by Common Ground | Apr 22, 2014 | Capitols
Leaders at the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) have clarified the responsibilities of local school districts to provide services to “highly mobile” students, such as those in foster care or homeless, children of migrant workers, and children in military families....
by Common Ground | Apr 22, 2014 | Capitols
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has signed a new law that would allow a child who has moved out of a school district as the consequence of a family crisis to remain enrolled in his or her current school until the end of the school year. The measure allows any child...
by Common Ground | Apr 22, 2014 | Capitols
Senators Christopher Murphy (D-CT) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) have introduced in the U.S. Senate a measure designed to protect teens in residential programs from abuse. The Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2014 establishes standards intended to...
by Common Ground | Apr 22, 2014 | Capitols
Governor Christie has signed a package of bills that will benefit students with reading difficulties. Under the new requirements, young children who are showing signs of reading problems will have to be screened for dyslexia within the first few months of second...
by Common Ground | Apr 22, 2014 | Capitols
Leaders at the New Jersey School Boards Association have issued a new report calling for changes to the state’s system of special education. Entitled “Special Education: A Service, Not a Place,” the report calls for greater accountability for outcomes and...
by Common Ground | Apr 22, 2014 | Q&A
For some students, the question of when to accept a diploma is clear, but for most, it is a decision that must be carefully weighed. There is a lot of misinformation about this issue. Here are some answers to commonly asked questions: Q: What responsibilities do...
by Common Ground | Apr 22, 2014 | Snapshot
Seventy percent of children in the juvenile justice system have educational disabilities — the vast majority have emotional disabilities and/or Specific Learning Disabilities. Children with emotional disabilities fail more courses, earn lower grade point...
by Common Ground | Nov 5, 2013 | Capitols
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) has notified leaders at the New Jersey Department of Education that the state met the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in several...
by Common Ground | Nov 4, 2013 | Features
By Laura Cohen, Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Criminal and Youth Justice Clinic, Rutgers School of Law – Newark “Roughly half of the nearly 500 children in custody on any given day are eligible for special education services…”Lost in his orange...
by Common Ground | Nov 4, 2013 | Courts
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to consider two appeals involving how schools treat students in special education. The first case involves a 5 year-old Colorado girl with multiple intellectual and developmental disabilities. The girl’s school used a special...
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