Showing posts with label Education Law. Show all posts

Trainings of Dispute Resolution Professionals

The Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden in Stockholm is the highest administrative court in Sweden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I love my job. Because of it, I frequently get to speak at conferences and do trainings. Special education law is a great field because it is constantly changing. As we have said here before special ed law is a lot closer to metaphysics than it is to contract law.

I really enjoyed a training that I did last week. It was for a state education agency and their administrative law judges,mediators and complaint investigators. I'm doing another ALJ training next week. (In some states, we are called hearing officers. In others we are called ALJs.) Although I am referred to as the "trainer," I always learn something from the participants. The participants often are active during the session- asking questions and offering solutions that work for them. Last week was no exception.

When I work with my fellow hearing officers, I am always impressed by the quality of their work and their dedication to their craft. It is rewarding.

There have been many suggestions that the special education due process hearing system be gutted, or substantially changed. What do you think?

Breaking: New 20 Year Study on Effects of Bullying

English: Image for mental health stubs, uses two psych images - psychiatry (medicine) and psychology (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bullying of children with disabilities continues to be the hot button issue in special education law. The Special Education Law Blog has previously run an in depth series of posts on bullying of children with disabilities. Here is the index to that series.

Recent news concerning the effects of bullying on children in general provides more insight into the harmful effects of this nasty phenomenon. The effects may be worse than previously suspected.

In breaking news, a study was released last week that followed children who were bullied or were bullies or both for a period of twenty years. The study by William E. Copeland, PhD; Dieter Wolke, PhD; Adrian Angold, MRCPsych; E. Jane Costello, PhD was published in the JAMA Psychiatry Journal and can be reviewed here. A summary by DukeHealth.org can be read here.

The study found that bullied children grow into adults who are at increased risk of developing anxiety disorders, depression and suicidal thoughts. Those who were both bullies and victims had higher levels of all anxiety and depressive disorders, plus the highest levels of suicidal thoughts, depressive disorders, generalized anxiety and panic disorder. Bullies were also at increased risk for antisocial personality disorder.

What are your thoughts?

Special Education Law 101 - Index to Series

Index to Special Education 101 Series

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A reader once suggested that I provide an index wen I run a series. I agreed that this is an excellent idea, and I try to add one at the end of our series. Here is the index for the Special Education Law 101 series which recently concluded. Clicking on the name of a particular post in the series will bring you to the actual post.

Here goes :

Part I Sources of Law September 10, 2012

Part II FAPE September 18, 2012

Part III FAPE continued September 26, 2012

Part IV Least Restrictive Environment October 3, 2012

Part V Identification and Eligibility October 10, 2012

Part VI IEP Issues October 20, 2012

Part VII Related Services October 26, 2012

Part VIII Transition November 2, 2012

Part IX Discipline November 16, 2012

Part X Unilateral Placements November 6, 2012

Part XI Compensatory Education December 6, 2012

Part XII Stay Put December 12, 2012

Part XIII Legal Representation January 14, 2013

Part XIV Expenses and Attorney's Fees January 25, 2013

Part XV Burden of Persuasion February 1, 2013

Part XVI: Hearing Procedures I February 6, 2013

Part XVII Hearing Procedures II February 13, 2013

We hope that you enjoyed the series!

Special Education Law 101 - Part XVII Hearing Procedures

English: Device for entering judgments at a group decision making session using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is the final post in a series of posts comprising an introduction to special education law. This series is meant to be an introduction for newbies and a refresher course for more experienced readers.

Today's post concerns some additional unusual procedural issues in due process hearings:

Resolution Session

IDEA provides provides that where a parent requests a due process hearing, the school district must convene a resolution session within 15 days of receipt. The school district may not bring their lawyer unless the parent does so. An agreement resulting from a resolution session is legally binding and enforceable in court, but either party may void such an agreement within 3 business days. The federal regulations provide that if a parent does not participate in the resolution session the district may request that the HO dismiss the complaint.

IDEA, § 615 (f)(1)(B); 34 C.F.R. § 300.510.

Evidence

IDEA, § 615(h)(2); 34 C.F.R. § 300.512(a)(2

Representation

IDEA, § 615(h)(1); 34 C.F.R. § 300.512(a)(1).

Other procedures

IDEA, § 615(h)(3); 34 C.F.R. § 300.512(a)(4)&(5) and 300.512(c)(1)-(3).

45 day Rule/ Deadline for Decision

The hearing officer’s decision is due within 45 days after the conclusion of the 30 day resolution period, subject to various possible adjustments and extensions if granted by the hearing officer.

34 C.F.R. § 300.511(e) and (f).

Special Education Law 101 - Part XVI: Hearing Procedures

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This is another in a series of posts comprising an introduction to special education law. This series is meant to be an introduction for newbies and a refresher course for more experienced readers. Please let us know what you think about the series.

Today's post and the next post concern some unusual procedural issues in due process hearings. The due process hearing is the administrative law equivalent of a trial in a civil action.

A. Hearing Procedures

1. 5 day Disclosure Rule

This rule provides that where a party does not disclose its evidence (generally at least an exchange of exhibits and list of witnesses) at least five business days prior to the due process hearing, such evidence may not be admitted.

34 C.F.R. § 300.512(a)(3), & (b)(1)-(2); IDEA, § 615(f)(2) (evaluations only).

(Most hearing officers do not like the technicality nature of the 5 day rule. Most will enforce if a continuance or other procedural maneuver will not cure it.)

2. Sufficiency of Due Process Complaint

The reauthorized statute provides that a party receiving a due process complaint may challenge the sufficiency of the complaint within 15 days of receipt. The due process hearing officer must make a determination on the face of the complaint (and notice) concerning sufficiency within 5 days.

IDEA, § 615 (c)(2); 34 C.F.R. § 300.508 (d).

(Most courts have imposed a relatively deferential standard for sufficiency. See, Anello v. Indian River Sch Dist 107 LRP 7179 (Del. Family Ct. 1/192007)

Special Education Law 101 - Part XV Burden of Persuasion

This is another in a periodic series on the nuts and bolts of special education law. The series is intended as an overview of key concepts for beginners and a review for those readers who have been around the block.

The citations for information about due process hearings are:IDEA, § 615(f); 34 C.F.R. § 300.507 to .515

Concerning the burden of persuasion at due process hearings...

Schaffer v. Weast 546 U.S. 49, 126 S.Ct. 528, 44 IDELR 150 (2005). The Court held that the burden of persuasion in an IDEA due process hearing is upon the party challenging the IEP. The “burden of persuasion” involves which party loses if the evidence is closely balanced. In any civil legal proceeding, if the evidence for both sides is equal, the party with the burden of persuasion loses. The Court exempted from its decision, however, the burden of persuasion applicable in those states that have laws or regulations placing the burden upon the school district. Note that the burden of persuasion is not the same as the burden of going forward, which concerns which party goes first in presenting evidence. To increase confusion, both the burden of persuasion and the burden of going forward are loosely referred to as "burden of proof" in legal circles. (I'm not sure why!)

Concerning the IDEA due process hearing process, the Court in Weast noted that such hearings are deliberately informal. The Court went on to note that the IDEA due process hearing was set up by Congress with the intention of giving the hearing officers the flexibility they need to ensure that each side can fairly present its evidence.

Tech Update & Why We Write The Special Education Law Blog

The Landing - Sydney Cove 26 January 1788 created by Special Education Students Throughout the ACT (Photo credit: ArchivesACT)

One of our goals in creating this blog was to provide both discussion of special education law topics from an impartial perspective and to provide resources where interested persons can find more information.

The impartial perspective is very important. I have never represented or advised parents or school personnel on a special ed matter. I am a hearing officer and mediator for a number of states. I also advise states and train their personnel. That is why when parents or school personnel contact me, I cannot help them. They generally understand. The disclaimer on the blog explains this point in more detail.

We also offer a lot of resources for parents, teachers (both regular ed and special ed), principals, school psychologists, hearing officers, mediators, complaint investigators, monitors, special ed directors, academics, advocates, SEA personnel, LEA personnel, paraprofessionals, lawyers (both parent and school district) as well as other special ed law junkies of all types.

Om the left-hand side of the blog, you can sign up for a free subscription to our blog. You can choose between receiving posts by email or in a reader by RSS feed. You can also get a widget to insert this blog directly into your own website or blog.Subscriptions are important because numbers have meaning in the blogosphere. Please sign up for a subscription. Thanks.

Also on the left hand side are a series of you tube videos of interviews of me on dispute resolution topics by Marshall Peter, Director of CADRE.(Many other videos and resources pertaining to special ed dispute resolution are available on the CADRE website - there is a link under resources.)

Of the spin-off groups that we have created, the LinkedIn group is the most successful with over 5,500 members and lots of active discussions. Check it out here. The Facebook group was archived because our thousands of members did not obsessive provide status updates regarding sitting on the porch or what they had for lunch. The group still exists, but members have to reapply because of the corporatization of evil Facebook overlords.

Many readers follow our headlines on twitter. Check out our twitter activity here. Other readers follow our headlines on our Tumblr mini-blog here.

There are many links to websites and other important blogs on the lefthand side of the blog. Also the search bar is just for this blog. So if you are interested in one topic, say bullying, just type it into the search bar and you can find all of our posts on that topic.

There are many more valuable resources on the blog. Please explore it and take advantage of these other sites. Also, we are always looking to improve. If you know of other impartial resources, please suggest them.

In the meantime, we appreciate your support.

Educational Law

Trainings of Dispute Resolution Professionals

Breaking: New 20 Year Study on Effects of Bullying