Open this newsletter in your browser.

As schools remain closed, your child's special education is still on hold. You have so many questions about how to manage and what to expect when schools re-open.

In this issue of The Special Ed Advocate, we wanted you to know about two events - a webinar and a Podcast where we answered questions from parents on many subjects, including IEPs, IEP meetings and compensatory education. You will find links that will allow you to access these events below.

Most children with disabilities have not received the instruction and services in their IEPs for nearly two months (and counting). As a result, they are likely to need compensatory education services.

Compensatory education services ("Comp ed") are the educational services a child with a disability needs to make up for the skills and learning that were lost when schools closed during the pandemic.

Because school districts are responsible for providing compensatory services, Comp Ed is a very hot topic.

While preparing for the webinar and podcast, Pete wrote an article about "Compensatory Education: Evolution of Case Law." You will find a link to this article below.

Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge knew parents had questions about their child's special education and didn't know where to turn. Dr. Roseann decided to hold a Town Hall style webinar and invited four special ed attorneys to answer parents' questions:

The four attorneys were:

In an exciting two-hour webinar, Dr. Roseann and the attorneys answered questions in several areas, including:

You can access the webinar on Dr. Roseann's site at https://drroseann.com/special-education-during-a-pandemic/

Let's Talk Sped Law is a national podcast dedicated to all things relating to special education law. The podcast is hosted by special education attorney, Jeffrey Forte, Esq.

In a wide-ranging interview, Jeff asked Pete and Pam tough questions:

Please join us. Tune in to Let's Talk Sped Law.

*******************************************************

Compensatory Education: Evolution of Case Law by Pete Wright

Compensatory education is not in the law (IDEA 2004), the federal special education regulations, or in state laws and regulations.

Compensatory education is a concept created and fine-tuned by the Courts as case law. To understand how the law evolved, you need to know the history of compensatory education.

In addition to changes to the law by Congress, the other source of changes in special education law are created by the decisions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeal.

The law about a child's entitlement to compensatory education is a direct result of three decisions by the U. S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS):  Burlington in 1985, this author's Carter case in 1993, and the recent Endrew F. case in 2017.

Decisions from the Courts of Appeal led to a major shift in the law. These decisions are the focus of this article, Compensatory Education: Evolution of Case Law.