Learn Your Special Education Laws, Special Education Rights, and Share IEP Goal Ideas

Dear Members of Congress;

Today all over the United States children with a disability are not being provided an appropriate education via their Individualized Education Program (IEP).  While there are many wonderful School Districts there are some that are skirting their responsibility because they know they can get away with it.  In these troubled economic times some School Districts are cutting necessary services as a cost saving method knowing that many parents don’t have the means to disagree and file a complaint.  The law that governs special education in the United States, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was not meant to shift the balance of power to the school districts but that is what has happened.  The fairness was taken from IDEA in 2006 and it’s time to give it back and level the playing field for parents. Read the rest of this entry →

When a dispute arises between a parent and the school in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting there are a few methods that can be utilized to work out the disagreement.  Most School Districts will have at least one Informal Dispute Resolution (IDR) system in place that can be employed to work out the dispute.  IDR will look different in every school district but most likely it will involve a meeting or phone call with a District employee who was not at the original IEP meeting discussing the disagreement and trying to come to a successful resolution.  IDR is not mandatory and can be skipped if the parents want to exercise their rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) procedural safeguards which could include Mediation or Due Process. Read the rest of this entry →