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

Highlights: Your ideas about The Special Ed Advocate; Pete explains why he is an optimist about IDEA 2004; questions & answers about the IDEA regs; special prepublication offer on Wrightslaw: IDEA 2004; IDEA 2004 at Wrightslaw; news about Schaffer v. Weast; Wrightslaw comes to Hawai'i.

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Download this issue. All newsletters published in 2005

We welcome ideas and suggestions about how we can improve The Special Ed Advocate. Some people have asked for shorter newsletters that are published more often. Other people want long newsletters with in-depth articles and resources.

We want to provide readers with the information they need. This is especially important as IDEA 2004 goes into effect on July 1, 2005 and the Department of Education is receiving comments about the proposed IDEA regulations.

We welcome your ideas and suggestions about how we can improve The Special Ed Advocate - longer, shorter, more often, less often? If you have ideas you would like to share, please send them to us at suggest@wrightslaw.com

Thanks!

In Why I Am an Optimist about IDEA 2004, Pete Wright describes a fight he had at age 9, then explains why "I don't feel gloom and doom about IDEA 2004. I think we can use IDEA 2004 as a powerful tool to improve educational results and outcomes for our children. Here are some reasons why . . . " Read article

More articles about IDEA 2004

Question: Since the IDEA 2004 regulations will not be published until late 2005 or early 2006, how will the law be implemented?

Answer: In IDEA 2004 Regulations: Questions & Answers, the Council of Parent Attorneys & Advocates answers questions about the IDEA regulations, public hearings, and your state laws and regulations.

Learn more about IDEA Law & Regulations

IDEA 2004 goes into effect on July 1, 2005. Wrightslaw: IDEA 2004 is available as a print book, an e-book - or both.

Print publication (168 pages, 8 1/2" x 11", perfect bound, $14.95 plus shipping). Ship date: 2nd week of August.

E-book (162 pages, 8 1/2" x 11", $9.95). Available now. When you purchase the e-book (PDF format), you can download it within minutes. You can read it on your computer or print it out on your printer. There is no shipping or sales tax for e-books.

E-book & Print Combo: Get Wrightslaw: IDEA 2004 as an e-book immediately and the print edition in August ($19.95)

Parents, advocates, educators, and attorneys need accurate, reliable information about IDEA 2004 issues: child find, eligibility, evaluations, reevaluations, high stakes testing, IEPs, accommodations, alternate assessments, educational placements, transition, parental rights, and more.

IDEA 2004 at Wrightslaw will help you find answers to your questions and do your own legal research. We are continuing to add new articles and resources. IDEA 2004 at Wrightslaw is organized as follows:

Schaffer v. Weast may be the most significant case decided by the U. S. Supreme Court since their 1982 decision in Rowley.

The issue: If parents disagree with an IEP developed by the school, do the parents have the burden of proving that the IEP is not appropriate? Or, does the school that developed the IEP have the burden of proving that the IEP is appropriate?

By late April, nine states and more than 20 organizations had filed a amicus briefs in support of parents of children with disabilities.

List of briefs

By June 24, 2005, amicus briefs had been filed on behalf of the school district by Hawai'i (joined by Alaska, Oklahoma and Guam), the Virginia School Board Association, the Council of Great City Schools, Montgomery County and Weast, and the U. S. Department of Education.

Amicus brief on behalf of Hawai'i and others
URL: http://www.harborhouselaw.com/law/plead/schaffer.hawaii.pdf

Amicus brief on behalf of Virginia School Board Association and others
URL: http://www.harborhouselaw.com/law/plead/weast.amicus.vsba.pdf

Amicus brief on behalf of the Council of Great City Schools and others
URL: http://www.harborhouselaw.com/law/plead/weast.amicus.great.city.pdf

Brief on behalf of the United States Department of Education.
URL: http://www.harborhouselaw.com/law/plead/weast.usdoe.pdf

The Respondent: Weast and Montgomery County, MD.
URL: http://www.harborhouselaw.com/law/plead/weast.respondent.pdf

Learn more about Schaffer v. Weast

More special education caselaw

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

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

Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy Programs focus on four areas: special education laws, especially IDEA 2004; how to measure educational progress & regression; SMART IEPs; and advocacy tactics & strategies.

Schedule l Programs l Speakers l FAQs