Wrightslaw

At Wrightslaw, our goals are to help you gain the information and skills you need to navigate the confusing world of special education.

Highlights: Child not learning, what can parents ask school to do?; affluent school districts choosing to litigate; IDEA 2004 - coming soon; parent advocacy - what you should do and not do; when parents & school disagree; understanding the playing field - trust, expectations, power struggles; Wrightslaw programs in NH, IL, MI, HI; find help on Yellow Pages for Kids.

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"My son is 8 years old and in the 2nd grade. He is not learning to read, is failing math, and barely passing his other subjects. The school wants to retain him. An outside evaluator found that he has dyslexia and dysgraphia."

"What can I ask the school to do? How should I handle the retention issue? How can I prepare and make good decisions for my child? The process of getting help is incredibly slow."

In What Can I Ask the School to Do?, Sue Heath offers advice to parents who have questions about what they can ask the school to do. Learn about IEPs, research-based reading programs, retention, how to prepare for meetings, and other thorny issues.

Sue Heath writes Doing Your Homework, a column about creative advocacy strategies. She has written articles about retention, including Exit Exams Can Be Optional If You Plan Ahead and Advice to Special Ed Teacher About Retention.

As the co-author of Wrightslaw: No Child Left Behind and a member of the Wrightslaw Speakers Bureau, Sue provides seminars and training on No Child Left Behind. Learn more

In Amid Affluence, a Struggle Over Special Education, Alison Leigh Cowan of The New York Times takes a hard look at the intense, expensive battles between school districts and parents of disabled children.

Cowan begins in Westport, Connecticut where "Parents are likely to be pouring over Gary Mayerson's How to Compromise with Your School District Without Compromising Your Child, or Wrightslaw: Special Education Law by Peter W. D. Wright and Pamela Darr Wright."

She moves on to Hamilton County, Tennessee, "where school officials spent $2.2 million on lawyers and expert witnesses to avoid having to reimburse Maureen and Philip Deal the $60,000 annual cost of providing their autistic son with one-on-one behavioral training." (See also The Inside Story of Zachary Deal v. Hamilton County Board of Education, Part I by Gary Mayerson

Note: After Hamilton County received an adverse decision from the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on December 16, the school board was weighing whether to appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court. The school board said it "welcomes" an audit of school district legal fees. On April 26, the school board announced plans to pursue their appeal while also working toward settlement. (See Breaking News)

Next, Cowan focuses on the Bret Harte Union High School District in Calaveras County, California. That district "fought so hard to block the claims of a student that Judge Oliver W. Wanger took 83 pages to berate the district's 'hard-line position' and its law firm for 'willfully and vexatiously' dragging out the case so long that the student is now 24."

(Note: The judge awarded the student and his attorney sanctions against the Lozano Smith law firm, a former associate at Lozano Smith, and the Bret Harte Union High School District. Lozano Smith was ordered to provide at least six hours of ethics training for all associates. The former associate was ordered to attend 20 hours of ethics training. The judge concluded, "The totality of the sanctioned conduct visits an unendurable burden on the justice system in the name of misguided advocacy.")

Cowan found that parents go to court, leave public schools, or move to other districts in an effort to get special education services for their children. These parents wonder how their lives would be different if the districts simply "spent the money on education, instead of litigation."

Read Amid Affluence, a Struggle Over Special Education (Registration is required to read articles on the NY Times site)

School officials describe this as "a precedent-setting case that would require schools to provide a 'Cadillac' program for special education students" that could cost the county $10 million or more.

Gary Mayerson, attorney for the Deals, disputes this claim. Mr. Mayerson said the case could have been settled and the services provided for the Deal child for less than the schools paid for just one expert witness. He added that no other similar requests have been filed with the schools.

Interestingly, Mrs. Deal learned of the school board's plan to appeal while also pursuing settlement from her local television station.

Read Schools To Appeal Autism Case, But Also Work Toward Settlement from the Chattanoogan website.

In When Parents & Schools Disagree, Ruth Heitin, an independent educational consultant, describes common areas of disagreement between parents and schools and offers suggestions and strategies to handle these problems:

Does the student have an educationally-related disability? Does the child's disability have an impact on his/her educational performance?

Does the child require special education services? Are the special education services effective?

Dr. Heitin writes, "I often tell my clients that if my own parents were alive, they would never understand what I do for a living." Read When Parents & Schools Disagree.

If you enjoyed this article, you may want to find an educational consultant, advocate or attorney who represents children with disabilities. Read Help! How to Find an Educational Consultant, Advocate, Attorney.

Springfield, IL - May 13-14, 2005 (Boot Camp)

Oakland Schools, Waterford, MI - May 24, 2005 (Special Education Law & Advocacy Training) - Attorney Wayne Steedman and advocate Pat Howey present a full-day Wrightslaw training program - NEW!

Hilo, HI - July 29, 2005 - LDA Conference (Keynote Speakers & Presenters)

Hilo, HI - July 30-31, 2005 - Boot Camp

Schedule l Programs l Speakers l FAQs

If you are looking for help - or a helper - visit the Yellow Pages for Kids with Disabilities. Your state Yellow Pages has many resources - evaluators, speech language therapists, tutors, special ed schools, advocates, attorneys, organizations, and support groups.

These articles will help:

Working with Independent Evaluators and Educational Consultants

Strategies to Find a Support or Study Group

Help Others: Please print and distribute Flyers for Your State Yellow Pages for Kids.

Free Listings in the Yellow Pages: If you help parents get services for children (i.e., an evaluator, educational consultant, academic tutor, advocate, attorney, special ed school, etc.) or you facilitate a support or study group for parents, submit an application be listed in the Yellow Pages for Kids. Send an email to app@yellowpagesforkids.com for an application. Listings in the Yellow Pages are free.