Fairness for Special Needs Families

Help Maryland’s Special Needs Children and Their Families Support Burden of Proof on School Districts in IDEA Due Process SUPPORT SB 691 (Please share far and wide) Senator Karen Montgomery has introduced SB 691 in the Maryland General Assembly. If passed, SB 691 would place the burden of proof on school districts in Individualized Education Program (IEP) due process hearings under the IDEA. SB 691 has been introduced to create a fairer due process system and allow Maryland to join the other states that have already recognized fairness in due process means the burden of proof belongs on school districts, not parents. As it is, parents of special needs children are already carrying the weight of meeting their children’s educational and emotional needs. Asking them to navigate a due process hearing and bear the burden of proof is too much and unfair. Why Fairness Requires Burden of Proof on the School Districts in Due Process. In due process, parents typically lack resources, expertise, and legal skills. In contrast, the school districts know what placements and accommodations are available and how different children have fared at them. They employ the people, such as teachers and principals, on whom the parents rely for testimony (but parents may be told not to contact the schools once due process has been filed). School districts also have money for attorneys, which most parents do not. Asking parents to carry the burden of proof in the face of all this is unfair. Finally, shifting BOP will also stop the practice of school districts winning cases against unrepresented parents (parents who cannot afford to hire an attorney), while putting on little or no evidence supporting the IEP. Burden of proof asks that schools always be willing to stand up for the IEP in due process, and explain it to the hearing officer, no matter what the parent’s circumstances, or ability to afford an attorney. After all, due process exists to allow a hearing officer to ensure, when there is a dispute, that the IEP provides the child with the special education services he or she needs to access the curriculum. We are asking you to contact your representatives in Annapolis and ask them to support putting the burden of proof on school districts. Please feel free to share any personal experiences or thoughts you have, but you may also send the email below. When you do email, it is critical to include your full name, address and telephone number. This is the link to the page with the contact information for the Maryland General Assembly Senators and Delegates (you may need to copy and paste it): http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmmain.aspx?pid=legisrpage&tab=subject6 If you don’t know who your representatives are, the page has a link up and to the right called “Who represents me”- you can click on that and find your delegates and senator. There is no need to email Senator Karen Montgomery, because she is the sponsor of this bill. SB 691 has been assigned to the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee. Please contact the members of this committee - especially the Education Subcommittee - and ask them to support the bill. Here is a link to the list of members where you can access their contact information (you may need to copy and paste it): http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?pid=cmtepage&stab=04&id=ehe&tab=subject3&ys=2013RS Thank you for your support. Jeanne Taylor MCCPTA Special Education Committee Chair Julie Reiley MCCPTA Special Education Committee Member Karen Smith MCCPTA Special Education Committee Member BEGIN SAMPLE EMAIL TEXT: Dear [Name]: I am writing to ask you to support SB 691. SB 691 would place the burden of proof on school districts in Individualized Education Program (IEP) due process hearings under the IDEA. I am asking you to support this bill because fairness dictates that school districts, not parents, carry the burden of proof in due process. As it is, parents of special needs children are already carrying the weight of meeting their children’s educational and emotional needs. Asking them to navigate a due process hearing and bear the burden of proof against an entire school district is too much and unfair. Thank you for your support. Very truly yours, NAME ADDRESS TELEPHONE NUMBER EMAIL