Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates

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The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) is an independent national American association of parents of children with disabilities, attorneys, advocates, and related professionals who protect the legal and civil rights of students with disabilities and their families. COPAA has a 22-member Board of Directors who run the organization. Board members are selected to be representative of diversity of COPAA's peer-to-peer network and have significant experience in various aspects of COPAA's work. Currently COPAA has more than 3400 members in all states, the District of Columbia and several territories. Over 90% of all of its members, including professionals, are people with disabilities or parents and family members of people with disabilities. COPAA accomplishes its mission largely through the work of its network of volunteers, who are supported by the staff of the organization.

Contents

COPAA was founded by S. James Rosenfeld in 1998 and is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. [1]

Mission and members

COPAA's mission is to help parents of children with disabilities so parents may collaborate as equal partners with school districts on their children's individualized education programs. Its members work wherever families and students need help and COPAA supports them with resources, training, and information to assist in obtaining the equal opportunity for education those children deserve and are entitled to under federal law. COPAA focuses on the rights of children who receive special education, and who are served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and other federal and state statutes. [1] This includes working to ensure that children with disabilities receive a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).

COPAA endeavors to improve the quality and quantity of legal assistance for parents of children with disabilities. [2] COPAA does not represent individual parents but provides a directory of special education attorneys and advocates; [1] an online community to support networking and peer-to peer assistance; and provides training and informational webinars and roundtables to parents, advocates, attorneys, and related professionals. In its 20-year history, COPAA itself, had never before filed litigation on behalf of its members.  It took that step for the first time in 2018 because it believed that federal and state agencies had abdicated responsibility to enforce the civil rights of students and their families. [3]

Advocates are nonlawyer professionals who work with parents to advocate for appropriate educations for their children with disabilities. [4]

COPAA works to: [5]

(Membership in COPAA is not available to attorneys who represent, or individuals currently employed at greater than 50 of income by, education agencies receiving federal or state IDEA funds unless an exception is granted by the Board of Directors. [5] ) COPAA offers a national conference each year, topical webinars, and online training for advocates and new attorneys to further its mission of training attorneys, advocates, and parents.

Lawsuits and lobbying

COPAA files amicus curiae briefs with the courts in cases of national significance. [1] COPAA has filed amicus curiae briefs with the United States Supreme Court in filed in:

The organization has also filed in numerous cases in the United States Courts of Appeal:

COPAA also has filed in numerous cases in the United States Courts of Appeal.

COPAA is a voice in Congress regarding policy and legislation affecting the educational and civil rights of children with disabilities. [1] For example, COPAA has advocated with states to override the Schaffer v. Weast decision and place the burden of proof on school districts, which the organization believes to be more equitable and fair. [9] COPAA has also worked to support the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act, which would enable parents who prevail in IDEA cases to recover their expert witness fees. According to COPAA, few parents can afford the thousands of dollars needed to pay qualified medical, educational, and technical experts in IDEA cases. [10]

Publications

In 2008 COPAA published its Declaration of Principles Opposing the Use of Restraint, Seclusion and Aversive Interventions in Schools [11] In 2009, COPAA published the Monograph, Unsafe in the Schoolhouse: Abuse of Children with Disabilities, written by Jessica Butler. [12] It documents 180 incidents in which children in special education were subject to restraints, seclusion, and other abusive interventions. Ms. Butler's Monograph also makes recommendations to Congress to adopt legislation that will protect children with disabilities from abusive practices. Unsafe in the Schoolhouse was one of two reports included by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in its national report on restraint and seclusion. [13] Unsafe in the Schoolhouse was also cited by the national media, including National Public Radio, [14] and Education News. [15] In 2008, COPAA had issued a Declaration of Principals Opposing the Use of Restraint, Seclusion, and Abuse of Children with Disabilities. The Declaration expresses the view the use of restraints, seclusion and aversive interventions as part of educational programs for children with disabilities. [16]

In 2012 COPAA was among the first to analyze participation of students with disabilities in charter schools with the publication of "Charter Schools and Students with Disabilities" [17] In follow-up COPAA served as the primary investigators under cooperative agreement with the National Council on Disability (2018) School Choice Series: Charter Schools and Implications for Students with Disabilities [18]

COPAA was again in the forefront of an important issue in publishing the report "School Vouchers and Students with Disabilities: Examining Impact in the Name of Choice" in 2016, showing the variance in state programs and cautioning of harms to students and their families when they are forced to relinquish rights. [19] In follow-up COPAA served as the primary investigators under cooperative agreement with the National Council on Disability (2018) School Choice Series: "Choice and Voucher Programs: Implications for Students with Disabilities." [18]

Furthermore, COPAA provides a variety of tools on its website, including a comparison of IDEA 2004 and IDEA '97. [20]

Related Research Articles

A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some countries, states, or local jurisdictions, the voucher can be used to cover or reimburse home schooling expenses. In some countries, vouchers only exist for tuition at private schools.

Special education is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. This involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, and accessible settings. These interventions are designed to help individuals with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and in their community, which may not be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.

Children's rights or the rights of children are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors. The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) defines a child as "any human being below the age of eighteen years, unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier." Children's rights includes their right to association with both parents, human identity as well as the basic needs for physical protection, food, universal state-paid education, health care, and criminal laws appropriate for the age and development of the child, equal protection of the child's civil rights, and freedom from discrimination on the basis of the child's race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability, color, ethnicity, or other characteristics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Individuals with Disabilities Education Act</span> United States law

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a piece of American legislation that ensures students with a disability are provided with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that is tailored to their individual needs. IDEA was previously known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) from 1975 to 1990. In 1990, the United States Congress reauthorized EHA and changed the title to IDEA. Overall, the goal of IDEA is to provide children with disabilities the same opportunity for education as those students who do not have a disability.

Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (2002), was a 5–4 decision of the United States Supreme Court that upheld an Ohio program that used school vouchers. The Court decided that the program did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as long as parents using the program were allowed to choose among a range of secular and religious schools.

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a legal document under United States law that is developed for each public school child in the U.S. who needs special education. It is created through a team of the child's parent(s), the student and district personnel who are knowledgeable about the child's needs. IEPs must be reviewed every year to keep track of the child's educational progress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mainstreaming (education)</span> Placing disabled students in regular classrooms

Mainstreaming, in the context of education, is the practice of placing students with special education needs in a general education classroom during specific time periods based on their skills. This means students who are a part of the special education classroom will join the regular education classroom at certain times which are fitting for the special education student. These students may attend art or physical education in the regular education classrooms. Sometimes these students will attend math and science in a separate classroom, but attend English in a general education classroom. Schools that practice mainstreaming believe that students with special needs who cannot function in a general education classroom to a certain extent belong in the special education environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inclusion (education)</span> Where disabled students spend most of their time with non-disabled students

Inclusion in education refers to including all students to equal access to equal opportunities of education and learning, and is distinct from educational equality or educational equity. It arose in the context of special education with an individualized education program or 504 plan, and is built on the notion that it is more effective for students with special needs to have the said mixed experience for them to be more successful in social interactions leading to further success in life. The philosophy behind the implementation of the inclusion model does not prioritize, but still provides for the utilization of special classrooms and special schools for the education of students with disabilities. Inclusive education models are brought into force by educational administrators with the intention of moving away from seclusion models of special education to the fullest extent practical, the idea being that it is to the social benefit of general education students and special education students alike, with the more able students serving as peer models and those less able serving as motivation for general education students to learn empathy.

Special education in the United States enables students with exceptional learning needs to access resources through special education programs. These programs did not always exist. "The idea of excluding students with any disability from public school education can be traced back to 1893, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court expelled a student merely due to poor academic ability". This exclusion would be the basis of education for all individuals with special needs for years to come. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education sparked the belief that the right to a public education applies to all individuals regardless of race, gender, or disability. Finally, special education programs in the United States were made mandatory in 1975 when the United States Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) "(sometimes referred to using the acronyms EAHCA or EHA, or Public Law 94-142) was enacted by the United States Congress in 1975, in response to discriminatory treatment by public educational agencies against students with disabilities." The EAHCA was later modified to strengthen protections to students with disabilities and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA requires states to provide special education and related services consistent with federal standards as a condition of receiving federal funds.

Self-advocacy is the act of speaking up for oneself and one's interests. It is used as a name for civil rights movements and mutual aid networks for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The term arose in the broader civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s, and is part of the disability rights movement. Today there are self-advocacy organizations across the world.

The right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) is an educational entitlement of all students in the United States who are identified as having a disability, guaranteed by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

In the United States, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a special education law that mandates regulation for students with disabilities to protect their rights as students and the rights of their parents. The IDEA requires that all students receive a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), and that these students should be educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE). To determine what an appropriate setting is for a student, an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team will review the student's strengths, weaknesses, and needs, and consider the educational benefits from placement in any particular educational setting. By law the team is required to include the student's parent or guardian, a general education teacher, a special education teacher, a representative of the local education agency, someone to interpret evaluation results and, if appropriate, the student. It is the IEP team's responsibility to determine what environment is the LRE for any given student with disabilities, which varies between every student. The goal of an IEP is to create the LRE for that student to learn in. For some students, mainstream inclusion in a standard classroom may be an appropriate setting whereas other students may need to be in a special education classroom full time, but many students fall somewhere within this spectrum. Students may also require supplementary aids and services to achieve educational goals while being placed in a classroom with students without disabilities, these resources are provided as needed. The LRE for a student is less of a physical location, and more of a concept to ensure that the student is receiving the services that they need to be successful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974</span> Civil rights law of the United States

The Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA) of 1974 is a federal law of the United States of America. It prohibits discrimination against faculty, staff, and students, including racial segregation of students, and requires school districts to take action to overcome barriers to students' equal participation. It is one of a number of laws affecting educational institutions including the Rehabilitation Act (1973), Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Ari Daniel Ne'eman is an American disability rights activist and researcher who co-founded the Autistic Self Advocacy Network in 2006. On December 16, 2009, President Barack Obama announced that Ne'eman would be appointed to the National Council on Disability. After an anonymous hold was lifted, Ne'eman was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate to serve on the Council on June 22, 2010. He chaired the council's Policy & Program Evaluation Committee making him the first autistic person to serve on the council. In 2015, Ne'eman left the National Council on Disability at the end of his second term. He currently serves as a consultant to the American Civil Liberties Union. As of 2019, he also is a Ph.D. candidate in Health Policy at Harvard University.

WI FACETS is a non-profit organization covering the state of Wisconsin that focuses on special education and advocacy skills and is headquartered in Milwaukee, WI. The Wisconsin Family Assistance Center for Education, Training, and Support was founded in 1995 by two parents of children with disabilities, Jan Serak and Charlotte Price. WI FACETS is a Parent Training and Information (PTI) Center funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). WI FACETS is also the Regional Technical Assistance Center for the Region 4 PTI and CPRC Centers.

The IDEA Fairness Restoration Act is an American legislative proposal first introduced in the United States House of Representatives on November 14, 2007, as H.R.4188. The bill was most recently reintroduced on March 17, 2011, in the Senate as S.613 and in the House as H.R. 1208 The primary sponsors are Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chair of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, Congressmen Chris Van Hollen (D-CT), and Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX). The bill would enable parents of children with disabilities to recover their expert witness fees in due process hearings under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The Keeping All Students Safe Act or KASSA is designed to protect children from the abuse of restraint and seclusion in school. The first Congressional bill was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on December 9, 2007, and named the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act. The primary sponsors of the two bills are Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Congressman George Miller (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, and Congressman Gregg Harper (R-MS).

Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools, 580 U.S. 154 (2017), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986 does not command exhaustion of state-level administrative remedies codified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) when the gravamen of the plaintiff's lawsuit is not related to the denial of free appropriate public education (FAPE).

Endrew F. v. Douglas County School Dist. RE–1, 580 U.S. ___ (2017), was a United States Supreme Court case that held that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), required schools to provide students an education that is "reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances." In a unanimous opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court vacated the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Inclusive Classroom is a term used within American pedagogy to describe a classroom in which all students, irrespective of their abilities or skills, are welcomed holistically. It is built on the notion that being in a non-segregated classroom will better prepare special-needs students for later life. In the United States, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 guaranteed civil rights to disabled people, though inclusion of disabled students progressed slowly until the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, after which almost half of US students with disabilities were soon in general classrooms.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Your Special Child - February 2008. Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine Amy Landsman. Baltimore's Child, February 2008. retrieved 2 March 2008.
  2. ↑ Advocacy/Education Law Links, NLD On The Web, retrieved 2 March 2008
  3. ↑ "Litigation - Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc". www.copaa.org. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  4. ↑ 10 Great Jobs for Midlife Women [ permanent dead link ], More, 2008. retrieved 2 March 2008.
  5. 1 2 Knowledge Network Members: The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Archived 2007-03-15 at the Wayback Machine , Family Center on Technology and Disability, February 2004. retrieved 2 March 2008.
  6. ↑ Schaffer v. Weast, Wrightslaw, November 2005. retrieved 2 March 2008.
  7. ↑ Parents of disabled kids can represent selves, USA Today, 2007. retrieved 2 March 2008
  8. ↑ Supreme Court to Hear Oral Argument in NYC Bd of Education v. Tom F. on October 1, 2007, Wrightslaw, 12 August 2007. retrieved 2 March 2008.
  9. ↑ Some States Shift IEP Burden of Proof to School Districts. Education Week, 28 January 2008. convenience link Archived 2008-05-14 at the Wayback Machine , retrieved 2 March 2008
  10. ↑ Issues: Federal Special Education Law Introduced Archived 2007-12-24 at the Wayback Machine , New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community. retrieved 2 March 2008.
  11. ↑ https://cdn.ymaws.com/copaa.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/copaa_declaration_of_princip.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  12. ↑ Jessica Butler, Unsafe in the Schoolhouse: Abuse of Children with Disabilities (COPAA 2009) retrieved 15 July 2009.
  13. ↑ Seclusions and Restraints Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and Private Schools and Treatment Centers, Government Accountability Office, 19 May 2009. retrieved 15 July 2009.
  14. ↑ Report: Discipline Methods Endanger Disabled Kids, Joe Shapiro, National Public Radio, 19 May 2009. retrieved 15 July 2009.
  15. ↑ Unsafe in the Schoolhouse COPAA Releases Report, Education News, 5 May 2009. retrieved 15 July 2009.
  16. ↑ Declaration of Principals Opposing the Use of Restraint, Seclusion, and Abuse [ permanent dead link ], COPAA, 2008 retrieved 15 December 2008.
  17. ↑ A32598DA1ABE/Charter-Schools-and-Students-with-DisabilitiesFINAL.pdf
  18. 1 2 "School Choice Report Series (Vouchers, Charter Schools)". 8 November 2018.
  19. ↑ http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.copaa.org/resource/resmgr/2016_Conference/COPAA_Voucher_paper_final_R6.pdf?hhSearchTerms=%22voucher%22 [ bare URL PDF ]
  20. ↑ The Latest Scoop On IDEA Reauthorization, National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, 7 April 2005. retrieved 2 March 2008.
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