From The Courts: Failure to Provide Door-to-Door Transportation Did Not Violate IDEA
A U.S. District Court has upheld the ruling of a New Jersey Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) that transportation to and from the corner bus stop, rather than to and from the child’s front door, did not result in denial of a free appropriate public education and did not...
FROM THE CAPITOL: USDOE Warns Schools Not To Overlook Assistive Technology In IEPs
With new guidance, the U.S. Department of Education is pushing schools to ensure that all students with disabilities have the assistive technology they need and the supports to use it effectively. The agency issued a “Dear Colleague” letter and a 24-page...
From the Courts: Pennsylvania Students Illegally Denied a Year of Special Ed
The State of Pennsylvania is depriving students with disabilities of a year of instruction as young adults, according to a lawsuit filed this spring. Federal law entitles students with disabilities the right to FAPE until they earn a regular high school diploma or...
The Right to a Free and Appropriate Public Education
Common Ground is committed to informing families and guardians about parental rights and special education advocacy. In this and upcoming editions we will share a series of basic and important special education topics on the rights, responsibilities, administrative...
Q&A: Compensatory Education and COVID-Related Losses
Q: What is compensatory education? A: Compensatory education is designed to get a student to the place they would have been had they not been deprived of special education and related services. The content of a compensatory education program should be based on a...Legal Trends: Special Education, COVID, and the Law
The COVID-19 pandemic and its disruption of education has had schools, parents, and advocates wondering about accountability for services for students with disabilities that were lost under school closures, and due to remote and virtual instruction. Dr. Perry Zirkel,...From the Courts: District Ordered to Reimburse Parents for Unilateral Placement in Private School
A judge has ordered a Morris County School district to reimburse the parents of a child with disabilities for four years of private school tuition and transportation as a result of the district’s failure to provide FAPE. The parents had unilaterally placed their son...Q&A: Endrew F. Supreme Court Case: Strengthening The Voices of Families at IEP Meetings
Many parents have had an experience similar to the one faced by Endrew F.’s parents, in which their child’s IEP goals don’t vary each year and there is lack of progress. BY DIANA AUTIN, MARIA DOCHERTY AND LAUREN AGORATUS, M.A. The recent Supreme Court case, Endrew F....From The Courts: Compensatory Education in the Form of Tutoring Ordered
An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has ordered a Morris County school district to provide compensatory education to a student with disabilities. The case involves a student with behavioral disabilities, including self-injury, who had been placed in a public school...NJCommonGround.org, and the Common Ground E-newsletter are projects of the NJ Council on Developmental Disabilities
.
.
- The Right to a Free and Appropriate Public Education
- What to Do if You Suspect Your Child has a Disability Impacting Their Education
- Initial Special Education Evaluations and Eligibility
- The Individualized Education Program (IEP)
- Special Education Placement
- Q&A: What are Extended School Year (ESY) Services?
- Q&A: Dispute Resolution