Education Advocacy Project
Legislative Updates
DRLC, Learning Rights Law Center, The Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center, and Latham & Watkins LLP sue the California Department of Education over statewide failure to provide transition planning services to youth eligible for special education.
The students in this case allege that the agencies named in the suit have failed to provide the plaintiffs , and other special education students statewide, with critical programs, known as "transition services", that are required by state and federal law to help students with disabilities make a seamless transition from school to adult life, including work, further education, and independent living. The students seek a statewide injunction ordering California to improve tranistion planning services for youth in special education.
DRLC and Co-Counsel Ben Kim Successfully Reverse a Bad Special Education Decision at the Ninth Circuit Park v. Anaheim Union High School District, 464 F. 3d 1025 (9th Cir., 2006).
Based on the petition for rehearing filed by DRLC and Mr. Kim, the judges reversed their earlier decision to deny fees to a parent under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) who had prevailed on some but not all issues, and held that “the district court's decision [to deny prevailing party status to the plaintiff] ignored not only the letter of the law, but also the spirit and purpose of allowing attorney's fees in cases where parents have been forced to litigate for years against school districts to obtain all or even part of what the [IDEA] requires in the first place.” The court concluded that the issues on which plaintiff prevailed “go to the very essence of the [IDEA],” and remanded to the district court to determine the amount of reasonable fees.