NLDline
Subj: THE SPECIAL ED ADVOCATE,
APRIL 15, 1999 (Vol. II, No. 9)
Date: 4/15/99 7:24:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: webmaster@wrightslaw.com (Pam and Pete Wright)
Sender: owner-special-ed-advocate@wrightslaw.com
To: special-ed-advocate@wrightslaw.com
===================
The Special Ed Advocate
The Online Newsletter About
Special Education and the Law
April 15, 1999 Vol. II, No. 9
Visit us today at:
http://www.wrightslaw.com
===================
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The Special Ed Advocate is a free online newsletter about special education legal issues,
cases, tactics and strategy, effective educational methods, and Internet links.
We publish this newsletter occasionally, when time permits. Back issues of The Special Ed
Advocate are archived at our web site - http://www.wrightslaw.com
As a subscriber to The Special Ed Advocate, you will receive announcements and
"alerts" about new cases and other events. Contact, copyright, and subscription
information can be found at the end of this newsletter.
===============
THE SPECIAL ED ADVOCATE, APRIL 15, 1999
1. N.Y. BAR APPEALS DECISION IN BARTLETT TO U.S. SUPREME COURT
2. N.C. SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST ISSUES WARNING TO PARENTS IN “RETENTION
REVISITED”
3. LETTER TO WRIGHTSLAW: LIGHTENING ACCESS TO THE REGS AND WRIGHTSLAW AS
A COMFORT BLANKET!
4. NEWS FLASH! CALIFORNIA FINDS 273% INCREASE IN AUTISM –NO ONE KNOWS
WHY. (April 15, 1999)
5. FIRST ANNIVERSARY ISSUE COMING SOON!
6. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
7. CONTACT INFORMATION
===============
1. N.Y. BAR APPEALS BARTLETT TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT
Marilyn Bartlett has dyslexia. In 1993, Dr. Bartlett sued the New York Board of Law
Examiners after the Bar denied requests to accommodate her reading disability.
The Bar claimed that Bartlett didn’t have a disability. On September 14, 1998, the
Second Circuit ruled that the Bar must provide Dr. Bartlett with accommodations for her
disability. (September
14, 1998)
The appeals court found that -
"Reasonable accommodation of this disability will enable her to compete fairly with
others in taking the examination, so that it will be her mastery of the legal skills and
knowledge that the exam is designed to test—and not her disability—that
determines whether or not she achieves
a passing score."
The N.Y. Bar has appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court.
Last night, Pete talked to Joanne Simon, attorney for Dr. Bartlett. Joanne believes that
the Court of Appeals issued a very strong well reasoned opinion.
She advise that there are no clear splits among circuits in this area of law.
However, two cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court have some similarities to
Bartlett. Oral argument in these cases will be held within the next few weeks.
Joanne is preparing her case. She will be in Washington, DC for these oral arguments.
For background information about this case, go to
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/nwltr/1998/nl_98_0917.html
To read the Second Circuit’s decision in Bartlett v. NY State Board of Law Examiners,
go to
http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/caselaw/case_Bartlett_Bar_2d_9809.htm
We’ll keep newsletter subscribers posted on developments in this important case.
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2. N.C. SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST ISSUES WARNING TO PARENTS IN “RETENTION REVISITED”
What happens when children fail to learn? For decades, there have been two
“solutions” - social promotion and retention.
Retention doesn’t work. In many cases, retention damages children. About 90 percent
of children who are retained more than once drop out of school.
Social promotions don’t work either. With social promotions, we have high school
graduates who can’t read their diplomas.
According to a study by the North Carolina Research Council at U.N.C., about one-third of
N.C. children are retained at least once before ninth grade. New policies about
accountability may cause this number to increase dramatically.
In a passionate letter, N. C. school psychologist Guy McBride warns parents about an
educational policy that will damage “the most vulnerable children” and “pit
parents against educators.”
“Even under the best of circumstances, the benefits of retention erode after three
years. In many cases, children are hurt. Children retained in kindergarten and first grade
are more likely to be hurt. Children who are slow learners or disabled are more likely to
be hurt.”
“Children who are hurt by the schools are more likely to drop out at age 16. This
undermines our goal of a better educated population.”
“Retention is inherently discriminatory. More poor children, more black children, and
more disabled children will be retained than those who are not.”
“There are more effective methods to increase performance without hurting our most
fragile and vulnerable children.”
Read Guy McBride’s letter at
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/ltrs/ltr_NCschoolpsych_retention_990415.html
For more information about this subject, read “To Promote or Retain” at
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/Promote_or_Retain.htm
See also “View from the Top: How Principals View Learning Problems,” an article
that looks at the beliefs and perspectives of school principals who want to
“solve” learning problems by retention or referral to special education.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/Principals_SchCulture.htm
===============
3. LETTER TO WRIGHTSLAW: LIGHTENING ACCESS TO THE REGS AND WRIGHTSLAW AS
A COMFORT BLANKET!
Recently, we received a message from Mary, an old friend from the CompuServe ADD Forum.
Mary wrote “Thanks for your continued dedication to making a huge difference in the
lives of my kids. You keep me informed about state-of-the-art practices. You give me
access to legal info which empowers me to turn "emotions into advocacy" (to coin
your phrase <g>)!”
“And thanks for the lightening access to the regs.”
“I’m involved in a leadership/ advocacy training program called Partners in
Policymaking. The feedback from the other participants after logging onto your site has
been very positive. “
Why did Mary call Wrightslaw.com her “comfort blanket?” Go to -
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/ltrs/ltr_Mary_lighteningaccess_comfort_990415.html
===================
4. NEWS FLASH! CALIFORNIA FINDS 273% INCREASE IN AUTISM – NO ONE KNOWS WHY.
April 15, 1999. “In the past 10 years, California has had 273% increase in the number
of children with autism who enter the developmental services system – 1,685 new cases
last year alone . . . What is generally considered a rare condition is increasing faster
here than other developmental disabilities. We need to find out why.”
To read the “Report to the Legislature” go to the web site for the California
Department of Developmental Disabilities at http://www.dds.ca.gov/autismreport.cfm
This news article came from FEAT DAILY ONLINE (Families for Early Autism Treatment). For
information about FEAT, go to http://www.feat.org/
=================
5. FIRST ANNIVERSARY ISSUE COMING SOON!
Our web site is growing very fast –faster than we imagined possible.
Nearly 5,000 people subscribe to our newsletter – and the number of subscribers is
doubling every four months.
You will soon receive the “First Anniversary Issue” of The Special Ed Advocate
newsletter. This special edition will contain lots of new information about special
education advocacy topics. We hope you enjoy it.
====================
6. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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===========
7. CONTACT INFORMATION
Pete and Pam Wright
c/o The Special Ed Advocate
P. O. Box 1008
Deltaville, VA 23043
Phone: 804-257-0857
Website: http://www.wrightslaw.com
Email: webmaster@wrightslaw.com
The resources at this website are copyrighted by the authors. They may be used for
non-commercial purposes only. They may not be redistributed for commercial purposes
without the express written consent of Peter W. D. Wright.
It is not necessary to obtain our consent to link to our website or copy, print and
distribute our articles and newsletters for nonprofit purposes so long as the material is
reproduced in its entirety and credit is given to Pete and Pam Wright and
"wrightslaw" including the URL -
http://www.wrightslaw.com
Copyright 1999, Peter W. D. Wright and Pamela Darr Wright. All rights reserved.
END