![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Griffen, did you know about this?
Crap.
IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) is up for reauthorization this year in Congress. The House has passed a version which, among other things, allows the Governor of each state to limit attorneys fees. This is problematic in Calfornia; it would be a disaster for poor parents in say, Alabama.
The Senate version does not as yet have attorney's fees provisions, but Republicans are trying to stall getting it to the floor of the Senate, possibly planning to amend the House reauthorization bill to an omnibus bill. This would mean that it would not be discussed on the floor of the Senate.
Capping attorney's fees might effectively make representation difficult for many people, or would limit who would represent them. People who had money could afford to pay. (Although my hunch is that, if a parent could afford attorney's fees, they could afford sending their kid to a private school.) Suing a school district is expensive. And there would be no limit to the amount that the school district could spend. A classic case: East Palo Alto. The school district spent tons of money defending themselves against a lawsuit brought by parents of special needs kids, to the point. A judge found that they were seriously failing in their responsibilities to educate these kids. Do you think the parents would have had the the financial resources to pay for attorneys on their own?
Note that the act as it stands now requires the fees to be reasonable (i.e., "based on rates prevailing in the community in which the action or proceeding arose for the kind and quality of services furnished.”) Plaintiffs only get fees when they a) substantially prevail (i.e., on the merits not on a "technicality) and b) when the school district does not offer a reasonable settlement. If the district offers to settle, and the plaintiff refuses the settlement, and does not win more than the settlement in court, they can't recover.
Off to write my Senators, asking them to vote against the fee capping provision and to make sure that the bill is discussed on the floor of the Senate. I urge any of you who have special needs kids to do likewise.
IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) is up for reauthorization this year in Congress. The House has passed a version which, among other things, allows the Governor of each state to limit attorneys fees. This is problematic in Calfornia; it would be a disaster for poor parents in say, Alabama.
The Senate version does not as yet have attorney's fees provisions, but Republicans are trying to stall getting it to the floor of the Senate, possibly planning to amend the House reauthorization bill to an omnibus bill. This would mean that it would not be discussed on the floor of the Senate.
Capping attorney's fees might effectively make representation difficult for many people, or would limit who would represent them. People who had money could afford to pay. (Although my hunch is that, if a parent could afford attorney's fees, they could afford sending their kid to a private school.) Suing a school district is expensive. And there would be no limit to the amount that the school district could spend. A classic case: East Palo Alto. The school district spent tons of money defending themselves against a lawsuit brought by parents of special needs kids, to the point. A judge found that they were seriously failing in their responsibilities to educate these kids. Do you think the parents would have had the the financial resources to pay for attorneys on their own?
Note that the act as it stands now requires the fees to be reasonable (i.e., "based on rates prevailing in the community in which the action or proceeding arose for the kind and quality of services furnished.”) Plaintiffs only get fees when they a) substantially prevail (i.e., on the merits not on a "technicality) and b) when the school district does not offer a reasonable settlement. If the district offers to settle, and the plaintiff refuses the settlement, and does not win more than the settlement in court, they can't recover.
Off to write my Senators, asking them to vote against the fee capping provision and to make sure that the bill is discussed on the floor of the Senate. I urge any of you who have special needs kids to do likewise.
no subject
Thank you for letting me know about this. I'll add it to the presentation when we do our class.
*hugs*