by Common Ground | Jun 28, 2013 | Courts
A federal appeals court has ruled that a school district’s use of a time-out room for an elementary school student with disabilities did not violate the student’s constitutional rights. The case involves an Oklahoma boy who was repeatedly placed in a...
by Common Ground | Jun 28, 2013 | Courts
The New Jersey commissioner of education has issued a ruling that ensures that parents cannot be held liable for the cost of educating their child, even when that child lives in a group home and the parents move out of state. The case involves a child with multiple...
by Common Ground | Jun 27, 2013 | Capitols
New Jersey Education Commissioner Chris Cerf has upheld two charges of bullying under the state’s tough new anti-bullying act. Both incidents took place in 2011 and involved middle-school students. In the first case, a sixth-grader from Middlesex County insulted...
by Common Ground | Jun 26, 2013 | Capitols
Bipartisan legislation to establish a task force to improve the funding, delivery, and effectiveness of special education programs and services in New Jersey was signed into law earlier this spring by Governor Christie. The legislation was introduced in response to an...
by Common Ground | Jun 26, 2013 | Capitols
Following months of opposition on the part of special education advocacy groups, the State Board of Education voted to withdraw plans to revise sections of the state’s special education code. Last fall, the New Jersey Department of Education proposed major...
by Common Ground | Jun 26, 2013 | Capitols
Governor Chris Christie signed a bill into law that is designed to provide stability in Special Education programming. The measure (A-2739 /S-1949) stemmed from parental concerns that students with disabilities were subject to continued transfer of schools and...
by Common Ground | Feb 28, 2013 | Features
Disability Mandates Include School-Based Mental Health Services By Alvin E. Doyle As a nation, we strive to create educational environments in which students feel safe and can learn, and in which educators have the tools and strategies they need to educate all...
by Common Ground | Nov 13, 2012 | Capitols
The U.S. Department of Education has announced new steps to help close the achievement gap for students with disabilities by moving away from a one-size-fits-all, compliance-focused approach to a more balanced system that looks at how well students are being educated,...
by Common Ground | Nov 13, 2012 | Capitols
A recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that charter schools nation wide enroll a lower percentage of students with disabilities than traditional public schools. In school year 2009-2010, the most recent year for which data are available,...
by Common Ground | Nov 13, 2012 | Capitols
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) received more complaints about disability-related issues from 2009-2011 than ever before. OCR enforces civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, disability and...
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