Disability Law

Burden Back on Schools in NY?s Special Education Hearings

By Danielle

The Daily Star reports that New York’s Governor has announced that a law signed this week makes the school district responsible for proving it is satisfying legal obligations to provide an appropriate individualized education program for a student with a disability.

In sum:

For more than 30 years in New York, school districts that were challenged had to prove in an administrative hearing that a student’s program was appropriate, said Spitzer spokesman Jeffrey Gordon. However, a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling put the burden on the party requesting an administrative ruling, usually parents, for all states that didn’t have a specific law or regulation on the issue -including New York.

“This bill rightly places the burden of proof on school districts that have the expertise needed to assess options and the responsibilities for implementing individual educational plans,” said Spitzer in a release.

Full post as published by Mental Disability Law Blog on August 18, 2007 (boomark / email).