Free Republic

As big government makes one-size-fits-all decisions for California families, leaving kids without essential resources and their constitutionally guaranteed right to education, parents are asking, 'What does that future look like?' California students have officially kicked off their school year, but they’ve hardly gone “back to school.” Thanks to Gov. Gavin Newsom, 34 counties are on the so-called state monitoring list as of this writing, meaning children in those counties are barred from attending in-person classes.In coordination with the Dhillon Law Group, a band of California parents filed a lawsuit with a U.S. District Court challenging the Democrat governor’s mandate and...

Online education just doesn't work for children with special needs. If we truly care about the marginalized in society, we have to open schools immediately. My son, now 11 years old, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder when he was three. Since then, he has been in intensive behavioral intervention treatment almost continuously until the coronavirus lockdown closed our city in March.His treatment is two-pronged: at-home therapy focused on everyday functioning (paid through private insurance) and an individualized education program at his school to target academics and socialization. He receives speech and occupational therapy services as a part of his...

Brian Papin, a special education teacher an Atlanta, Georgia school Cedar Grove High School, praised Ohio man Isaiah Jackson for kneeling on the neck of a white baby. A photo of Jackson recently went viral of him kneeling on his girlfriend's two year-old baby with a caption on the photo, "Blm now mf."

WASHINGTON—A federal court in Washington ruled Thursday that an Obama administration policy seeking to address the high proportion of black and Hispanic children in special-education classes must go into effect. The Trump administration attempted to delay the rule’s implementation last year, which would require school districts not to place disproportionate numbers of minority students—either too many or too few—into special-education tracks or isolated settings at school. The rule was originally set to take effect in July 2018, before the Trump administration delayed it. The federal judge, Tanya S. Chutkan, an Obama appointee on the District of Columbia district court, argued...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 51% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Forty-eight percent (48%) disapprove. The latest figures include 36% who Strongly Approve of the way Trump is performing and 40% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -4. (see trends).

---SNIP--- the cost of merely getting Kareem Bellamy to and from school every day runs the taxpayer about $58,450 annually — more than a year of undergraduate tuition at Columbia University, the most expensive college in America. The district’s cost for the average bus rider is about $4,500 a year. Something that comes with a Cadillac price, one would assume, comes with Cadillac service. But when WHYY asked parents, advocates, and lawyers about taxicab transportation for students, we heard more grumbling than gratitude.

DAVENPORT, Iowa — An Iowa state audit of Davenport’s special education program has found the district in “systemic non-compliance” with several parts of the federal law that governs the education of students with disabilities. The Iowa Department of Education told the district to work with a national expert to deal with a disproportionate number of students of color identified for special education services, as well as a disproportionate number of minority special education students subjected to disciplinary actions.

The Trump administration spent much of its first year blocking or delaying its predecessor’s regulations. Thankfully, that work continues apace in year two. Any day now, look for the Education Department to halt implementation of an Obama -era rule on racial disparities in special education that was set to take full effect in July. Black students are more likely than white students to be placed in special-education classes, and the Obama administration attributed the disparity (along with nearly every black-white gap) to racial bias. Thus in late 2016, weeks before leaving office, Obama officials issued a rule that threatened school...

The School Board was open to some "outside the box" thinking, so Hibner and Peerenboom spent the following weeks evaluating what activities and duties could and couldn't be done from afar. They determined that with the help of videoconferencing and Skyping, the majority of Peerenboom's duties could be performed remotely. They presented a plan to the board that they say benefits the district as well as Peerenboom. The board unanimously approved a one-year change in Peerenboom's contract April 8.

There is a rising number of children with autism. Since autism needs special treatments, there is a huge demand of special education for children with autism. One of the latest methods used in special education for autism children is using service dogs to assist them to become independence. We all know that children and dogs are perfect combination. It is by nature that children tend to love dogs and dogs are willing to take children as their own pack. Service dogs are trained dogs for special purposes and the used of therapy dogs to assist children with reading and speaking...

This is not a joke. Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision that required an Oregon public school district to pay a $5,200 monthly tuition (plus fees) for a private boarding school for a high-school senior whose psychologist had diagnosed him with ADHD, depression, math disorder and cannabis abuse. Also not a joke: The Obama administration had urged the big bench to so rule. Thus the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which mandates that all "children with disabilities" have the right to a "free appropriate public education," is turning into a cash cow for disability lawyers and...

In a case with potential financial repercussions for school districts and families alike, the United States Supreme Court will soon decide when public schools must reimburse parents of special-education students for private-school tuition. The case before the court involves a struggling Oregon high school student, identified in court documents only as T.A., whose parents enrolled him in a $5,200-a-month residential school after he became a heavy marijuana user and ran away from home. Although his guidance counselor had noticed his difficulties and arranged an evaluation, the boy, who had angry outbursts and a history of behavioral problems, was found ineligible...

More than one in six Massachusetts students are in special education, one of the highest percentages in the country and a level on par with the numbers the state had at its peak before reforms were put in place in 2000. But while there was a pitched battle about a decade ago when lawmakers moved to rein in costs and enact standards on special education that are more in line with those of the rest of country, nary a word is heard these days about examining the $2 billion special education price tag. There is scant evidence the $2 billion...

The eight children, ages 5 to 11, who attend the Brooklyn Autism Center Academy need intensive individual instruction to cope with a neurological disorder that can make achieving academic progress slow and grueling. During the course of the day, one teacher is paired with each child. After successfully completing a task, students are rewarded with a spoonful of vanilla pudding, time on a piano or a few minutes in a bouncy castle. The system repeats itself, interspersing work with small breaks. “Every child with autism can learn,” said Jaime Nicklas, 32, the school’s educational director. “If they are not learning,...

Meet Esther Kennedy. Esther Kennedy was born and raised in Rural New York and moved to the Dover Portsmouth area to work in public schools. She is currently the owner of a Marina called Esther's Marina on 41 Pickering AVE in Portsmouth. She has worked in the special education department in The school systems of Dover and Guilford. She has also worked in Marine affairs and several state wide task force. Yes! We should believe a typical city politician in a large growing New England city. There is however a dark side. Esther Kennedy was an employee of the...

Nearly a year ago, New York made plans to ban the use of electric shocks as a punishment for bad behavior, a therapy used at a Massachusetts school where New York State had long sent some of its most challenging special education students. But state officials trying to limit New York’s association with the school, the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Canton, southwest of Boston, and its “aversive therapy” practices have found a large obstacle in their paths: parents of students who are given shocks. “I understand people who don’t know about it think it is cruel,” said Susan Handon...

School To Continue Electric Shock Officials Give School One Year Extension BOSTON -- State officials are allowing a controversial special education school to use electric shock treatments on students for another year... The decision comes after an August incident in which two emotionally disturbed students were wrongly given dozens of shocks after a prank call from a person posing as a supervisor... ...six staffers at a Stoughton residence run by the Canton-based school had reason to doubt the orders to administer the shocks, but did nothing to stop it... ...the teens, ages 16 and 19, were awakened in the middle...

I recently testified on minority overrepresentation in special education before the United States Civil Rights Commission. Education Week reported that the hearing “expanded into a three-hour discussion that touched on parental choice, school officials’ judgment calls on special education placements, and effective early-childhood education.” It’s not often that the Goldwater Institute, the NAACP, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund are all in agreement. All panelists broadly agreed that the mild mental retardation, emotionally disturbed and specific learning disability labels can and have been badly abused. The Commissioners asked a number of perceptive questions including, how are the...

SIERRA VISTA — Ron and Joanne Wagner were guests of honor during a special celebration at Sierra Vista Middle School on Monday. The Wagners, who had purchased a Christmas tree that had been donated to the Festival of Trees by the middle school, gave the tree back to the school for students and staff to enjoy. This marked the fourth year the Wagners purchased a tree at the Festival and returned it to the school that donated it. All the ornaments on the tree were hand made by special education students. Now on display in the school library, the tree...

Young Girl Facing Charges After Wetting Pants