A federal judge heard oral arguments in the case against the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) for failing to meet federal and state timelines for hearing disputes between families and school districts over services provided to students with disabilities.
The class-action complaint filed in 2019 charges that thousands of New Jersey families have suffered from “systemic flaws” in the state’s system for resolving special education cases.
Attorneys in the matter call the state’s special education dispute-resolution system “horrendously broken.” Of the roughly 1,300 due-process complaints filed in New Jersey in 2016-2017, just 52 — fewer than 5 percent — were resolved within the required timelines. According to published reports, one dispute in Clifton took more than 300 days to resolve; in Paterson, another case took more than 200 days.
Lawmakers in New Jersey have pressed for adding administrative law judges specifically for special education cases. In addition, NJDOE has established new procedures for districts, including a pilot program that would enlist outside mediators to resolve cases.
