GAO Report: Education Needs Coordinated Approach in Supporting Students with Disabilities in Higher Education

     The Government Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report on October 28th of its examination of services for students with disabilities in postsecondary education. The GAO noted that more students with disabilities were pursuing higher education than in the past and that recent legislative changes had the potential to increase the number and diversity of students [...]

National Center for Learning Disabilities Provides State by State Special Education Scorecards

     The National Center for Learning Disabilities has provided scorecards for every state that includes information on state special education enrollment (including the number of students with specific learning disabilities), student performance on key indicators, federal funding provided to support special education in each state, and the state’s rating by the U.S. Department of Education on its [...]

Parent Centers: A resource for training and assistance for families of children with disabilities

 
          It’s back-to-school time and this posting provides information on federally funded Parent Centers that provide training and assistance to families of children with disabilities. My thanks to my long time friend Barbara Buswell, the Director of Colorado’s PEAK Parent Center, for providing this information regarding services provided by Parent Centers in general and the PEAK [...]

Looking at the Trees in the Forest Grove Decision

     Last week the Supreme Court ruled in Forest Grove v T.A., that the IDEA authorizes reimbursement of private school tuition to parents when: (1) the public school fails to provide appropriate special education services to the child; and (2) the private school program placement is appropriate. Importantly, this is true regardless  of whether the [...]

Supreme Court Rules the IDEA Authorizes Private-School Tuition Reimbursement

     Today, by a 6 to 3 vote, the Supreme Court ruled in Forest Grove School District v T.A. that the IDEA authorizes tuition reimbursement for private school special education services if the school district does not offer an appropriate public program, even though the student hadn’t previously received special education services through the public school.
     School [...]

Supreme Court Nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor and Disability Law

 
           The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law has provided a valuable service by producing a Preliminary Review of Disability Cases of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. That review provides a fairly in depth analysis of Judge Sotomayor’s decisions in disability cases. The review identifies twenty eight cases involving disability law and, if you’re just keeping score, [...]

Supreme Court to Hear Tuition Reimbursement Case: Forest Grove v. T.A.

     On April 28, 2009, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Forest Grove v. T.A. The issue is whether the school district can be required under the IDEA to reimburse parents for private school tuition when the school had not previously recognized the student’s need for special education. 
     The case involves a family [...]

OCR Updates Information Regarding 504 and the Rights of Students with Disabilities to Include Changes under the ADA Amendments Act

     Last fall the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act was passed and signed into law (please see my post President Signs ADA Amendments Act of 2008). The ADA Amendments Act broadened the definition of disability under the ADA and Section 504. In particular it prohibited the consideration of mitigating measures when determining whether an impairment substantially [...]

The IDEA and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009

     The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 (ARRA) provides significant new funding for services for children with disabilities under the IDEA’s Parts B and C.  These additional IDEA funds are provided under three authorities: (1) $11.3 billion for IDEA Part B grants to states (2) $400 million under Part B Preschool Grants to States [...]

House Passes The Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009

 
     Yesterday the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation to protect teenagers living in residential programs from physical, mental, and sexual abuse and to help ensure parents have the information they need to keep children safe. The Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009 (H.R. 911) would establish minimum health and [...]