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• North Carolina disability group sues to investigate claims of abuse [HTML 4,338kb]
  Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC), a protection and advocacy group for people with disabilities, has filed a lawsuit against the Wake County Board of Education (WCBOE) to investigate complaints of autistic students being improperly restrained, reports Raleigh-Durham television station WRAL.
  
• Florida district settles special ed suit for $475,000 [HTML 3,144kb]
  According to the Lakeland Ledger, Polk County School District (PCSD) has settled a lawsuit brought by Bill and Janie Sammons, the parents of an autistic child, Drew, that claimed PCSD failed to provide the child with a proper education.
  
• Virginia backtracks on two controversial special ed regs [HTML 2,036kb]
  The Virginia State Department of Education (VDE) has removed two provisions from its proposed special education regulations that would have reduced parents’ role in making decisions about their child’s education, reports the Newport News Daily Press.
  
• Iowa families sue district over use of time-out rooms [HTML 3,898kb]
  Two families have sued the Waukee school district for the way teachers used “timeout” rooms to discipline unruly children, according to the Des Moines Register.
  
• Oregon district asks U.S. Supreme Court to take up unresolved special ed issue [HTML 4,957kb]
  The Oregonian reports that Forest Grove School District (FGSD) has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to settle a dispute over when the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires school districts to reimburse parents whose children attend specialized private schools.
  
• Congress votes to expand disability protections [HTML 4,469kb]
  The New York Times reports that Congress has given final approval to a major civil rights bill, expanding protections for people with disabilities and overturning several recent Supreme Court decisions.
  
• Court monitor says D.C. schools still falling short on special education [HTML 5,481kb]
  Federal court monitor Amy Totenberg indicates that D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) continue to fall woefully short in meeting the needs of students with learning disabilities and physical or behavioral challenges, the Washington Post reports.
  
• District uses Response to Intervention to reduce special ed designations [HTML 3,165kb]
  According to the News-Press in Fort Myers, the Lee County School District (LCSD) has refocused its philosophy on special education, known in Florida as exceptional student education, by working to pinpoint reading difficulties before a student's progress lapses.
  
• Student’s suicide in seclusion room results in lawsuit [HTML 4,616kb]
  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the parents of a Georgia student who committed suicide in 2004 while locked in a small seclusion room have sued the alternate public school at which he was receiving special education services, as well as the agency that oversees the school.
  
• NSBA submits comments on proposed IDEA regulations [HTML 1,841kb]
  NSBA, with input from COSA members, has submitted comments to the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS) on its proposed regulations governing the Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities Program and Preschool Grants for Children with Disabilities Program under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• Pennsylvania issues new rules on “least restrictive environment” for all teachers [HTML 3,957kb]
  The Centre Daily Times reports that the Pennsylvania State Board of Education (PBOE) has made sweeping changes to its rules governing the “least-restrictive environment” (LRE) approach toward special education.
  
• Elimination of school Medicaid reimbursements delayed [HTML 970kb]
  President Bush has signed a War Supplemental Appropriations Bill that includes a provision delaying the implementation of Medicaid regulations that would eliminate certain transportation and administration reimbursements to schools for services provided to low-income students with disabilities.
  
• MD law allows disabled athletes to complete alongside their able bodied peers [HTML 1,009kb]
  The Washington Examiner reports that Maryland recently enacted a law that guarantees disabled students the right to race or play alongside students in mainstream athletics, unless their participation endangers the players.
  
• Federal suit settled in Washington state over institutionalized disabled students [HTML 2,727kb]
  The Seattle Times reports that last year the State of Washington, reversing a decades-long trend, began sending disabled students to live in state institutions. At two of those institutions, the Fircrest School in Shoreline and the Frances Haddon Morgan Center in Bremerton, the students were told they couldn't attend their local public schools as they had been doing.
  
• ED issues proposed IDEA regs [HTML 1,062kb]
  The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS) of the Department of Education (ED) has proposed to amend regulations governing the Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities Program and Preschool Grants for Children with Disabilities Program under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• Virginia proposed special education rules spark controversy [HTML 3,164kb]
  An Associated Press report in the Hampton Roads Daily Press indicates that Virginia is working on revising its special education laws in order to conform with the changes to federal law resulting from the U.S. Congress's reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2004 and subsequent changes to federal regulations.
  
• D.C. schools and special ed plaintiff’s lawyers seek truce [HTML 3,587kb]
  After tangling in litigation for close to a decade, the District of Columbia school system agreed in 2006 to work quickly to pare down a backlog of cases related to special education services it had failed to provide to students with disabilities.
  
• Wisconsin district must pay for special ed of man in local residential facility [HTML 1,709kb]
  The Wisconsin Supreme Court has declined to consider an appeal of a court decision that would force the Oconomowoc Area School District to pay the educational costs of a disabled man placed in a residential treatment center within its boundaries.
  
• Florida district removes teacher over “voting out” autistic kindergartner [HTML 2,328kb]
  St. Lucie County School District officials removed the Morningside Elementary kindergarten teacher who had students vote last week whether a 5-year-old should be allowed to stay in class from her teaching position pending an investigation.
  
• Florida hearing officer awards $720,000 in IDEA autism case [HTML 1,899kb]
  Polk County schools failed to adequately educate an autistic student and now must pay up to $720,000 to give 22-year-old Andrew "Drew" Sammons a proper education, an administrative law judge has ruled.
  
• Parents protest proposed change to Virginia special ed consent rule [HTML 3,700kb]
  A proposed revision of Virginia's special education rules is triggering widespread protests among parents of disabled students, who say it would strip them of power in negotiating their children's education.
  
• U.S House votes against Medicaid cuts [HTML 1,552kb]
  A veto-proof majority of the U.S. House voted to block seven Medicaid regulations issued by the Bush administration that would cut federal payments to states by $33 billion during the next decade.
  
• Education groups urge Supreme Court to hear case on whether IEP must identify school [HTML 2,655kb]
  The school board is asking the Court to review a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (VA, MD, NC, SC), 484 F.3d 672 (4th Cir. 2007) that the school district failed to provide a student with the free appropriate public education (FAPE) required by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by failing in the student’s Individualized Educational Program (IEP) to identify the specific private day school at which he would receive services.
  
• D.C. Public Schools misses court ordered goal for special education placements [HTML 1,836kb]
  D.C. officials say the city's public school system will be unable to comply with terms of a federal court order to improve services to special needs students by June.
  
• Report says Section 504 rules cause confusion for schools [HTML 6,627kb]
  Students with health or cognitive problems who aren’t eligible for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) have protection under another federal law: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
  
• Texas law on autistic students increases details, concerns [HTML 4,019kb]
  Parents of Texas' roughly 20,000 autistic students hope that recent changes to state law will resolve one of special education's more contentious areas by clearly spelling out considerations that must be made for their children.
  
• Class action suit says Calif. special education hearing officers unqualified [HTML 3,767kb]
  A federal class-action lawsuit filed last week on behalf of a California family alleges that state officials who decide disputes between parents and school districts over special education services are unqualified, inadequately trained and side with districts too often.
  
• New Orleans charter schools struggle to meet special education needs [HTML 3,938kb]
  Two years after charter schools began taking over the city's education landscape, they serve, on average, significantly fewer special education students than traditional schools.
  
• Some states shift IDEA burden of proof to schools [HTML 6,182kb]
  New Jersey lawmakers recently changed state law to require schools to bear the burden of proving, if there is a dispute with parents, that the educational plans they create for students with disabilities are appropriate.
  
• Connecticut education leaders give state lawmakers an earful [HTML 3,829kb]
  Danbury, Connecticut area educators have criticized state legislators in a meeting for passing laws without considering the cost to school districts.
  
• Disabled students and accelerated programs [HTML 1,160kb]
  The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued a “Dear Colleague” letter warning that the practice of not allowing qualified students with disabilities to participate in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes or programs or requiring them to give up services to participate violates both Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  
• Parents of students with disabilities oppose mainstreaming [HTML 3,687kb]
  As policy makers push to include more special-education students into general classrooms, they are facing opposition from an unlikely quarter: some parents of students with disabilities.
  
• New York City challenges private placement of special education children [HTML 4,099kb]
  New York City, at the suggestion of private consultants, is significantly ramping up its effort to challenge cases in which it pays for private school tuition of children with disabilities whose parents say they are ill-served by the public schools.
  
• NSBA signs on to amicus brief in Thompson R2-J School District v. Luke P. [HTML 2,120kb]
  NSBA has joined the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), along with the Colorado BOCES Association and the Colorado Special Education Directors Consortium, in an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (CO, KS, NM, OK, UT, WY) in Thompson R2-J School District v. Luke P.
  
• Under IDEA districts that cannot properly educate special education students must fund private placement [HTML 4,256kb]
  Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) special education students are guaranteed an education equivalent to that received by non-disabled students. Included in the guarantee is a requirement that school districts that cannot properly educate special education students must provide funding for those students to attend private day or residential schools.
  
• Schools struggle as number of children with autism soars [HTML 4,591kb]
  As the number of children found to have autism has soared nationally, districts across the New York City region are struggling to provide appropriate support services, which typically involve individualized instruction, and to manage the escalating costs.
  
• Supreme Court affirms decision allowing private school tuition reimbursement [HTML 4,175kb]
  The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed a federal appellate decision allowing the father of a learning-disabled child to seek private school tuition reimbursement from New York City without first giving the city's public school program a chance to meet the boy's needs.
  
• Supreme Court hears oral argument in private school placement case [HTML 4,462kb]
  The U.S. Supreme Court has heard oral argument in a case that involves the issue of whether parents are entitled to tuition reimbursement under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for unilateral private school placements if their children have never attended public school.
  
• Maryland officials call Medicaid changes "mean-spirited" [HTML 3,393kb]
  Maryland officials say a recent decision by federal Medicaid administrators to stop reimbursing states for the cost of transporting disabled students to and from school is part of a "mean-spirited," months-long trend to "dump additional costs onto the states."
  
• Medicaid reimbursement [HTML 2,295kb]
  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a proposed rule that would eliminate federal Medicaid payments for administrative activities performed by school districts and transportation from home to school and back for school-aged children with individualized education programs (IEPs) established pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
  
• New York law places burden of proof for IEPs on schools [HTML 2,034kb]
  New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has signed a new law which places the burden on school districts to prove that they are satisfying legal obligations to provide an appropriate Individualized Education Program (IEP) for students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• Parents disappointed because children in special education pass without learning [HTML 5,146kb]
  This new era of higher expectations for the 14% of U.S. students who are in special education has seen a new voice emerge: parents disappointed not because their children are failing, but because they're passing without learning.
  
• Lawsuit alleges New Jersey fails to meet obligation to mainstream disabled students [HTML 1,450kb]
  A coalition of child advocacy groups has filed a lawsuit in federal district court against the New Jersey Department of Education alleging the state has failed to meet its obligation to educate students with disabilities alongside other students.
  
• Parents says administrative reviews back schools in special education disputes [HTML 6,607kb]
  Many parents and advocates for the disabled say administrative reviews in many parts of the U.S. overwhelmingly back school districts in disputes over paying for special education services.
  
• NSBA files amicus brief in case involving "stay put" requirement of IDEA [HTML 1,613kb]
  NSBA has filed an amicus brief, below, in a case currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit involving the parameters of the so-called “stay put” requirement of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• Testing Limited English Proficiency Students [HTML 2,681kb]
  The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has issued non-regulatory guidance on assessment and accountability for limited English proficiency (LEP) students under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), as well as a notice requesting recommendations on developing a federal framework to consider in evaluating the quality of their standards and assessments for English language proficiency (ELP).
  
• IDEA Part C – Infants & Toddlers [HTML 2,221kb]
  The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has issued proposed rules regarding the early intervention program for infants and toddlers with disabilities. The proposed regulations implement the changes made to Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2004.
  
• Supreme Court to hear IDEA case about reimbursement for private school placement [HTML 4,399kb]
  The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Board of Education of City of New York v. Tom F., Docket No. 06-637, involving whether parents who place their children with disabilities in private schools, without the students ever having been enrolled in the public school system, are entitled to reimbursement at public expense.
  
• Supreme Court hears oral argument in Winkelman v. Parma City School District [HTML 4,317kb]
  The U.S. Supreme Court has heard oral argument in Winkelman v. Parma City School District, Docket No. 05-983, a case examining to what extent, if any, a non-lawyer parent of a minor child with a disability may represent his or her child without an attorney, in a federal court action under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• Parents of autistic student settle suit for more than $300,000 in money and services [HTML 3,114kb]
  Parents of an autistic boy in Irvine, California, who alleged they were forced to shower employees at his elementary school with lavish gifts worth $100,000 to ensure he received proper schooling will get money and services amounting to more than $300,000 in a settlement with Irvine Unified School District (IUSD).
  
• Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Winkelman v. Parma City School District [HTML 4,079kb]
  On Feb. 27, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Winkelman v. Parma City School District, Docket No. 05-983, a case examining to what extent, if any, a non-lawyer parent of a minor child with a disability may represent his or her child pro se, without an attorney, in a federal court action under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• New York district in standoff with family of deaf student over his assistant dog [HTML 5,538kb]
  A New York school district and the family of a deaf student are engaged in a standoff over whether the boy can bring his assistance dog to school.
  
• Department of Education requests comments on comprehensive plan proposal [HTML 2,024kb]
  The Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) has requested comments and recommendations on its proposed comprehensive plan for national activities under Part D of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• Parents of autistic student claim they had to shower school employees with gifts to get proper schooling for their son [HTML 3,048kb]
  The parents of an autistic student in Irvine, California claim they were forced to shower employees at his elementary school with lavish gifts worth $100,000 to get proper schooling for their severely autistic son.
  
• Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether parents can represent their child in court under IDEA [HTML 3,886kb]
  The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether parents who are not lawyers have a right to represent their child with disabilities, or themselves, in federal court under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• Parents of special needs students increasingly battle schools over how to educate their children [HTML 3,827kb]
  As school districts’ financial resources are stretched further, parents of students with special needs are increasingly locked in battle over how best to educate their children.
  
• Department of Education announces community-based meeting to educate the public about new IDEA regulations [HTML 2,014kb]
  The Department of Education’s (ED) Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) has announced a series of community-based public meetings to provide the public with an opportunity to learn about the major concepts and principle changes in the new Part B regulations implementing the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• Federal legislation introduced to block plan to cut Medicaid reimbursements to schools [HTML 6,625kb]
  Federal legislation has been introduced to block the plan by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to cut Medicaid reimbursements to schools for services they provide to students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• Department of Education announces new IDEA regulations [HTML 2,603kb]
  The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has announced new regulations for Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• Bush Administration plan would strip schools of $3.6 billion in Medicaid reimbursement [HTML 3,075kb]
  A Bush Administration plan to prohibit federal reimbursement for transportation and administrative costs associated with special education services for Medicaid-eligible children could cost school districts more than $3.6 billion over the next five years.
  
• Supreme Court heard oral argument in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy [HTML 6,353kb]
  The U.S. Supreme Court has heard oral argument in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy, Docket No. 05-18, a case involving whether parents are entitled to reimbursement for expert witness fees when they succeed in a legal claim under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• District of Columbia Board of Education places the burden of proof on parents who challenge adequacy of their child's IEP [HTML 3,324kb]
  In a preliminary vote, the District of Columbia Board of Education has approved a controversial proposal that will place the burden of proof on parents who seek due process hearings to challenge the adequacy of instructional plans for their special needs children.
  
• Controversy over dog raises question about balancing the needs of students with disabilities [HTML 4,980kb]
  An impasse between a couple and their school district in Stafford, Virginia over their request that a dog accompany their child to speech class raises a larger question: How far must schools go to balance the needs of students with disabilities against the needs of other students and school employees?
  
• Parents of special education students seek to overturn ruling on expert fees under IDEA [HTML 1,538kb]
  A group of parents of special education students has filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Goldring v. District of Columbia, Docket No. 05-1027, seeking to overturn the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia's ruling that prevailing parties under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are not entitled to public reimbursement of expert fees.
  
• NSBA submits amicus brief to Supreme Court in the case of Murphy v. Arlington Central School District Board of Education [HTML 2,048kb]
  NSBA, joined by the American Association of School Administrators, the New York State School Boards Association, and the New York State Council of School Superintendents, has submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Murphy v. Arlington Central School District Board of Education, Docket No. 05-18.
  
• Washington, D.C. school board tabled resolution seeking to change a law, that puts the burden of proof on the school district [HTML 4,269kb]
  The Washington, D.C. school board has tabled a resolution seeking to change a law, that puts the burden of proof on the school district when its instructional plans for special education students are challenged by parents.
  
• Department of Education releases proposed requirements for Multi-Year Individualized Education Program (IEP) Demonstration Program [HTML 2,860kb]
  The Department of Education (ED) has proposed requirements and selection criteria for states interested in participating in the Multi-Year Individualized Education Program (IEP) Demonstration Program under the new authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• Department of Education releases proposed requirements of Paperwork Waiver Demonstration Program [HTML 3,004kb]
  The Department of Education (ED) has proposed requirements and selection criteria for states interested in participating in the Paperwork Waiver Demonstration Program under the new authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• Supreme Court has granted review in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy [HTML 1,454kb]
  The U.S. Supreme Court has granted review in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy, Docket No. 05-18, a case involving whether parents are entitled to reimbursement for expert witness fees when they succeed in a legal claim under the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  
• Maryland selects nine administrators from across the state to work directly with the Baltimore school system [HTML 2,709kb]
  Following a federal district court's decision to adopt the State of Maryland's plan to assume control over the City of Baltimore's special education operations, the state has selected nine administrators from across Maryland to work directly with the Baltimore school system in personnel, information technology, guidance, transportation, and other departments to improve the delivery of special education services.
  
• Supreme Court has declined to review suit over autistic child [HTML 3,690kb]
  The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in a case in which Tennessee parents had filed suit saying their autistic child, Zachary Deal, was not receiving proper special education services from the county schools.
  
• Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Schaffer v. Weast [HTML 4,750kb]
  The U.S. Supreme Court has heard oral arguments in Schaffer v. Weast, a special education case over who should have the burden of proving the adequacy of individualized education programs (IEPs) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) when parents challenge a school district's IEP in an administrative hearing.
  
• Manhattan Beach Unified School District agrees to $6.7 million settlement of a special education suit [HTML 2,666kb]
  Manhattan Beach Unified School District (MBUSD) has agreed to pay the family of a special education student more than $6.7 million to settle a suit filed in a California federal district court.
  
• City of Baltimore school officials unveil plan to fix special education program [HTML 2,075kb]
  City of Baltimore school officials have unveiled a plan in federal district court to hire two outside consultants to fix the city's beleaguered special education program.