The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) oversees Ohio’s implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), a federal law that entitles children with disabilities to a free appropriate...more
On March 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order (“EO”) titled “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities,” directing the Secretary of Education to undertake all...more
Schools consistently prioritize creating a safe educational environment for students and staff. Prevention and planning are a cornerstone of that process and appropriate discipline of students is a necessary component for...more
Glue is an object commonly found in schools, yet the “glue” that binds class action commonality appears to be a scarce commodity for students with disabilities and their parents. In September 2024, the Fourth Circuit decided...more
ISBE released a guidance document on residential placements, Guidance on PA 95-0844 and PA 95-0938. The document answers frequently asked questions related to residential placements of general education and special education...more
Governor Josh Shapiro recently announced that the proposed 2024-2025 budget for the Pennsylvania Department of Education includes a $1,436,815,000 special education appropriation....more
Third Circuit affirms lower court finding that a school district did not violate the IDEA or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Zachary J. through Jonathan and Jennifer J. of Lafayette Hill, PA v. Colonial Sch. Dist.,...more
On January 22, 2024, the United States Department of Education (“USDOE”) issued a Dear Colleague Letter regarding supporting students with disabilities who require assistive technology (“AT”) in order to receive meaningful...more
Late last week the Connecticut State Department of Education (“CSDE” or “Department”) issued new guidance addressing the rights of transgender students in Connecticut schools. Entitled Guidance on Civil Rights Protections...more
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) makes public education available to children with disabilities ages 3 to 21. The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) reports that 7.3...more
Supreme Court Blocks Use of Race in Harvard, UNC Admissions in Blow to Diversity Efforts - "In one of its most closely watched cases this year, the court ruled along ideological lines that the way the schools approached race...more
In May 2022, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it intended to strengthen and protect rights for students with disabilities by amending the regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973...more
As part of its ongoing efforts to increase inclusivity towards non-native English speakers in the academic setting, the Illinois State Board of Education amended its special education regulations to expand access to...more
The United States Supreme Court issued a decision in Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, No. 21-887, opening the door for future claims against schools for compensatory monetary damages. In its unanimous opinion, the Supreme...more
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of a deaf student in Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, 143 S. Ct. 81 (U.S. 2022), where the Court held that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) exhaustion...more
Can public school children with disabilities sue their schools for violations of the federal antidiscrimination statutes and collect compensatory damages before exhausting their administrative remedies under the Individuals...more
A.N. v. Upper Merion Area School District, 2022 WL 3371612 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 16, 2022). The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania upheld a hearing officer’s award of 5.5 hours of compensatory...more
On July 19, 2022, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) released several guidance documents concerning the civil rights of students...more
In Illinois, as universal masking is fading, the next question looms: what will the end of universal masking mean for staff and students with disabilities who are at high risk? Across the county, issues regarding universal...more
In this second blog post in our series on the OSERS Question and Answer document on IDEA requirements related to returning to in-person instruction, we are focusing on two questions relevant to this time of transition and...more
Welcome to the 2021-2022 school year. As the new year gets underway, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) within the Department of Education advised states and districts that it will be...more
On July 26, 2021, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Office for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) issued a Factsheet explaining the potential for students who have been infected with COVID-19 to...more
It is not uncommon for school districts and parents to disagree over what is to be included in a child’s individualized education program (“IEP”). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) provides a process...more
The American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Biden at the end of last week includes almost $130 billion in education funding. The vast majority of that money will be distributed to school districts based on the Title I...more
Now that many of us have been doing some form of remote learning for close to 7 months, we are starting to see hearing officers and state agencies weigh in to resolve complaints related to the appropriateness of remote...more