Class Action Lawsuit re: Child Find

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Judge Orders Search for MPS Students in Need of Special Education

On June 21, 2009 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported: “A federal judge has ordered Milwaukee Public Schools to launch a wide search for students who didn’t get special education services they should have gotten between 2000 and 2005 and to figure out what needs to be done to make that up to them.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Aaron Goodstein ordered that someone from outside the system be hired to monitor work on providing education services to compensate the students or former students involved because MPS has not shown it will adequately remedy its problems in special education on its own.” (emphasis added)

Read about the lawsuit that dates from 2001… Class Action Lawsuit

  1. 7/9/09 Update on Class Action Lawsuit against Milwaukee Public Schools

    Milwaukee Public Schools filed an appeal in the 8 year old special education lawsuit, saying that a federal judge’s order last month is too broad and too costly to implement.

    U.S. Magistrate Judge Goodstein ordered MPS to search for former and current students – including regular education students – it failed to serve under the IDEA from 2000 to 2005.

    MPS officials complained that the costs of carrying out a search would burden the district and taxpayers.

    Jeffrey Spitzer-Resnick, managing attorney for Disability Rights Wisconsin, said he doesn’t think the district has any grounds for appeal.
    “There’s no financial defense to violating kids’ special education rights.”

    For more on this case, go to http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/50415242.html

  2. Taking into consideration the decades of data available displaying the professionally negligent special education practices being practiced as custom in the vast majority of school districts around this nation, I believe that Congress and the President should launch a well-warranted nation-wide search for students with disabilities who didn’t get special education services they should have gotten between IDEA 1997 and 2009 and figure out what needs to be done to make that up to them….or make these local school districts who have been violating the laws and damaging disabled children for decades pay back ALL the billions of dollars in IDEA funds they have enjoyed collecting and misappropriating while depriving evaluations and special education services to the most disadvantaged children in the whole school population. Accountability!!!!

  3. This would be very interesting if this sort of class action suit is ever filed in SC. VERY interesting……….

    It took five years for tschool district to do the ADOS on my child after they documented this suspected diagnosis in an initial evaluation. The nineteen year old “ABA specialist” attempted to stop my child’s frequent urge to use the restroom, making a restroom break a “treat” to work for/

    When this approach did not work, a “Behavioral graph” was created to demonstrate non compliance as the reason that 0 academic progress was made for a period of time.

    Our District put a semi colon after the word No in
    NO;Child Left Behind.

  4. Can Judge Aaron Goldstein throw a life jacket to our disabled students in Texas? They are CURRENTLY drowning in red tape. The Administration (from Vice-Princ. to Deputy Superintendent) deny access to special education programs and would rather spend the money on legal fees. My son is a very ill 14 yr old who had always been a strong student until last year. He was forced to drop several classes due to the 504 not being followed. His grades were “bumped up” to passing during a 504 meeting. However, the Spec Ed Superint. did not feel he had an “academic need.” We demanded HIS definition of academic/educational need and he stated, “That is for Judges to decide.”(I have this on tape.)
    It’s hard enough on these families to cope with illness, side effects of medication,etc..Now its SOP to hire attnys at ISD!!

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