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Sec. Duncan Putting Some Teeth Into Enforcement?

By Charles Fox

The popular perception, and reality in my experience, is that State and Federal enforcement of educational rights complaints have been sorely lacking in any real effectiveness. I have seen some notable exceptions, but on the whole, unless the parents bring an action in the role of a "private attorney general" in the form of a due process, enforcement of the law at the State and Federal level  has been very limited. Almost any "plausible" justification often suffices as a good defense to the complaint. Unfortunately, due process is expensive, time consuming and addresses cases one at a time; not the model of efficiency to improve outcomes and to reform systems. 

 Secretary of Education Duncan, who is not my hero generally, has announced a round of enforcement actions. The NYT  reported that Mr. Duncan delivered a speech that stated:

 "that in the past decade the department?s Office for Civil Rights 'has not been as vigilant as it should have been in combating gender and racial discrimination and protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities,' according to a text of the speech distributed to reporters on Sunday.

It continues, 'We are going to reinvigorate civil rights enforcement.'"

These actions, if it is more than good public relations, could finally signal a real effort to enforce the law and begin to level the playing field for students with disabilities. My fellow blogger, who flatters me with a near ripoff of my blog name, has discerned a possible trend regarding better enforcement. Let's hope he is right.

[Many thanks to my cousin Mark Mlawer for bringing this news and many other important topics to my attention.]

Full post as published by Special Education Law Blog on March 09, 2010 (boomark / email).