Overview of Rights
Students
- IDEA:
- Free and appropriate public education- no child can be denied a public education (principle of zero reject), program must be special education appropriate for the individual child, for as long as necessary from 3-21yrs old (32)
- Individualized education program- must be place and operating for every child designated as eligible for services under IDEA (31-32)
- Least restrictive environment- children with disabilities be educated in the same place as all other children “to the maximum extent appropriate” (33)
- Appropriate evaluation- evaluation must be appropriate for determining the needs and strengths of each child on an individual basis (34)
- Guaranteed participation
- Right of consent to, participation in every aspect of the educational process (evaluation, reevaluation, placement, IEP, uses of public/private insurance) (34)
- Transition services- student’s IEP must include a transition component, age of initiation of transition services is 16
- Right to be invited to IEP meeting about transition services, regardless of age; if student does not attend, the education agency “must take other steps to ensure that the child’s preferences and interests are considered” (39)
Parents
- IDEA:
- Guaranteed participation
- Right of consent to, participation in every aspect of the educational process (evaluation, reevaluation, placement, IEP, uses of public/private insurance) (34)
- Procedural safeguards:
- Right to procedural safeguards=right to redress of grievance=right to due process of law
- Right to be notified
- Right to dissent
- Right to be fully informed
- Right to a surrogate
- Right to nonadversarial conflict resolution
- Right to a hearing
- Burden of proof
- Right to a qualified and impartial hearing officer
- Right to appeal
- Right to reimbursement
- Discipline
- Baseline considerations
- 10-day suspension
- Guarantee of FAPE
- Authority for change of placement
- Manifestation determination
- Appeal: dissent, hearing, decision
- LEA
- Law enforcement (166-186)
- Right to examine all educational records
- Right to have an impartial hearing, impartial hearing officer
- Right to receive certain prior notices
- Right to be afforded mediation
- Right to be accompanied by an attorney
- Right to have a state-level appeal if a hearing has been conducted by a local agency (34-35)
- FERPA:
- Right of access
- Right to inspect and review any education records relating to children that are collected, maintained or used by a participating agency, without delay and before any meeting or hearing, in no more than 45 days after the request
- Right to make reasonable requests for explanations and interpretations, copies, and inspection and review of records from agencies
- Right to confidentiality
- Parental consent must be given before personally identifiable information is shared with anyone other than authorized personnel, and before the information is used for any purpose other than those specified under IDEA (36)
Teachers
- IDEA:
- IEP team must consider strategies and supports to address the behavior of a child whose behavior impedes his or her learning, or that of others
- If the IEP team decides that strategies (i.e. positive behavioral interventions) are necessary, a statement must be included in the IEP of the child (39)
- Must be conversant with the behavioral sequence- determination that a behavioral intervention plan is necessary, functional behavioral analysis, development of the BIP, implementation of the BIP, review and modification (40)
Other Professionals
- Responsibilities of participating agencies
- Must permit parents to inspect and review any education records relating to children that are collected, maintained or used by a participating agency, without delay and before any meeting or hearing, in no more than 45 days after the request
- Must respond to reasonable parental requests for explanations and interpretations, provide copies of records if failure to do so would deny the right to inspect, and allow parents to inspect and review records
- Must have available to the public its policy regarding information gathered about students
- Must receive parental consent before personally identifiable information is shared with anyone other than authorized personnel, and before the information is used for any purpose other than those specified under IDEA
- Must keep a careful record of any other party who is given access (name, date, purpose)
- Must inform parents when personally identifiable information collected, maintained, or used is no longer needed to provide educational services to the child
- Must destroy information at the request of the parents (36-37)
- Responsibilities of states
- Each state responsible for full compliance by all parties within its jurisdiction
- Must actively monitor and enforce in all school districts and other participating entities
- Must keep a written record concerning policies and procedures related to IDEA, available for public review
- Must keep monitoring process in full transparency to the public in all aspects, no “classified” documents or denial of access to information (40-41)
Hulett, K.E. (2009). The individualized education program. Legal aspects of
special education. (144-163). New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
