Special Ed. bill - The fly in the ointment.

"Under current IDEA law, the threat of litigation is forcing schools to be more concerned about technical compliance than with truly educating students with disabilities. This breeds an attitude of distrust between parents and schools, and makes it more difficult for them to work together to do what is best for students. Worse still, parents are sometimes manipulated into complex legal proceedings by lawyers who have their own best interests in mind, rather than the best interest of students with disabilities. The bill will work to restore trust between parents and schools by creating opportunities for early resolution of problems before they escalate, and by holding attorneys liable for frivolous lawsuits."

http://edworkforce.house.gov/press/press108/second/11nov/ideapasseshouse
111904.htm

Speaking from personal experience, this is a bad idea. The trojan horse aspect of it; a lot of parents simply don't have the money to pay for an attorney to get their child into a better situation if the school system isn't willing to listen to them. A substantial number of special ed. children have additional problems that basically wipe out their parents ability to do much of anything extra.

This is also assuming that schools are equal and reasonable about special education these children. Again, personal experience, they are not. Some schools and educators seem to be stuck back in the 1800s in their approach to disabled students. They assume that the child can't learn much of anything and act accordingly. This paragraph will only encourage them by removing the ability to fight back from those few parents who do have enough funds to try.

limits ability of those who can find free lawyers (non-profit or legal aid) to seek legal redress. Sometimes people only respond to the threat of a law suit.

Litigation is killing services for students. There are many frivolous lawsuits diverting resource from special education. On the other hand parents need the right to resolve problems and in many circumstance need the big legal stick.

I have been in this field for more than 30 years and will be happy to leave, never have our prospects been more dismal. Closing litigation is a major goal of the current administration. Part of me understands why, but the interest of students is not a priority. Current reauthorization of IDEA is a mess. The next reauthorization of IDEA does not promise to be much better.

:scared:

:thumbsdown: for those who broke their funding promises.

First, attorneys do not take special ed cases on a contingency basis; parents must pay legal fees up front, and if and only if they prevail, are they then reimbursed for their legal expenses.

Second, as the parent of a child with autism, and as an advocate for children with disabilities for more than 10 years, I don't see too many parents who have the financial means and the emotional fortitude to withstand extended court proceedings. Most of us are barely coping on a daily basis.

While I am sure that there are indeed rare cases of "frivolous lawsuits" against school districts, once again the Republican party uses the exception to trample on the rights of the majority of special ed students.

If politicians truly wanted to forge a better working relationship between parents and educators, they would fully fund IDEA, and spare us the bullshit rhetoric about "frivolous lawsuits".

There needs to be better enforcement and compliance. You would not believe the cost financial, personnel, quality of services, physcial suffering of students brought on by those rare cases. It makes me ill.

In this case you are preaching to the choir.

Everything that Repugs do seem to be for the purpose of protecting themselves from public opinion.