by Common Ground | Jun 18, 2021 | Capitols
A bill that would provide a financial incentive for businesses to establish pre-employment and work-readiness training programs in partnership with institutions of higher education, comprehensive high schools, county vocational schools, and nonprofit organizations has...
by Common Ground | Jun 18, 2021 | Capitols
The New Jersey Senate has passed a bill that would create a special education unit within the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) and require an annual report. S-2160 establishes a special education unit that would consist of administrative law judges having expertise...
by Common Ground | Jun 18, 2021 | Snapshot
The nearly 7 million students with disabilities in the U.S. make up 14% of national public school enrollment, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. According to the Pew Charitable Trust, the percentage of students with disabilities in...
by Common Ground | Jun 1, 2021 | Capitols, Q&A
Does your child with disabilities turn 21 on or before June 30, 2021? Did they miss out on vital transition services due to the pandemic? Are they scheduled to graduate because they are “aging out”? Not so fast… There is a new law on its way. S-3434 is on track to go...
by Common Ground | Apr 20, 2021 | Better IEPs, Features, Parents, Students, Teachers
The end of the second COVID school year is near, and many parents are asking whether their school district has met the requirements of their child’s Individual Education Program (IEP). For students expected to graduate this year, these questions are particularly...
by Common Ground | Apr 20, 2021 | Better IEPs, Parents, Professionals, Teachers
Throughout the pandemic, students with transition services, especially community-based instruction, and off-site job placements, have found that services could not be implemented due to business closures or gathering restrictions. In its “The Road Back”...
by Common Ground | Apr 20, 2021 | Capitols, Features, Parents, Professionals, Teachers
On March 3, NJDOE issued a broadcast memo to provide guidance to schools, students, parents/guardians of students with disabilities, advocacy groups, and other key stakeholders regarding compensatory education for students with disabilities. The changes in school...
by Common Ground | Apr 20, 2021 | Courts, Features, Professionals, Teachers
The COVID-19 pandemic and its disruption of education has had schools, parents, and advocates wondering about accountability for services for students with disabilities that were lost under school closures, and due to remote and virtual instruction. Dr. Perry Zirkel,...
by Common Ground | Apr 20, 2021 | Courts
In October 2020, the United States District Court in New Mexico issued an important ruling related to COVID and IDEA in Hernandez v. Grisham, a case originally filed as a class action. Plaintiffs challenged the state’s COVID-19 reentry policy for the public...
by Common Ground | Apr 20, 2021 | Courts
Last fall, the role of non-attorney advocates in special education advocacy came under fire when the New Jersey Supreme Court issued “Opinion 56.” The 10-page opinion would have made it more difficult for advocates who are not lawyers to help parents of special...
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