Jacobs reviews the Supreme Court decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County and asks what will change. It’s a good and brief discussion, well worth reading!

In her discussion, I was happy to see that Jacobs cites my views, including my belief that the decision seems both workable and reasonable for schools and parents alike and my hope that it’ll help get us back to teaching and learning, not litigating and arguing.

On that point, I would add that the Supreme Court gave deference to school authorities in their “the application of expertise and the exercise of judgment by school authorities.” The Court highlights the on-going school responsibility to involve parents in decision-making and to explain its rationale for the child’s program. And I would add in bold big letters IN PLAIN LANGUAGE!

Jacobs also cites my book, Special Education 2.0!, that calls for true systemic reform of a system where much is broken.

Here again is the URL for the blog. It’s worth checking out!
http://www.joannejacobs.com/2017/03/after-the-disability-ruling-what-will-change/

Indeed, as Jacobs posits, the question for all of us is–NOW WHAT?

About Miriam

Miriam Kurtzig Freedman, JD, MA—an expert in public education, focused on special education law— is a lawyer, author, speaker, consultant, and reformer. For more than 35 years, Miriam worked with educators, parents, policy makers, and citizens to translate complex legalese into plain English and focus on good practices for children. Now, she focuses her passion on reforming special education, with her new book, Special Education 2.0—Breaking Taboos to Build a NEW Education Law. Presentations include those at the AASA Conference, Orange County (CA), Boston College (MA), CADRE (OR), and the Fordham Institute (DC). Her writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Education Week, Education Next, Hoover Digest, The University of Chicago Law Review on line, DianeRavitch.net, and The Atlantic Monthly on line.

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