I don't know if this is of interest to anyone, or if it's in fact old news. I've been taking a special education lay advocacy course and we've been discussing some substantial changes to the IDEA. I still have two weeks left in the course, but I thought I'd outline some areas that might be of concern as I see them.
As of July 1, 2005
-They are doing away with most of the goals on IEP's. Most students will only have the main annual goals. Only students with severe disabilities will get the more specific goals
-There will be no more status quo. If the school district wants to put your child in a placement that you disagree with, or eliminate services, your child will NOT stay in his/her current placement during the dispute process. They will be placed where the school district wants until you prevail and get them the services back, or get them back in a placement you feel is appropriate.
-The have added additional layers to the dispute system, so it will be a longer time frame to resolution of disputes. Due to lack of status quo this may lead to longer innapropriate placements for your child.
-If a dispute goes to binding arbitration where lawyers are involved, and the complaint is found to be frivolous, the parent and/or lawyer may be responsible for the legal fees of the school district. The main problem with this is that there are zero guidelines for what constitutes frivolous. It's completely subjective. Some of our area educational lwayers are already planning on not taking anymore cases.
-Parents will only automatically receive a copy of their child's IEP after the annual review. If you have to go back to a CSE committee to amend an IEP, the parent will only receive a copy of the IEP if they request it in writing.
There are many other items that are effected, but I can't get to my notes right now. It really seems as if the new laws favor the districts instead of the child/parents. It seems like we're stepping back instead of forward. If this is of interest to anyone, I'll post things as I learn them.
As of July 1, 2005
-They are doing away with most of the goals on IEP's. Most students will only have the main annual goals. Only students with severe disabilities will get the more specific goals
-There will be no more status quo. If the school district wants to put your child in a placement that you disagree with, or eliminate services, your child will NOT stay in his/her current placement during the dispute process. They will be placed where the school district wants until you prevail and get them the services back, or get them back in a placement you feel is appropriate.
-The have added additional layers to the dispute system, so it will be a longer time frame to resolution of disputes. Due to lack of status quo this may lead to longer innapropriate placements for your child.
-If a dispute goes to binding arbitration where lawyers are involved, and the complaint is found to be frivolous, the parent and/or lawyer may be responsible for the legal fees of the school district. The main problem with this is that there are zero guidelines for what constitutes frivolous. It's completely subjective. Some of our area educational lwayers are already planning on not taking anymore cases.
-Parents will only automatically receive a copy of their child's IEP after the annual review. If you have to go back to a CSE committee to amend an IEP, the parent will only receive a copy of the IEP if they request it in writing.
There are many other items that are effected, but I can't get to my notes right now. It really seems as if the new laws favor the districts instead of the child/parents. It seems like we're stepping back instead of forward. If this is of interest to anyone, I'll post things as I learn them.