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It was a good run! This blog  will cease to exist at the close of business on Monday.   This blog is coming to an end. Since May 9, 2007, we have done much to advance our goal of increasing knowledge of  special education law among people who are involved in special education. Thank you to the adults and children with disabilities who have followed us. Thank you to the parents, teachers, administrators and staff who have enjoyed this space. Thank you to the lawyers and advocates who represent parents and districts who have complimented us. Thank you to the rating services that gave us awards {like best education blog on the internet!} and other positive reviews. Thank you to the scholars, academics and other experts who have cited us in law reviews, textbooks and other works. Thank you to those of you who came up to me at conferences and meetings and said that you enjoyed the blog. Thank you to all of our readers. As a part of this effort, we also started Special Educatio...

CAVEAT: This post does not directly involve special education, or does it? Correct Answer: There Ain't None! My powers are beyond your comprehension. More info on this Eddie Cochran classic available here.

After more than eleven years, my time with the special education law blog will soon be drawing to a close. I'll explain all of this in detail later. For now, I'll just say that I'm gong to miss this place. Rather than let it let it just fade away though, I wondered if anybody out there would be interested in purchasing the blog and continuing our tradition of providing valuable information to the  many stakeholders on all sides of special education, our cherished readers. In addition to the blog with our approximately 1,300 regular subscribers, you would also acquire the LinkedIn special education Law group with its 28,000 plus members, and the Facebook special education law group with its 1,600 plus members. Not to mention the Tumblr mini-blog. You would be able to communicate directly with a lot of people involved in special education. You could of course also consider placing ads on the blog. The possibilities are many. If you would like to make an offer to buy the blog ...

Happy Independence Day! We have had many requests to restate a post from our archives that expresses our feelings on this holiday. Here goes:  The  Fourth of July  is a big holiday for our country, and these days we really need a big holiday. I have always loved this day; what other country believes in an inalienable right to pursue happiness! Independence Day is also a time to reflect on the concept of independence. Independence Day is also a time to reflect on the concept of independence.    For people with disabilities, independence is an important goal. Congresshas stated that encouraging  independent living  for people with disabilities is the policy of the United States government.  IDEA , Section 601(c). Indeed, one of the purposes of special education is to prepare children with disabilities for independent living. IDEA, Section 601(d)(1)(A).    Before passage of the EHA, the predecessor of the IDEA, in 1...

The Trump administration plans to merge the federal departments of Education and Labor.   The proposal is part of a  132-page document  outlining a broad restructuring of the federal government.  The consolidation would create, within the new department, four subagencies, including one called the American Workforce and Higher Education Administration.   The proposal would also create subagencies devoted to K-12 education, research/evaluation/administration, and enforcement.   Here is an NPR story about the proposal. Here is the plan . Here is statement by Education Secretary DeVoss about the plan. So what do you think? Is this a solid policy decision to eliminate duplication, or a cynical attempt to lead to the elimination of one or both federal agencies, or something else?

The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) has released a report on Students with Disabilities and Absenteeism . The brief provides information about chronic absenteeism and possible implications for students with disabilities when a state selects it as a measure of school quality or student success under ESEA. Here is an excerpt from the report: The 2013-14 national data showed that elementary school students with disabilities served by IDEA were 1.5 times as likely to be chronically absent as elementary school students without disabilities. High school students with disabilities served by IDEA were 1.4 times as likely to be chronically absent as high school students without disabilities. Across subgroups, only Native students (American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander) exceeded the rates of chronic absenteeism for students with disabilities. This disparity is echoed in more recent data collected by states. For example, Connecticut’s (2017)...

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) recently filed a suit against the U.S. Department of Education over changes to the Education Department's rules for civil right investigations. In March 2018, the federal Department of Education amended the office for Civil Rights Case Processing Manual unilaterally. The changes include new provisions to require dismissal of certain complaints and the elimination of complainants’ right to appeal OCR decisions.  OCR has a Case Processing Manual specifying how its offices respond to complaints. In changes made recently, ED mandates that complaints by anyone who has previously filed a pattern of complaints will be dismissed without investigation. The changes also eliminate the appeals rights of complainants.  The actual complaint filed in the U S District Court fro the District of Maryland is available here.H...

The recent report of the National Longitudinal Transition Study indicates that, although the engagement and use of school supports have increased over the past decade (2003-2012), high school youth with an IEP are more socioeconomically disadvantaged and less likely to have experiences and expectations associated with success after high school than were other students in 2012. Among the disability groups in 2012, youth with intellectual disability, autism, deaf-blindness, multiple disabilities, and orthopedic impairments were found to be most at-risk for not transitioning successfully beyond high school. Here are some very discouraging highlights from the executive summary of he first volume: Youth with an IEP are more likely than their peers to be socioeconomically disadvantaged and to face problems with health, communication, and completing typical tasks independently. For example, they are 12 percentage points more likely to live in low-income households (58 versus 46 percent), ...

Gun violence in schools affects both general education and special education. We have written here before about keeping children with disabilities safe during school crises , for example. Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan retweeted recently that his family will follow a suggestion that parents should keep kids out of school until gun safety laws are passed. The theory is that lack of attendance  from a school boycott would force legislatures to act on gun violence. Arne Duncan ✔ @arneduncan This is brilliant, and tragically necessary. What if no children went to school until gun laws changed to keep them safe? My family is all in if we can do this at scale. Parents, will you please join us? https:// twitter.com/pcunningham57/ status/997498464542978048  … 4:07 PM - May 18, 2018 5,552 3,997 people are talking about this Here is an article about the idea. Here is the original tweet and the reaction tweets. {Ten years ago, I would never use the phrase "reaction tweets!...

On Wednesday, the Illinois State Board of Education took the extraordinary step of imposing a special monitor to oversee special education for my alma matter, the Chicago Public Schools. The corrective action comes after an investigation that found new policies delayed and denied students services that they were entitled to under IDEA.  Here is a quote from the Sun Times article: "The Illinois State Board of Education on Wednesday voted to appoint an independent state monitor to oversee Chicago Public Schools’ under-fire special education program. “The corrective action and recommendations we offered today are the right first step to helping CPS fully serve all children and families,” State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith said in a statement. “The common good requires uncommonly good public schools. With the State Board’s action today, the Public Inquiry process concludes, and the road to transformation begins.” The unanimous vote comes just days after state board officials...

Recently released  data on nearly every public school in the nation shows that students with disabilities continue to be disciplined and experience restraint and seclusion at far higher rates than others. Here is a quote from an article in  disability scoop The figures come from the latest data collection from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. It reflects the experiences of more than 50 million students at over 96,000 public schools across the country during the 2015-2016 school year. The Education Department found that 12 percent of students were served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and another 2 percent under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. However, students with disabilities were affected by various disciplinary procedures disproportionately. These children accounted for 28 percent of referrals to law enforcement or school-related arrests, 26 percent of out-of-school suspensions and 24 percent of expulsions,...

An article in Education Week takes a look at the impact of the Endrew F decision a year after it was decided. The article notes that the results of cases hasn't changed much- school districts still generally win. The article notes that the high rate of settlements in special education cases muddies the analysis. {I have been making this point for some time...} You can read the Education Week article here. Also note this very cool cartoon of the Endrew F oral argument from the article:

One in 59 US children has autism, according to a report issued today by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The new estimate is a prevalence rate of 1.7%, up from one in every 68 children (1.5%) in the   2016 report,  which was based on data from 2012.   Some excerpts from CDC Report: Results:  For 2014, the overall prevalence of ASD among the 11 ADDM sites was 16.8 per 1,000 (one in 59) children aged 8 years. Overall ASD prevalence estimates varied among sites, from 13.1–29.3 per 1,000 children aged 8 years. ASD prevalence estimates also varied by sex and race/ethnicity. Males were four times more likely than females to be identified with ASD. Prevalence estimates were higher for non-Hispanic white (henceforth, white) children compared with non-Hispanic black (henceforth, black) children, and both groups were more likely to be identified with ASD compared with Hispanic children. Among the nine sites with sufficient data on intellectual abil...

The Center for Education Statistics released the national NAEP scores recently, and the results show children with disabilities performance behind their typically developing peers. Here is part of a report at Disability Scoop: "A routine look at how fourth and eighth graders across the country are performing in reading and math finds children with disabilities struggling to make progress. For fourth graders with disabilities math scores were down in 2017 compared to 2015 while reading was unchanged. Meanwhile, eighth graders with disabilities saw a slight increase in performance on reading but remained stagnant in math. The   findings   released this week from the government’s National Center for Education Statistics come from the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Known as the Nation’s Report Card, nearly 585,000 students at over 28,000 schools across the country took the test on tablet computers in early 2017.   The assessment found limited improvement fo...

The Center for American Progress, the progressive education think tank, has proposed enacting these seven progressive policy ideas for educational equity. Provide a tutor for every child performing below grade level. Offer free breakfast and lunch for all students, regardless of income. Ensure opportunities to combine college preparatory academics with technical training and workplace experience. Transition to a 9-to-5 school day to better fit parents' needs. Support, train, and pay teachers like professionals. Create a safe and healthy environment in every school. Eliminate crumbling school buildings. These proposals would be expensive, but would they fix the problems in American education? i really like #1- the tutor when below grade level... Here is a summary of the plan by the Council for Exceptional Children. Here is the full article by the Center for American Progress explaining the proposal. What policy proposals would you suggest to improve education? What do you think?