Parents of children with disabilities and their advocates pushed Secretary DeVos to maintain IDEA obligations for states during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yesterday, we won. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, enacted March 27, 2020, gave the Secretary 30 days to issue a report to Congress with her “recommendations on any additional waivers [...]
This month, Berney & Sang secured over $135,000 of compensatory education for a parent and child in federal court. The case, Jada H. v. Pennsylvania Department of Education, arose under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The child was denied a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) while attending a charter school, but the charter school [...]
Associate Morgen Black-Smith recently secured victories for two families in special education due process hearings. In both cases, Black-Smith represented parents of children with disabilities who used to attend Khepera Charter School. Alleging that Khepera denied their children a free and appropriate public education (FAPE), the parents requested compensatory education services. The Hearing Officer agreed with [...]
Last week, the United States Department of Education issued Questions & Answers addressing the Supreme Court's decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District, 137 S. Ct. 988 (2017). In Endrew F., the Supreme Court for the first time in over thirty years considered the legal standard for a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). Endrew F. held [...]
David J. Berney co-authored this article with Timothy Gilsbach, Esquire, for a continuing legal education presentation. I. Introduction The IDEA provides a series of procedural and substantive protections for parents and their children with qualifying disabilities. In considering an IDEA complaint, the hearing officer is supposed to make his/her decision “on substantive grounds based on [...]
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) is a federal law that was passed in 1975 in order to aid the nation’s students with physical and mental disabilities. The IDEA guarantees students access to special education; it is the nation's banner special education law. Finding that “[i]mproving educational results for children with disabilities is [...]
Question: I suspect my child's IEP may not be appropriate, but I am not an expert. I want to keep up good relations with my child’s school because I have 2 other children, but my friends tell me to hire an attorney or an advocate. What consequences should I expect if I decide to fight [...]
