I have had several comments, emails and conversations come up recently that have led to issues of special education law. I know enough about it to (hopefully) stay in compliance when I am working on cases within our schools and regional programs but there are probably things that we do as professionals unknowingly that are on the edge. I know I have been to state meetings where we all ask what is the actual definition of the law in a certain case to make sure we know what we should be doing. To me that implies that maybe we weren't quite in-line with what we should be doing. It is a learning process for professionals and parents alike. I have some great administrators I work with that know the federal and state laws as they apply to Early Intervention, IEP's, etc. I am finishing up a two-year school administration program through Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. My School Law class was taught by a former principal who is now in a District Office in a supervisory role. He was witty, knowledgable and a great example of what I think a school administrator should be like. he taught me a lot about how to think in cases that could be full of potential landmines.
So where can we go for legal information? If you have an attorney in the family, that's nice, but special education law is a niche that needs specific knowledge. I refer to a blog site called: "Special EducationLaw Blog." This blog is a resource for case examples, advice, news and parent advocacy by Charles P. Fox, an attorney in Chicago, Illinois. He has other guest authors as well. I am putting his link on my important links list on the sidebar. I would highly recommend going there if you are researching something of a legal nature.
All the best to you!
