Weekly Question!
The Endrew F decision has been around for a while now, is it making a difference for children with disabilities? #FAPE
Posts
Special Education Law 101- Part XVI #dph procedures
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 due process hearing resembles a court trial. Increasingly, parties are represented by lawyers. Opening statements are made. Testimony is provided by parents, teachers, related service providers, administrators, and many others- often by expert witnesses. Although the formal rules of evidence are generally not applied, exhibits, or documentary evidence, are offered and admitted. The tone is increasingly adversarial. Either closing arguments are made or written briefs are submitted. Hearing off...
Weekly Question!
The Endrew F decision has been around for a while now, is it making a difference for children with disabilities? #FAPE
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 SupremeCourt 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...
Happy National Disability Employment Awareness Month #NDEAM
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Here is the U. S. Department of Labor NDEAM website . NDEAM started in 1945; here is a timeline . Here are some useful resources . This page has some resources for educators about this celebration. Related to this topic is the transition requirement under IDEA for children with IEPs as they approach life after secondary school. Here is our post explaining transition requirements . Here is a post about a GAO report concerning transition for children with autism .