Act Now: Suit Filed Against LAUSD on Behalf of Students with Special Needs

Join me in supporting this initiative for all LAUSD Special Education students, AND I am going to ask about our children who aged out and missed out! 

I am not sure if anything can be done for the thousands of special needs students like Nick who aged out of the school system during Covid. As a result Nick missed out on part of the regular school year and the extended school to the tune of nearly 6 months of instruction.  

SHARE YOUR SUPPORT Newman Aaronson Vanaman LLP is one of the firms involved in Alliance for Children's Rights and the Learning Rights Law Center v LAUSD .  The Los Angeles Times reported on the suit over the weekend, and we hope you will join us in promoting its ideals. HOW TO HELP Use the graphics and suggested copy to share on social media and help advocate for the 80,000 students with special needs in Los Angeles who have been ignored.   In addition, please email the members of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board at boardmembers@lausd.net no later than 6 pm on Monday, December 14 with the following message: LAUSD must comply with its most basic duty under the law: to ensure that students who need assessments and safe in-person instruction or support in order to access their education get what they need. LAUSD should act immediately to: implement small-cohort in-person instruction to the maximum extent possible (up to 25% of campus capacity), consistent with cohorting guidance issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health; resume in-person assessments and Individualized Educational Program (IEP) services, with accommodations necessary to ensure that students’ IEPs can be executed in a distance learning environment, and arrange for non-public agencies (NPAs) and non-public schools (NPSs) to provide in-person special education, related services, and assessments to LAUSD students who need it whenever LAUSD is either unable or unwilling to provide such education, services, and assessments. Everyone at NAVLAW remains actively engaged in our work on behalf of the community we serve. Our personnel are continuing to be available to conduct virtual consultations to assist you with educational and regional center concerns during this difficult time. If you need help or wish to contact us, please visit our website at www.navlaw.net, fill out the intake form and we will schedule a meeting with one of our attorneys. Newman Aaronson Vanaman LLP | 818-990-7722 14001 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks CA 91423 www.navlaw.net  ‌  ‌  ‌

SPECIAL EDUCATION IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

SPECIAL EDUCATION IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

Status of Federal Waivers Due, in large part, to the grass roots efforts and letter writing campaigns from parents, the Department of Education (DOE) will not recommend waivers of the essential parts of IDEA, the federal law creating what we know as special education. Thank you for your efforts! Although in California certain State timelines may be waived per S.B. 117, no such waivers will be recommended under the federal law. The waivers that were recommended included timelines for assessing toddlers for special education as they transition from Part C to Part B services at the age of three. The DOE recognized that while some flexibility needs to take place during this crisis, such flexibility is already written into the law. At least for now, the DOE has refrained from any action that would harm the basic rights of students with disabilities and upheld their rights to a free appropriate public education under the IDEA and the Rehabilitation Act, We are hopeful that schools and districts will exhibit the ingenuity, innovation and grit of which the Secretary spoke and work with families to meet the challenges facing their most needy population of students.

The Rights of Students with Exceptional Needs The current crisis has changed the landscape of life dramatically. From simple chores to how we work to how we educate our children; nothing is the same. The same applies to special education. However, even in these dire times, schools and districts are still responsible for the education of the children they serve, including, or especially, students with disabilities.  This is why the dedicated team of lawyers, advocates and other professionals at Newman Aaronson Vanaman LLP continue to work to advocate for the needs of their clients, even more aggressively during the crisis. While there is no expectation that IEPs “as-usual” will take place, this newsletter lets you know that IEP meetings are still taking place, either virtually or telephonically. The same is true of IEP services, mediations and due process hearings. Conservatorship and Estate Planning also continue. School physical plants will be closed for the rest of this school year. Because Districts are providing educational services to general education students, services and supports must also be provided for students with disabilities. Unfortunately, this does not mean, and often cannot mean, the same level of support, especially for face-to-face services as in existing IEPs. The needs of children must be determined on a case by case basis. In some cases equal access to education for students with disabilities through online or telephone support may be possible, in others it may not.  Current directives from the Federal Government provide that the provision of compensatory services will be determined on a case by case basis when school sites reopen. Keep track of the dates and times services should have been provided (per the existing IEP) so that when schools reopen you can protect your claims for compensatory services. Click here for a worksheet to record the services that are and are not being provided for your student.

Disputes during lockdown Families may need advocacy services now more than ever.  Although largely working remotely, we are providing representation for IEP meetings, and filing for due process. The Office of Administrative Hearings is still taking complaints, holding mediations and hearing cases. If you wish to access our services for any purpose, fill out an intake form, and one of our attorneys will be happy to work with you. Timeline Waivers In California, under SB117, certain timelines for providing an assessment plan, or reviewing an assessment, have been extended due to COVID-19 to include the days schools were closed.  However, SB117 specifically does not waive any of the timelines under the IDEA, so all federal timelines remain in effect, including the necessity of reviewing an IEP annually, and conducting assessments every three years. The CA Department of Education provides updates with regard to COVID-19 weekly.

Resources Counsel of Parents Attorneys and Advocates COVID-19 page. A wealth of information for parents on how to handle special education during the Coronavirus. To review previous guidance related to COVID-19 and services to students with disabilities, issued by the CDE on March 13, 2020, visit the CDE website. Updated information and resources from the CDE related to the COVID-19 response. Federal guidance from the USDOE titled “Questions and Answers on Providing Services to Children with Disabilities During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak.” To review federal guidance from the USDOE Office of Civil Rights on how to protect students’ civil rights. Guidance issued by the CDE on distance learning, including considerations for students with disabilities. For research on how online learning can be made more accessible, engaging, and effective for K-12 learners with disabilities, visit the Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities. Common Sense Media has curated a list of the Best Special Education Applications and Websites based on recommendations by educators who work with students with disabilities. The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) has developed COVID-19 Information for Special Educators, including a forum for members on how to adapt IEP services during school closures. The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) offers strategies and resources for ensuring that online learning supports students with disabilities.

Here's How Secretary of Education, DeVos will Destroy Special Needs Programs

One of Betsy DeVos' favorite programs makes special-needs kids give up federal benefits

·         Writer: Chris Weller

School-voucher programs — systems in which public funds are diverted to help kids attend private schools — are contentious for a number of reasons.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been a vocal advocate for voucher programs, but critics say they can drain funds from public schools, increase rates of segregation, and, according to some research, offer few actual benefits to the students who use them.

For parents, vouchers create a more immediate dilemma: In many states, special-needs kids who use vouchers must surrender the federal protections afforded to them by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

These benefits include certain legal protections if a child acts out in school, a guarantee to receive an education on par with a public-school student, and protections regarding the teacher's qualifications.

It's a paradox that often eliminates the desire to use the voucher, and one that sees many students returning to public school within a few years, according to the New York Times.

"The private schools are not breaking the law," special-education lawyer Julie Weatherly told the Times. In several states, including Colorado, Arizona, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, private schools are free to make it a condition of attending the school that parents and kids must waive their federal rights.

In other states, schools are free to decide for themselves, as the law makes no mention one way or another.

Secretary DeVos has held up school vouchers as an example of "school choice," or the ability for parents to pluck their kids from a public school and drop them in a private or home school. On several occasions, she has compared the value of picking schools in a free market to the luxury of choosing Uber or Lyft over a taxi.

The laws regarding special-needs vouchers may signal a roadblock in making education more like a private good.

In Wisconsin, for example, these vouchers cost public school districts $2.4 million in state aid. The money helped fund 202 students with disabilities to attend private schools. Critics of the Wisconsin voucher program, such as the family coalition Stop Special Needs Vouchers, arguethe laws leave private schools free to ignore IDEA's protections, which makes voucher programs less effective yet still costly to taxpayers and possibly detrimental to public schools.

Proponents of vouchers make similar arguments as DeVos and President Trump. In the most conventional view, vouchers give parents the freedom to place their children where they'll learn best. Advocates say the long-term effect is a system in which kids are sorted more effectively, with fewer wasted costs.

Mark Dynarski, an education researcher and voucher expert, says vouchers are still a fairly minor force in American education. On a yearly basis, waves of kids move in and out of a given public school due to changes of address — and they do so at rates far exceeding those of vouchers.

"Given the kinds of waves happening inside schools," Dynarski recently told Business Insider, "it's hard to see how vouchers actually cause the school to stop what they're doing and say, 'We need a plan to respond.'"

Teachers Call Trumps Billionaire Education Secretary Nominee Public Education Enemy #1

Trump nominee for Education Secretary faces fierce criticism from teachers unions that she is working against public education. 

This belief was reinforced when billionaire Betsy DeVos - dubbed public school enemy # 1 -  refused to answer important direct questions critical to people with limited financial resources and those with disabilities. And perhaps most surprising response came when questioned by Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut the safety of our children in school. Her response on having guns in schools; guns in schools could 'protect from potential grizzlies' . 

When asked does she agree that schools who receive federal funding be held to the federal law? Specifically of IDEA (Individuals with disabilities act), bullying and violence? She was nonresponsive and when pushed,  finally said she would leave bullying to the states and she never responded to the question on IDEA.  When asked if vouchers - a program she has championed - would be made available to children enrolled in both special education and general education, she did not respond, rather she skirted the question and referred to a scholarship program in Florida. 

My question now is, how does someone seeking the highest education post in the United States, and a critical post for the future of this country not have a response to these legal, ethical and moral questions?

Asked outright by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont whether she got the job because of her family's political contributions, DeVos said: "As a matter of fact I do think that there would be that possibility. I have worked very hard on behalf of parents and children for the last almost 30 years."

On tuition-free public colleges and universities, DeVos said: "I think we also have to consider the fact that there is nothing in life that is truly free. Somebody is going to pay for it."

She skirted Sanders' question on whether she would support making childcare free or much more affordable for low-income families as is the case in many countries, saying only that she felt strongly about "parents having opportunities for childcare for their children."  

"But it's not a question of opportunity," Sanders fired back, raising his voice. "It's a question of being able to afford it!"

Responding to fierce criticism from teachers unions that she is working against public education, DeVos told the committee that she would be "a strong advocate for great public schools."

"But," she added, "if a school is troubled, or unsafe, or not a good fit for a child — perhaps they have a special need that is going unmet — we should support a parent's right to enroll their child in a high-quality alternative."

Ethics and morality play a role in education, and it seems to me Ms. DeVos is unclear on her position when it comes to those less fortunate then herself. 

Having experienced this first hand, this report comes as no surprise to me.  Once again, if we don't monitor the resources we fight so hard to get they can easily be an expensive waste. Sad, but not surprising. 

Study Questions Effectiveness Of One-To-Ones In Special Ed

By SHAUN HEASLEY  DIsability Scoop 

September 25, 2015

One-to-one assistants spend far less time engaged with students as compared to teachers and classroom assistants, a new study suggests. (Nabil K. Mark/Centre Daily Times/TNS)

Many students receiving special education services are supported by one-to-ones, but new research suggests these assistants may not be pulling their weight.

A study looking at how one-to-ones spent their time in nearly four-dozen autism support classrooms finds that paraprofessionals are engaged in instruction or support just 57 percent of the time.

By contrast, teachers were engaged in such activities 98 percent of the time while classroom assistants were involved 91 percent of the time.

“The low rate of one-to-one assistants’ engagement suggests an inefficient use of an important resource,” wrote researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, University of Washington and the University of California, Riverside in their findings published online this month in the journal Teacher Education and Special Education.

The findings are significant, researchers said, because one-to-ones are the fastest growing group of special education staffers.

For the study, researchers looked at 46 autism support classrooms serving students in kindergarten through second grade in a large, urban school district. All of the classes included a lead teacher and a classroom assistant, but the number of one-to-ones varied from none to 16. Engagement among the professionals in each classroom was assessed through monthly observations over the course of a school year.

Overall, one-to-ones were engaged slightly over half of the time. When they weren’t busy, however, about a third of one-to-ones “spent their time sitting without students or material involvement,” the study found.

Significantly, the findings suggest that one-to-ones perform better if they work alongside a highly-engaged classroom assistant.

Researchers said the relatively low level of involvement among one-to-ones could be a sign that they are poorly trained on how to work with students or that classroom teachers are ill-prepared to supervise such staff. What’s more, the researchers said that one-to-one engagement may be the result of a fragmented service system in which it’s often unclear who is responsible for training, supervising and evaluating these employees.

“In an era of increasing utilization of one-to-one assistants, there is an underlying assumption that expanding their use is necessary and desirable. The lack of engagement observed in our study raises concerns about the effectiveness of current models and may be symptomatic of broader challenges related to the delivery of special education services,” the researchers wrote in their findings.

The Dummies Guide to Winning for Your Child in IEP Meetings

It's IEP season and I just got an Email  from a mom whose son is about to transition from preschool to elementary and she'd appreciate any  input to avoid the inevitable conflict and tug of war she was expecting. 

My best advice is:

• Be prepared. Take nothing for granted. Know what you want for you child and be ready to explain why. Explanations that do not work include; Because, Other kids have it, I heard it works, I think it's a good option won't cut it. Even when it's true it's not a good argument. 

• Bring your own data. If you have access to outside evaluations and reports before your IEP, get them and bring them with you. If outside evaluations are not an option for you, make a journal and keep a record of what's happening with your child (day by day and even hour by hour if necessary to show patterns) at home, in the community, at school, in therapies. Use your journal to draw a clear picture of what's going on with your child. Showing your detailed knowledge of what's working and what is not establishes you as a serious parent and advocate and it can make all the difference. 

• Bring Support; Find out how many people are going to be in the IEP meeting and take an advocate, friends or family to try and have an equal number of folks on each side of the bargaining table. It just seems to bring balance and reduce the vulnerability of being outnumbered. 

• Learn your legal rights. Treat the IEP like a negotiation. I have some materials on legal rights and the IEP on this blog and I recommend visiting http://www.ncld.org/parents-child-disabilities/ld-rights and http://www.specialeducationadvisor.com/top-ten-parental-rights-in-special-education/

• Stay calm, but make no assumptions that everyone will have the same plan for you child. 

• Visit the school first, see the programs, meet the staff. Your school setting is going to one of the most important settings in your child’s life, you want to build relationships so people will work with you. If you want to be in that school remember it's okay to be firm and fight a good fight, but remember that you're gonna be around these people for years. Think ahead to what you want that relationship to feel like after the IEP, and for the next one.

• Know Your Options. If the IEP is a total failure or just not what you want to sign off on, don't  sign it. You don't have to sign the IEP if you don't agree with ALL of it. You also have the legal right to challenge it and go to the next level. 

• It can't all happen at school. In truth there are some things that can't happen at the school level. Some decisions have to be kicked upstairs, it's not a ruse.

• People First: I always remind myself that teachers are so valuable, and they are not paid enough for what they do. So they must be there because, even if I can't see it, they care they want to help". This helps me to stay calm. I know that making an enemy out of the school team no matter how much we may differ, won't help Nicky.

Then she asked what my first IEP's were like. I was honest…for me those early years were awful and I am so glad they are behind me. The years when we just know so little about ourselves, our children and the systems that are supposed to support us. The years where we are grieving and desperate to help our children, often armed with little more than passion are rough. I'm not sure if the early IEP's were rough because of other people, or if they would have had a different outcome if I had been more knowledgeable  Who know's, but I do know that I have had a few bad and many good IEP's. However it was the bad IEP's that taught me the most, and it is those lessons that I cherish.

Moving on she wanted to understand the challenge so I told her that after Nicky was diagnosed parents began to tell me that the IEP (Individual Education Plan) meetings were nightmares. I was nervous before I ever had one scheduled. An IEP is an annual meeting where parents are invited to join a group of teachers, administrators, therapist to decide everything from what classroom your child should be in, to what services he would get, to educational goals.

I was told over and over that if you were not prepared, your child would suffer because schools didn't just hand out services because the kids needed them, you had to prove you needed them. One mom even had a three inch IEP binder full of every report, evaluation, every doctor visit. She kept detailed notes about his development all neatly organized by therapy and dates. She told me that armed with her binder, and the knowledge that other parents told her "take nothing for granted" and "get an advocate" her IEP for her 5 year old had ended well. She had got the services she believed he needed and she was certain that her preparation was the key to her success.

Being the good warrior I started my binder and my first IEP was a success. Nerve racking but successful. Then came a transition IEP where I wanted him moved to a new school with a program that I felt was better suited to him. It was during this IEP meeting that I learned how bad an IEP could be, for me. The meeting lasted 7 hours, I developed a fear of IEP's that lasted for years. I remember trying to be calm as people debated what was best for Nicky. I even remember that the conversation went so far as to cast blame on Nicky and I instead of staying focused on how to help him...AMAZING. It was so stressful I was physically sick to my stomach before we finished. For hours we debated over which services he would get and why he needed a new program. Fortunately I had spent weeks collecting documents to prove what he needed I had documents what had happened. I knew the burden of proof was on me. I proved that his language skills has regressed in his current setting, I proved that he was not being properly supervised, I proved that the teacher gave him food that made him sick. I showed why if he didn't have an aid he would be a health and safety risk (Nicky was a darter), I proved that he couldn't get access to FAPE (Fair and Appropriate Public Education) with out one on one support. I even came prepared to prove that my kid who has greatly impaired speech and sensory integration challenges needed speech and OT.

They still denied his services and placement. I had to move on to legal mediation. In mediation I presented my information, and I got everything I asked for and everything Nicky needed.

After years of IEP’s - many of which have been incredible successful - I am finally past my over the top sick to my stomach type nervousness. All the same I don't think any family should go to an IEP unprepared. I know I will never go into an IEP unprepared.