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February 2010 A British medical journal, the Lancet, formally retracted a 1998 article linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to Autism. In the retraction, the Lancet stated "We wish to make it clear that in this paper no causal link was established between (the) vaccine and autism, as the data were insufficient. However the possibility of such a link was raised, and consequent events have had major implications for public health. In view of this, we consider now is the appropriate time that we should together formally retract the interpretation placed upon these findings in the paper, according to precedent." January 2010 Illinois' new FOIA law goes into effect, requiring school boards to designate one or more officials/employees to act as formal Freedom of Information Officers. Other changes to the law include shortening the response time from 7 business days to 5 business days, prohibiting public bodies from charging the requestor for the first 50 pages, requiring a detailed factual basis for the denial of any request, removing the exemption of personnel records and personal employee information from the act, and imposing mandatory attorneys fees and fines to any public body which the court determines willfully and intentionally failed to comply with a FOIA. December 2009 A new federal law, the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (HR 4247), was introduced in congress to regulate the use of restraint and seclusion on students in schools. The law would ban the use of mechanical restraints, prohibit restraints which restrict breathing, and would ban staff members from denying students water, food, clothing or access to bathrooms to control behavior. November 2009 Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan held a Cyber Safety Summit, which included law enforcement officials, parents and school officials, to discuss the dangers of cyber bullying. The attorney general's office also has set up a website - www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/cyberbullying/index.html - to provide additional resources regarding cyberbullying. October 2009 President Obama signed an updated hate crimes bill into law on October 28, 2009, making it a federal offense to commit a crime against a person based on their disability. September 2009 A new Public Act , 96-0657, provides that a parent, independent educational evaluator, or other qualified, professional retained by the parent or child must be afforded reasonable access to the school and school personnel in order to evaluate the child and review the child's current and/or proposed educational program, placement or services. August 2009 Public Act 96-0542 is signed by Governor Pat Quinn, effective January 1, 2010, which makes comprehensive changes to the FOIA law (see entry for May of 2009 for more information). July 2009 The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals held in J.D. v Kanawha County Board of Education that parents of special education students were "prevailing parties" and entitled to attorneys' fees even though the legal relief obtained as a result of the due process hearing was less favorable than the settlement offered by the school district during mediation. June 2009 The U.S. Supreme Court, in its ruling in Forest Grove v T.A., maintained its previous position that disabled children, even if they had never before attended school within the public sector, continue to retain the right to retroactive reimbursement for private school placements due to their intensive special education needs. May 2009 WCT recently prevailed in an administrative due process hearing against the Chicago Public School District in a case which involved an 8th grade student diagnosed with Klinefelter's Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder which impairs language abilities, seeking placemnt at a private day school for children with Learning Disabilities. See the decision, G.S. v Chicago Public School District No. 299. April 2009 A pending Illinois House bill, HB 628, was sent to the Senate for approval which would require school distrcts to provide access to parents of special education students, independent educational evaluators and/or experts to observe students in the school setting. Currently, school districts can provide access at their discretion to these individuals. March 2009 Two new bills, SB 1885 and HB 640, were moved from committee levels to the houses for approval, which would allow school districts to suspend or expel students who have currently pending juvenile or criminal proceedings alleging the commission of a felony. February 2009 A pending Illinois House bill, HB 272, would require students to submit to random drug testing for performance-enhancing substances prior to being allowed to participate in an athletic competition sponsored or sanctioned by the IHSA. January 2009 The U.S. Department of Education issued the final regulations for the IDEA, effective January 1, 2009. These final regulations allow parents of students with disabilities to revoke consent for all special education services, and do not allow school districts to challenge the parents' withdrawal of consent using due process procedures. Please see our memo, Final Withdrawal of Consent Regulations Issued by US Department of Education, for more details. December 2008 The Illinois State Board of Education has ordered a 7% cut across the board in the budget for 2009, and is allowing school districts more leeway on how to use the funds they receive from the state for special education. See our Nonpublic Facilities Funding Alert for more information. November 2008 In Richardson Indep. Sch. Dist. v Michael Z. and Carolyn Z. ex. rel. Leah Z., a Texas federal court rules that the unilateral placement of a student in a "hybrid" placement was appropriate, and orders reimbursement for the parents for the cost of this placement. Please read our memo for additional information regarding this case. October 2008 The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 was passed as part of the financial bailout package on October 3, 2008. Please see our alert for detailed information regarding the significance of this new Public Act. September 2008 A special legislative session was called in Illinois this month in order "to consider measures aimed at increasing school funding, improving the school funding structure and eliminating any current inequities." As a result, the legislature has scheduled five public hearing dates to "give tax payers, education professionals, business and labor organizations, and civic groups a chance to have their say" regarding education funding reform. The hearings are scheduled for:
August 2008 President Bush signed in the Higher Education Opportunity Act, which includes provisions intended to improve the quality of K-12 teachers, increase financial aid access to low-income students, and raise accountability of higher education institutions. The bill also allows grants to improve the ability of general education teachers to teach students with disabilities and the establishment of a professional development task force for early childhood education program staff and administrators. July 2008 Illinois House Bill 4125 was signed by Governor Blagojevich, allowing for additional insurance coverage for related services for Autistic children. The bill mandates that both governmental and private insurance plans pay for an additional 20 speech therapy sessions per year for Developmentally Disabled and Autistic children, and goes into effect immediately. June 2008 WCT recently prevailed in an administrative due process hearing against the Chicago Public School District in a case which involved a 10-year-old boy with learning disabilities who was receiving inappropriate services at his homeschool. Please see this case summary for more details about J.I. v Chicago Public School District No. 299. May 2008 In May 2008, the Illinois State Board of Education issued ratings for every Illinois school district on their "performance... with regard to the provision of special education services." More information regarding these "Determinations" can be found on ISBE's website at http://www.isbe.state.il.us/spec-ed/html/lea_determinations.htm. While detailed information broken down by each school district is not available, a 177-page report summarizing the findings of the investigation found an increased number of non-graduating special education students (as compared to regular education students), that a mere 56.6% of parents surveyed reported that they believed their local school districts were facilitating parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities, and that only 24% of children age 16 and above had IEPs that included coordinated, measurable, annual goals and transition services that would reasonably enable the student to meet post-secondary goals. April 2008 A new study published by the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine finds that adopted children have a higher risk of exhibiting the characteristics of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as teenagers. The study, titled The Mental Health of US Adolescents Adopted in Infancy, was led by Margaret Keyes, a University of Minnesota research psychologist. March 2008 The 11th Circuit court of appeals upheld the lower court's decision to award parents of a disabled child four years of prospective private school placement as compensatory relief. In its opinion, Jarron Draper v Atlanta Independent School System, the court of appeals specifically rejected the claim that the student had to prove the district was incapable of providing compensatory education prior to receiving continued prospective placement at a private special education school. February 2008 The 7th Circuit court of appeals affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education and the Illinois State Board of Education that alleged the No Child Left Behind Act ("NCLB") and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA") are legally incompatible. The decision, Board of Education of Ottawa Township High School District 140 v U.S. Department of Education (07-2008) comes after two Illinois school districts and several special education students and their parents filed the suit, asking for the court to invalidate the NCLB requirements for changes in a child's IEP without regard to the students' individualized needs. January 2008 The "Civil Rights Act of 2008" was introduced in both the U.S. House (H.R. 5129) and U.S. Senate (S. 2554). The bill, among other provisions, impacts the IDEA by reversing two important U.S. Supreme Court rulings: Buckhannon and Murphy. In Buckhannon, the Supreme court ruled that parents were not allowed attorneys fees as "prevailing parties" if parents entered into settlement agreements with school districts. In Murphy, the Supreme court ruled that parents were not entitled to expert fees as part of the fee shifting provision in the IDEA. The purpose of these these new bills is stated as being "To restore, reaffirm, and reconcile legal rights and remedies under civil rights statutes." The Illinois House of Representatives also introduced a bill, H.B. 4268, which would require school districts who expel a student to "permit the student to transfer to another attendance center within the district for the remainder of the expulsion." December 2007 Illinois Senator Barack Obama introduced U.S. Senate Bill 2428 to establish and maintain a public website through which parents and students can access a complete database of available scholarships, fellowships and other financial assistance programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. November 2007 Parents of triplets filed a Petition to the U.S. Supreme court to determine whether the "stay put" provision in the IDEA applies to early intervention services. The parents rejected the triplets' proposed IEPs upon turning age three, and argue that the district has to continue to fund implementation of their early intervention services pending a final outcome of the dispute. D.P. ex rel. E.P., D.P. and K.P v. School Bd. of Broward County , 483 F.3d 725 (11th Cir. 04/03/07) October 2007 The U.S. Supreme court made a determination that the parents of a disabled child, who was never enrolled in the public school district, were entitled to reimbursement of private school tuition. (Board of Education of City School District of New York v Tom F. ) The underlying U.S. District court and 2nd Circuit appellate court decisions can be found at Board of Education of City School District of New York v Tom F. (District court decision). and Board of Education of City School District of New York v Tom F. (2nd Circuit appellate decision). In addition, a U.S. District court of Illinois ruled that parents of disabled children over the age of 18 do not have independent, enforceable rights under the IDEA, and therefore dismissed an appeal of an administrative hearing decision against an Illinois school district. The opinion can be found at Loch v Board of Education of Edwardsville Community School District 7 . Sept. 2007 The 7th circuit U.S. District court issued a decision regarding stay-put, indicating that if a specific teaching methodology is not included in a child's IEP, then the district is not required to continue that methodology during a pending educational dispute. (John M. by Christine M. and Michael M. v Board of Education of Evanston Township High School District No. 202, 107 LRP 53843 ) August 2007 The Illinois legislature was hard at work this month, passing several new education laws which amend the School Code. One such law (105 ILCS 5/14-6.10) gives 18-year-old children the right to appoint a parent to retain educational decision-making authority for them by executing a Delegation of Rights . In addition, an anti-bullying law (105 ILCS 5/27-23.7) was finally passed in Illinois, which mandates all public school districts by the end of February 2008 to draft a written policy on bullying, and to communicate this bullying policy to parents and students on an annual basis. July 2007 New Illinois special education regulations are finalized. A memo summarizing the changes can be found at: 2007 Illinois spec ed regulations revision . |
