Mark
Posted on 11/14/2005 10:10:08 AM PST by SmithL
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Monday that parents who demand better special education programs for their children have the burden of proof in the challenges.
Retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, writing for the 6-2 court, said that when parents challenge a program they have the burden in an administrative hearing of showing that the program is insufficient. If schools bring a complaint, the burden rests with them, O'Connor wrote.
The ruling is a loss for a Maryland family that contested the special education program designed for their son with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The case required the court to interpret the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, which does not specifically say whether parents or schools have the burden of proof in disputes. The law covers more than 6 million students.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Amen to you. And I agree with the court's ruling. If I am going to complain that the school is not doing enough, I darn well should be able to prove it.
Wow.
Was your ex-wife attracted to the same type of guy?
(gotcha!)
Personally it's probably a good thing you not on the teaching end of things.
At some point in life we all will face a giant diversity beyond our own ability to remedy.
So sad that you equate money with the same value as other peoples lives.
I can see with some of the attitudes displayed on this thread why some are turned off by so called conservatives.
I will not quote the bible or try to flame you.
Your entitled to your own opinions.
I suppose they look at the overall program and not just one aspect of it. Also, they would need to compare how similar children are doing in the same program. I would think that the buddy idea might have worked well for some who did not get stuck with a loser buddy. Do you think you could have presented your problems to the school with any positive results?
I am not pro public school. I suppose I should reveal that. But if you choose to place your child there then you have to live with certain things. I still think the parents retain the right to have a say in key areas. I think you should have been able to request a change for your child in that buddy system nonsense. Schools should respect parents. But that does't mean courts should allow one parent with a hyperactive child to rewrite the program for everyone. There are pitfalls both directions.
Money for who?
I hope you are right. But it makes you wonder why only "now" are we "discovering" AHDH and yet somehow for thousands of years people had kids who didn't pay attention and yet they managed without drugs.
Everyone says ADHD is over-diagnosed yet no one is ever the one whose kid was the mis-diagnosis.
I have a valid opinion in this, because, as I said in an earlier post, I would have been ADHD and drugged. And I firmly believe that the cost of that drugging would have been a certain intense creativity that has made me quite successful.
I learned self-control. I learned to manage my emotions. With no drugs. Nothing was stolen from me. But my (late) Mom had to pay the price along the way. I am not sure if she would say it was worth the price. But I would put real money that she would say that she would prefer me as myself than a semi-zombied drug-dependant
But I can't raise your kids and I can't know your situation. I merely put it to you to reconsider the long-term results of drugs as a therapy. When does it end? What has been lost?
Very nice reply.
I didn't want my kid in the buddy system. I thought he would do better with a teacher reading with him, than a 6th grader! It was a waste of time.
And there is no way in the world a parent would have access to the information on other kids in the program. That information is confidential. So, the parents are hamstringed going into this.
With this ruling, it will not stop with special ed kids...next, no parent will be able to protest any school program without "proving" that the program did not help their child's education. Diversity training is one item.
Rulings like this take the power away from the parents. These parents protested the program their son was in. The court says that they can not just plain not like it....the court says that the parents have no say in their own child's education plan, unless they get some kind of special ed professional lawyer to prove to the court that the program did not benefit their child! What if they just did not like it? Too bad, the school knows best....government knows best what is best for your child.
No, I think you are misinterpreting it as well as ignoring the dangers on the other side.
Not trying to be rude or judgmental, just wondering if you realize that the examples of quality time you cite with your daughter always involve other children, not one-on-one. Girl scout leader? Sunday School teacher? Classroom volunteer?
Have you ever considered dropping some of the activities involving other people's children and focusing on your own exclusively?
Another excellent post.
I sure wish that God had taken some of my skills in other areas and given me the ability to write better English.
Oh please go ahead and expose some of this nitpicking crap from people who like to call themselves conservatives.
I think that I am more or just as conservative as most on this forum but I damn well at least have some compassion for others and their values.
I certainly have empathy for the parent with an ADHD, Autism or any other disability.
Yes I said disability.
Mark
Thanks for the comments, I am happy for you and your son.
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