Question:
How can I be sure my attorney is on my side? He jokes with the school’s attorneys during meeting breaks. They seem to be very chummy. Is this just another “good ole boys’ club”?
Answer:
This question comes up all the time, not just in special education cases. I often hear people say that the legal system is unfair. They watch the attorneys battle in the courtroom, then walk outside, laugh, and make plans to play golf. People assume it is a “good old boys” club and it is impossible for parents to get a fair hearing. They believe that all the attorneys are friends and that somehow makes it a conspiracy.
An attorney friend once explained it this way to me. He said that attorneys must separate what goes on in the courtroom from their personal life. They cannot let their courtroom opponents become hated enemies. Eventually, each attorney will face many, if not all, of the attorneys in their area as an opponent in court. If they begin to hate the opponents they face, soon they will hate ALL of the attorneys. At some time, they will face them all in court.
Attorneys have an ethical obligation to vigorously defend their clients. The legal system is adversarial, by design. That does not mean that all adversaries are enemies.
Many attorneys are frustrated actors/actresses. That is part of what makes them good at what they do. Think about it. To be a good advocate, your attorney must maintain his/her emotions. If she becomes out-of-control, the school’s attorney is in control. Yet, your attorney must be indignant and outraged at the way the school is treating you and your child. This takes a special skill and calling.
Do not assume that because those in the legal profession are civil – or even friendly – to each other that there is a conspiracy. Your attorney is on your side, or he would not have taken your case.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Institute of Special Education Advocacy
I am happy to announce that the application process for the 2014 Institute of Special Education Advocacy is now open. I understand that we have our first two applications already. Do not miss this opportunity to apply. The Institute is limited to 75 participants. The application process is lengthy and, we are told, not easy.
If you want to learn more about the Institute or want to download the application, please click the link below:
http://www.wrightslaw.com/speak/14.08.va.wm.htm
Will we see you there?
If you want to learn more about the Institute or want to download the application, please click the link below:
http://www.wrightslaw.com/speak/14.08.va.wm.htm
Will we see you there?
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Special Education Advocacy Training Introductory Meeting
COMING SOON: April 2014 SEATT Introductory Meeting
Are you a parent of a child who is in special education or who is struggling in school and you have been unsuccessful in getting appropriate services? Do you know a parent who has a child who is struggling in school? Are you intimidated by your IEP Meetings? SEATT is for you. We will be holding trainings on general advocacy, tests and measurements, Organizing your child's file, and other topics of interest. Please email me at patricia.howey@gmail.com if you are interested in participating. While this Advocacy group targets Tippecanoe County and the surrounding area, we welcome any parent who needs to learn to be a better, more efficient and effective advocate for their child.
Stay tuned here or on my website: http://www.pathowey.com for details on exactly when and where this meeting will be held.
Are you a parent of a child who is in special education or who is struggling in school and you have been unsuccessful in getting appropriate services? Do you know a parent who has a child who is struggling in school? Are you intimidated by your IEP Meetings? SEATT is for you. We will be holding trainings on general advocacy, tests and measurements, Organizing your child's file, and other topics of interest. Please email me at patricia.howey@gmail.com if you are interested in participating. While this Advocacy group targets Tippecanoe County and the surrounding area, we welcome any parent who needs to learn to be a better, more efficient and effective advocate for their child.
Stay tuned here or on my website: http://www.pathowey.com for details on exactly when and where this meeting will be held.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
William and Mary Law School's Institute in Special Education Advocacy
William & Mary Law School is holding its third annual
Institute in Special Education Advocacy (ISEA) this summer. Details and an
application can be found through the link below. Please share with interested
law students, experienced advocates, and attorneys new to special education
advocacy or early on in their experience representing children and families.
Last year we had fifty-five attendees from Alaska to Florida attend the
five-day event; this year our class size is growing to seventy-five, but spaces are going quickly. Pat is a member of the faculty of the Institute. We hope to see you there.
Monday, February 11, 2013
July 28-August 2, 2013: Williamsburg, VA - William & Mary Law Institute of Special Education Advocacy (ISEA). Five-day training program hosted by the William & Mary School of Law and co-sponsored by the PELE Special Education Advocacy Clinic, Wrightslaw, and The Oklahoma Disability Law Center. Attendees are selected by an application process.
Join Pat, Pete and Pam Wright, Mark Kamleiter and many other great special education attorneys and advocates. This will fill by May 1st. Don't delay in applying or you may be disappointed. To download the application information, go to: http://www.wrightslaw.com
Monday, October 22, 2012
Bullying and Restraint and Seclusion
The Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities July/August newsletter, SPARK, has great articles on Bullying. It also has an article that features a quote from Pat Howey regarding the restraint and seclusion of students with disabilties. To read the newsletter, click this link: http://www.in.gov/gpcpd/files/Bullying2012JulAug_Spark.pdf
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The Foundation of the IEP
Mark Kamleiter, Florida parent attorney (St. Petersburg) says that parents and advocates often focus only on the "last pages" of the IEP. That is what I see, too.
The concerns I hear from parents are mostly about placement, goals, and least restrictive environment. Yet, when I review the child's most recent Individualized Education Plan (IEP), there is little helpful information under the Present Levels of Functional and Academic Performance (PLOPs) section. The few lines that are written there are not helpful to the IEP Team. Often, I can find no relationship at all between the "present levels" and the "needs" and the "goals."
Most of the IEPs I review have, at most, three to four lines of PLOPs. Rarely, do they have Functional PLOPS. (Remember, schools still tell parents, "We do not have to do that because it is not related to academics.") Parents have to learn now to design accurate and up-to-date present levels. Advocates have to learn how to do this to and teach parents how to do this. It is one of the easiest things for parents to do because they know their child best. Until the PLOPs are accurate, parents will never be able to get the program, placement, or education their child needs.
The PLOPS are the foundation of the IEP. (The form your school uses may have each of these two levels in two separate sections). The PLOPs in all IEPs must include functional and academic performance. 20 U.S.C. Sect. 1414 (d) (1) (A) (i). Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition p. 99. The student's PLOPs must always be accurate and up-to-date.
When the IEP fails to include accurate and up-to-date information about the child's present levels, the IEP is defective. It has no foundation. Like Mark says, the parents and their advocates have focused their efforts on the "last pages" of the IEP. That is, they have provided information to the IEP Team about placement, goals, and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) instead of present levels of performance. They have placed the cart before the horse. Until they have completed accurate and up to date PLOPs, the IEP cannot be accurate.
Let's talk about the procedure that IEP Teams must follow when developing an IEP. First, we fill in the child's name and biographical information. Next, we provide information about how the child currently functions academically and in the real world. This is where the IEP Team usually fills in the test scores and grades. However, this section is about much more than that. The PLOPs are the most critical part of the IEP. It is also the section that most parents and advocates prepare for the least. The parents' input is most important during the IEP Team's assessment of the child's PLOPs. Only the parents know how the child functions at home, in the community, when doing homework, at work, and in the real world.
"The present levels of performance are the foundation for everything else in the IEP," says school attorney Joe Hatley. "If your starting point is fundamentally flawed, then everything that comes after that is flawed, too."
Each time the IEP Team meets, it must update the child's PLOPs. The Katonah-Lewisboro (NY) School District failed to do this for one of its students. It simply copied the last year's "Present Levels" into the new IEP, despite information that the student had made progress in all academic areas from the private placement the parents had secured the previous school year. The Second Circuit decision found that the child's IEP "was likely to cause [the student] to regress or make only trivial advancement."
The school district's fatal flaw cost it dearly. The Court ordered it to pay the student's private placement tuition. It also had to pay the parents attorneys fees and expenses of over $156,976.00. You can read the decision here:
http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?page=2&xmldoc=In%20FCO%2020120706055.xml&docbase=CSLWAR3-2007-CURR&SizeDisp=7
If you want to learn more about how to develop your child's Present Levels click the links below.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/howey/iep.functional.perf.htm
http://www.wrightslaw.com/howey/10tips.placement.htm
The concerns I hear from parents are mostly about placement, goals, and least restrictive environment. Yet, when I review the child's most recent Individualized Education Plan (IEP), there is little helpful information under the Present Levels of Functional and Academic Performance (PLOPs) section. The few lines that are written there are not helpful to the IEP Team. Often, I can find no relationship at all between the "present levels" and the "needs" and the "goals."
Most of the IEPs I review have, at most, three to four lines of PLOPs. Rarely, do they have Functional PLOPS. (Remember, schools still tell parents, "We do not have to do that because it is not related to academics.") Parents have to learn now to design accurate and up-to-date present levels. Advocates have to learn how to do this to and teach parents how to do this. It is one of the easiest things for parents to do because they know their child best. Until the PLOPs are accurate, parents will never be able to get the program, placement, or education their child needs.
The PLOPS are the foundation of the IEP. (The form your school uses may have each of these two levels in two separate sections). The PLOPs in all IEPs must include functional and academic performance. 20 U.S.C. Sect. 1414 (d) (1) (A) (i). Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition p. 99. The student's PLOPs must always be accurate and up-to-date.
When the IEP fails to include accurate and up-to-date information about the child's present levels, the IEP is defective. It has no foundation. Like Mark says, the parents and their advocates have focused their efforts on the "last pages" of the IEP. That is, they have provided information to the IEP Team about placement, goals, and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) instead of present levels of performance. They have placed the cart before the horse. Until they have completed accurate and up to date PLOPs, the IEP cannot be accurate.
Let's talk about the procedure that IEP Teams must follow when developing an IEP. First, we fill in the child's name and biographical information. Next, we provide information about how the child currently functions academically and in the real world. This is where the IEP Team usually fills in the test scores and grades. However, this section is about much more than that. The PLOPs are the most critical part of the IEP. It is also the section that most parents and advocates prepare for the least. The parents' input is most important during the IEP Team's assessment of the child's PLOPs. Only the parents know how the child functions at home, in the community, when doing homework, at work, and in the real world.
"The present levels of performance are the foundation for everything else in the IEP," says school attorney Joe Hatley. "If your starting point is fundamentally flawed, then everything that comes after that is flawed, too."
Each time the IEP Team meets, it must update the child's PLOPs. The Katonah-Lewisboro (NY) School District failed to do this for one of its students. It simply copied the last year's "Present Levels" into the new IEP, despite information that the student had made progress in all academic areas from the private placement the parents had secured the previous school year. The Second Circuit decision found that the child's IEP "was likely to cause [the student] to regress or make only trivial advancement."
The school district's fatal flaw cost it dearly. The Court ordered it to pay the student's private placement tuition. It also had to pay the parents attorneys fees and expenses of over $156,976.00. You can read the decision here:
http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?page=2&xmldoc=In%20FCO%2020120706055.xml&docbase=CSLWAR3-2007-CURR&SizeDisp=7
If you want to learn more about how to develop your child's Present Levels click the links below.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/howey/iep.functional.perf.htm
http://www.wrightslaw.com/howey/10tips.placement.htm
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