Law has been endorsed by university professors, disabilities groups, educators, parents, child advocates, and attorneys.
"A must-have book for anyone who works in special education . . . brings Special Education Law into focus through clear, concise use of normal language." - Margaret Kay, Ed.D. Psychologist
"Will help you navigate through special education, and use the law to demand/get a good education for your child." - Thom Hartmann (author of ADD: A Different Perception; Beyond ADD; Healing ADD; and more)
More reviews: https://www.wrightslaw.com/bks/lawbk/reviews.htm
Internet Orders: https://www.wrightslaw.com/store/index.html
Toll-free Phone & Fax Orders: https://www.wrightslaw.com/bks/orderform.htm
6. Advocacy Training - Join Pete and Pam for an Advocacy Training Program (MS, VA, NY, OK)
"Your boot camp was the most useful CLE I've ever attended. CLEs are notoriously boring and unpleasant. Your program was neither and I learned a lot, even as an experienced practitioner in the field." - Rob Mead, KU Wheat Law Library
Wrightslaw training programs focus on four areas: special education laws, rights & responsibilities; how to use the bell curve to measure progress & regression; SMART IEPs; and tactics & strategies for effective advocacy.
November 7-8: Jackson MS (Last Boot Camp in 2003!)
For more information about these events and programs that will be held over the next few months, please check our Seminars & Training page.
If you are interested in learning how to get Pete & Pam Wright to your community, please read our FAQs about Seminars.
7. A Call to Action - Richmond, VA (October 18, 2003)
Please
join Pete and Pam Wright for "A Call to Action" at T.
C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond.
Registration: $15.00 (includes lunch)
Morning
IDEA Amendments by Larry Searcy, Legislative Director, Center for Law Education
No Child Left Behind by Pam Wright, M.A., M.S.W. and Pete Wright, Esq.
Afternoon
Diploma Options (Will Kids with Disabilities Be Left Out?)
Coalition Building in Local Communities
If you would like to receive a brochure for A Call to Action - or you want several brochures to distribute to members of your community, please contact Cheryl Ward.
Email:
cward@ENDEPENDENCE.ORG
Phone: (757) 461-8007
FAX: (757) 461-5375
8. Subscription & Contact Info
The Special Ed Advocate is a free online newsletter about special education legal and advocacy issues, cases, and tactics and strategies. Subscribers receive "alerts" about new cases, events, and special offers on Wrightslaw books.
Law Library - https://www.wrightslaw.com/law.htm
Advocacy Library - https://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc.htm
Free Newsletter - https://www.wrightslaw.com/subscribe.htm
Newsletter Archives - https://www.wrightslaw.com/archives.htm
Seminars & Training - https://www.wrightslaw.com/speak/index.htm
Yellow Pages for Kids - http://www.fetaweb.com/help/states.htm
Contact Info
Pete
and Pam Wright
Wrightslaw & The Special Ed Advocate
P. O. Box 1008
Deltaville, VA 23043
Website: https://www.wrightslaw.com
Email: newsletter@wrightslaw.com
