{"id":7019,"date":"2012-04-23T10:02:41","date_gmt":"2012-04-23T14:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=7019"},"modified":"2014-03-24T14:41:17","modified_gmt":"2014-03-24T18:41:17","slug":"sad-but-true-decision-maker-v-equal-participant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/sad-but-true-decision-maker-v-equal-participant\/","title":{"rendered":"Sad, But True. Decision-maker v. Equal Participant"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_pop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/gallery\/share-button-gray.png\" style=\"border:0px\" alt=\"Share\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_icon_type = \"labels\";var hupso_background=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_border=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"wrightslaw\";var hupso_url=\"\";var hupso_title=\"Sad%2C%20But%20True.%20Decision-maker%20v.%20Equal%20Participant\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><blockquote><p>My school told me, \u201cYou are the expert at home and the district is the expert at school.\u201d\u00a0 I did not agree to my daughter\u2019s IEP. The district refused to allow me to tape record meetings and include my notes with the district&#8217;s notes. I filed a state complaint.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The complaint:<\/strong> The school completely ignored my issues and did not allow me to be an equal participant on my daughter\u2019s IEP team.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The State Department of Education response:<\/strong> IDEA requires schools to give parents an opportunity to participate in the IEP process and to consider the parent\u2019s input. There is no requirement that parents be an &#8220;equal&#8221; decision-maker nor is there any standard to determine the quantity or quality of participation. The school is not out of compliance.<\/p>\n<p>Is this right?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Sorry, but I have to agree with your State here. IDEA does not require that parents be equal decision-makers.\u00a0 You may want to check your State\u2019s law; it may provide more rights than does IDEA.<\/p>\n<p>IDEA requires that parents be <strong>equal participants<\/strong> in the special education process. When a dispute occurs&#8230;<!--more--> the school is responsible for ensuring FAPE. Therefore, IDEA intends the school to make a decision about the dispute that provides the student with FAPE.<\/p>\n<p>Since the school and the parent disagree, the school\u2019s decision will usually not be in the parents\u2019 favor. This is when the parents\u2019 due process rights kick in.<\/p>\n<p>To dispute that decision, you have:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>a Constitutional right<\/li>\n<li>a right under IDEA and your State\u2019s special education law.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can exercise your due process rights through the State Complaint system. If the issue is about discrimination, you can file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights.<\/p>\n<p>I do not know why the State complaint investigator ruled the way he did. You may have inartfully phrased the allegations in your complaint. That&#8217;s what it seems to be. Or, it could be that the complaint was a &#8220;he said\/she said&#8221; complaint with no real proof. Parents almost always lose that one.<\/p>\n<p>I strongly suggest that you review these two articles on Wrightslaw.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/howey\/iep.mtg.prepare.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Parent Reports<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/howey\/written.opinions.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Written Opinions<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When you learn to prepare a written report to give to the IEP Team and to write a Written Opinion following decisions you disagree with, then you will most likely have the proof you need to &#8220;win&#8221; these kinds of complaints.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/store\/selaw2.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"border: 1px solid black; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; float: right;\" alt=\"Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/bks\/selaw2\/selaw2.100.sm.jpg\" width=\"64\" height=\"83\" \/><\/a><strong>Procedural Safeguards<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/store\/selaw2.html\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>20 USC Section 1415, page 107 and 34 CFR Section 300.500, page 251<\/p>\n<p>Print Book &amp; PDF Combo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/lite-scripts\/sb\/order.cgi?storeid=*1859f1870d4fc50b4473a5c2412e&amp;dbname=products&amp;itemnum=39&amp;function=add\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; float: left;\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/store\/buy.now.gif\" width=\"76\" height=\"18\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/lite-scripts\/sb\/order.cgi?storeid=*1859f1870d4fc50b4473a5c2412e&amp;dbname=products&amp;itemnum=38&amp;function=add\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; float: left;\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/store\/buy.now.gif\" width=\"76\" height=\"18\" \/><\/a>Print Book<\/p>\n<p>This is the way I summarize a parent\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/safgd.index.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">procedural safeguards<\/span><\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>1. You have a right to be a full participant in the special education process. (Not a full decision-maker).<\/p>\n<p>2. You have a right to submit information about your child.<\/p>\n<p>3. You have a right to disagree with decisions made about your child.<\/p>\n<p>4. You have a right to due process to dispute these decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Pat Howey is an Indiana advocate who helps parents obtain special education services and resolve special education disputes. She also provides Wrightslaw advocacy training. Pat answers your questions in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/howey\/ask.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Ask the Advocate<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My school told me, \u201cYou are the expert at home and the district is the expert at school.\u201d\u00a0 I did not agree to my daughter\u2019s IEP. The district refused to <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/sad-but-true-decision-maker-v-equal-participant\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[529],"tags":[913,132,41,67,387,585,914],"class_list":["post-7019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parent-rights-responsibilities","tag-due-process-rights","tag-iep-meetings","tag-parental-rights","tag-parental-role","tag-procedural-safeguards","tag-state-complaint-procedures","tag-tape-recording-meetings"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7019"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11257,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7019\/revisions\/11257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}