As your Macaroni KID Monroe-West Monroe publishers, we're deeply committed to supporting families with valuable information. That's why we've teamed up with Families Helping Families of Northeast Louisiana to share insights on a topic close to our hearts: Parent's Rights in Special Education. With our extensive backgrounds in advocating for individuals with developmental disabilities and personal experience through our grandson with autism in the public school system, we are dedicated to empowering you with the knowledge you need to navigate this important aspect of your child's education.
Families Helping Families of Northeast Louisiana is an incredible resource that helps parents navigate this journey. They provide the tools and knowledge to help families understand their rights and work with schools to create a successful support system. By staying informed and partnering with those around us, we can ensure our children receive the best possible education and care.
You have a wonderful opportunity to support their family-to-family educational and advocacy efforts at the upcoming 7th Annual Touch-A-Truck Event held on October 19th, 2024 from 10 am - 3 pm at The Ike Hamilton Expo Center! This event is so much fun, and if your kids enjoy seeing big trucks, heavy equipment, rescue vehicles, and more just imagine how thrilled they will be to touch them, admission is only $5.00 per person! It is absolute magic! Macaroni KID will be there to share the excitement, and we can’t wait to see you there. As a matter of fact, we are giving away a Family 4-pack of admission tickets to the event! -Missy Robertson, Publisher
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PARENTS RIGHTS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION
Let’s start with a little background on special education. President Gerald Ford signed into law the Education for all Handicapped Children Act in 1975. However, the original law was only for children three years of age and up, not for infants. The following year the birth to the 3rd birthday was added, which is now known as our Part C services (which in Louisiana is called Early Steps). This landmark law’s name was changed to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, in a 1990 reauthorization. The law was last reauthorized in 2004, and the department has periodically issued new or revised regulations to address the implementation and interpretation of IDEA. All that to say, there is hope for your child in special education! The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act provides specific rights to students and parents of students qualifying for or suspected of needing special education and related services. These safeguards are designed to ensure parental participation in the special education process and to ensure the student’s rights to a free appropriate public education, Procedural safeguards don’t spell out what services you will receive, they describe the ground rules for how you’ll work with your school.
IDEA states that schools are required to provide you, the parents of a child with a disability, with a notice containing a full explanation of the procedural safeguards available under IDEA and the U.S. Department of Education. Parents have the right to:
- Receive procedural safeguard notice;
- Participate in the special education process;
- Access your child’s educational records;
- Expect confidentiality of your child’s information;
- Provide informed consent before certain things can happen;
- Receive prior written notice;
- Receive information in a language or way that is understandable to you;
- Receive an independent educational evaluation if you disagree with the school's evaluation;
- Use the Stay Put right; and
- Use specific dispute resolution options.
A PARENT'S GUIDE: UNDERSTANDING LEAP 2025
One of IDEA’s foundational principles is the right of parents to participate in education decision-making regarding their child with a disability. The law is very specific about what school systems must do to ensure that parents have the opportunity to participate.
- Parents have the right to participate in meetings -- those related to the evaluation, identification, and educational placement of their child, or those related to the provisions of Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
- Parents have the right to be team members of any group that decides whether their child is a child with a disability and meets the eligibility criteria for special education and related services.
- Parents have the right to be members of the team that develops, reviews, and revises the IEP for their child.
- Parents have the right to be members of any group that makes placement decisions for their child.
IDEA states that the education of children with disabilities can be made more effective by strengthening the role and responsibility of parents and ensuring that the families of these children have meaningful opportunities to participate in their education. You will always be your child’s biggest advocate and we want you to succeed in doing so! Parents have the right to see and get an explanation of their child’s education records. You can ask for corrections and additions. These rights are protected by IDEA and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act known as FERPA.
The school must give you prior written notice before it changes your child’s special education program. This includes when the school wants to add or deny services. If a school wants to make changes to your child’s IEP, you need to be informed and participate in the decision-making process.
As the parent, you have the right to obtain an independent educational evaluation, or IEE, if you disagree with the evaluation of your child that was obtained by your school district. If you request an independent educational evaluation, the school district must provide you with information about where you may obtain an IEE and about the school district’s criteria that apply to those independent educational evaluations. An independent educational evaluation is an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the school district that is responsible for the education of your child.
Unfortunately, sometimes you may disagree with the school district about your child’s education and cannot come up with a resolution. Therefore, the IDEA provides you additional rights when you need a more formal process to resolve your dispute. You can use these processes to come up with a resolution around your child's disability identification, evaluation, eligibility, placement, services, or reimbursement of services you have obtained privately. Stay Put can be used when you disagree with a proposed change to your child's IEP services or placement, and you file a Due Process complaint. The "stay put" protection keeps your child's current IEP in place while you and the school work on a solution. This provision allows you to dispute a change without the change taking effect, and it includes all IEP services, including related services. When you use your Stay Put right, your child's services continue as is, without any changes.
Families Helping Families is a family-directed resource center whose mission is to provide information, referral, and peer-to-peer support to individuals with disabilities and their families. Our goal is to empower parents to be the best advocates for their children because no one knows them better than you. We hold monthly education trainings free to parents and professionals to help navigate the education system which can be found on our website and Facebook!
Connect with Families Helping Families of Northeast Louisiana for additional information and support.
Families Helping Families is a Nonprofit 501c3, (318)361-0487, Follow them on Facebook!
