by Common Ground | Jan 17, 2025 | Current-Issue, Features
The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) monitors states for compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in several key areas. These areas help ensure that students with disabilities receive the services and supports they need for a quality...
by Common Ground | Apr 5, 2024 | Features
By David B. Rubin and Ellen S. Bass As a school board member, you know your job is not to run the schools but to see that they are well run. To do so, you perform critical oversight functions like selecting the superintendent, formulating district policies, and...
by Common Ground | Apr 5, 2024 | Courts
A U.S. District Court has upheld the ruling of a New Jersey Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) that transportation to and from the corner bus stop, rather than to and from the child’s front door, did not result in denial of a free appropriate public education and did not...
by Common Ground | Feb 22, 2024 | Capitols
With new guidance, the U.S. Department of Education is pushing schools to ensure that all students with disabilities have the assistive technology they need and the supports to use it effectively. The agency issued a “Dear Colleague” letter and a 24-page...
by Common Ground | Aug 24, 2023 | Courts
The State of Pennsylvania is depriving students with disabilities of a year of instruction as young adults, according to a lawsuit filed this spring. Federal law entitles students with disabilities the right to FAPE until they earn a regular high school diploma or...
by Common Ground | Apr 22, 2023 | Parents, Professionals, Special Ed Basics, Teachers
Common Ground is committed to informing families and guardians about parental rights and special education advocacy. In this and upcoming editions we will share a series of basic and important special education topics on the rights, responsibilities, administrative...
by Common Ground | Aug 27, 2021 | Q&A
Q: What is compensatory education? A: Compensatory education is designed to get a student to the place they would have been had they not been deprived of special education and related services. The content of a compensatory education program should be based on a...
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 | Feb 23, 2020 | Courts
A judge has ordered a Morris County School district to reimburse the parents of a child with disabilities for four years of private school tuition and transportation as a result of the district’s failure to provide FAPE. The parents had unilaterally placed their son...
by Common Ground | May 24, 2018 | Q&A
Many parents have had an experience similar to the one faced by Endrew F.’s parents, in which their child’s IEP goals don’t vary each year and there is lack of progress. BY DIANA AUTIN, MARIA DOCHERTY AND LAUREN AGORATUS, M.A. The recent Supreme Court case, Endrew F....
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