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Considering all of the educational
rights that the federal and State
government have conferred upon the
parents of special education children to
participate in the development of an
educational program, it is highly
problematic that parents often have
limited rights to observe their special
education child in the classroom.
As a
start, California grants parents the
right to visit their child's classroom;
a good beginning [California Education
Code sections 51100, 51101 et. seq.].
However, California law does not provide
any specific parameters for the
frequency and duration of such
visits. Furthermore, California law does
not provide any unique exception for
parents of special education students.
In fact, the Office of Special Education
Programs within the United States
Department of Education has asserted
that "neither the [IDEA] statute nor the
regulations implementing the IDEA
provide a general entitlement for
parents of children with disabilities...
to observe their children in any current
classroom." [Letter from Stephanie Lee,
Director of the OSEP, May 26, 2004]
This
lack of statutory guidance leaves the
school districts in near complete
control. Some school district policies
state that a reasonable amount of time
will be made available to parents to
visit the classroom. Of course that
leaves the school district to
unilaterally determine what is
reasonable. Some school districts simply
limit a parent to a specific number of
minutes for a classroom observation
(e.g., 20 minutes).
Fortunately, federal law supersedes
State law as well as school district
policy. Federal law, under the IDEA,
provides that a parent of a child with
disabilities have an opportunity to
participate in meetings with respect to
the identification, evaluations and
educational placements of a disabled
child. Additionally, the IDEA states
that parents have their concerns and the
information they provide considered in
developing a child's IEP.
Accordingly, it can be inferred that
parents of a disabled child must be
provided the opportunity to review all
information pertinent to their child's
unique educational program. And that
opportunity should include the right to
appropriately observe the child in a
classroom setting. Since, a disabled
child's education is much more complex
than a typical child, a parent of a
special education child should be
provided with a greater opportunity to
observe their child in all settings
(i.e., within the classroom, the school
yard, during recess, during lunch and
while receiving services). Otherwise,
it can be argued that without the right
to observe a disabled child's education
program with an allotted amount of time
commensurate to the complexity of the
educational program, a parent is being
denied the opportunity to participate in
the IEP meeting. This is an argument
that at some time must be presented
before a judge, such that all school
districts develop observation policies
and practices based on the specific
requirements of the disabled child.
Until
there is a clear statutory right to an
appropriate frequency and duration of
school visits, parents must be assertive
in exercising their rights to observe
their children in the school setting.
First, parents should obtain a copy of
their school district's parent
observation rights. Second, parents
should work directly with their child's
school teacher to obtain observations
appropriate to their child's unique
educational program. Third, if the
school policy is not appropriate parents
should have an observation practice
written within the IEP. Lastly, if the
school district refuses to allow an
appropriate frequency and duration of
observations, the parents should
consider filing a due process complaint
against the school district.
For more information regarding special
education legal matters go to:
www.specialeducationattorneyatlaw.com |
