2025 Year in Review: Special Education News & Trends 

It would not be an understatement to assert that 2025 was a year unlike any other with respect to the status of students with disabilities. As we turn the page on 2025 and look ahead at 2026, taking stock of the stories that made the news can help us to better understand the current state of affairs for students with disabilities and identify significant trends to pay attention to in the year ahead. 

As the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) turns 50, the nation finds itself at a critical juncture. The 50 year push to provide every student with a disability a free and appropriate public education has faced unprecedented challenges. Since this Administration took office in 2025, they have aggressively pushed for the elimination of the U.S. Department of Education while repurposing core functions to align with political mandates like rooting out Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. In so doing, they laid off more than half of the department's employees, including many in charge of special education programs and those overseeing civil rights enforcement, began to dismantle the Department of Education by transferring key functions to other agencies, and slashed or cancelled funding for many programs and research that benefitted students with disabilities - often without any notice or regard for what would happen to students. Thousands of disability-related complaints were stalled or dismissed, leaving families without timely recourse.

Yet amid the turmoil and uncertainty, families, advocates, and disability rights organizations — including COPAA are pushing back, including in the courts and pushing to pass new protections for students at the state and local levels. Courts are a critical counterweight. Judges blocked attempts to decimate the U.S. Department of Education (ED), ordering the reinstatement (albeit temporarily) of department staff. Many disability rights advocates are tenuously standing ready to see what 2026 will bring in terms of the continued fight to protect students with disabilities. 

This Year in Review highlights and synthesizes developments across the country, organized around key themes shaping the landscape of special education. For additional analysis, jump to the topics below where you can read more and find links to many of the stories that were covered in 2025.

Many of the special education issues are still evolving, and require constant vigilance from disability rights activists and organizations like COPAA to ensure the rights of students with disabilities are preserved and protected.

We know that you share our deep concern and heartfelt support for everyone affected. Our thoughts are with those who have been impacted including our members, their families, and the many disability organizations based in and around the surrounding area.

We share with you a few resources that may be helpful, and encourage you to share with anyone who may find them useful.

American Red Cross provides many resources including a Shelter Locator and a Disaster Safety Plan for People with Disabilities. 

CalHOPE delivers crisis support for communities impacted by a national disaster. This is a Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and run by the California Department of Health Care Services. 

CALFire- California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection 

Full List of resources for people with disabilities ( developed by the AUCD Network)

In sincere concern and hope, 

The COPAA Team 

Read full ESY fact sheet. 

2023 was a watershed year in many respects for students with disabilities and their families and advocates. As schooling returned to some semblance of normalcy following years of disruption and learning loss due to the COVID pandemic, a number of issues emerged that impacted students with disabilities. 

As we turn the page on 2023, taking stock of the stories that made the news can help us to better understand the current state of affairs for students with disabilities and identify significant trends to pay attention to in the year ahead. Local and national media featured first-hand accounts of how families have been affected, helping to increase attention and understanding about issues and in some cases, led to increased oversight, and even new legislation.

Some of the biggest trends identified in our review of 2023 can be traced to the aftermath of the pandemic and the resulting push for expanded “parent rights” and initiatives to increase security, surveillance and exclusionary discipline policies in response to safety and behavioral challenges at schools. A number of new or proposed policies highlighted the impact of these efforts on students with disabilities and their likelihood to negatively impact those with disabilities and exacerbate existing inequities. 

Another major trend that emerged in many states was the rapid expansion of school vouchers and educational savings accounts. Access to these programs has historically mostly been limited to marginalized groups including students with disabilities. However, proponents of the parental choice movement seized on current parent unrest as a way to commandeer and dramatically expand these programs to a much greater range of families. For example, Arizona recently expanded their existing program to any student that wants to access them. Opponents see their growth as a vehicle to privatize education and undermine traditional public education and caution that they may undermine rights for students with disabilities.

While special education has always experienced staffing challenges, the pandemic and parents’ rights movements exacerbated shortages of special education professionals across the vast majority of states, creating what experts described as “crisis conditions” that threaten student safety and further erode learning. The staffing crisis also forced states to look at alternative ways to fill shortages, leading to additional concerns about greater numbers of underprepared and uncertified teachers.

Nevertheless, there was good news as well. The courts found on behalf of students with disabilities on a range of issues related to their civil and legal rights, and the current administration continued step us its oversight and accountability measures, and advocates in several states have successfully pushed for greater oversight of state education departments, helping to shore up what many believe is a broken system of federal and state oversight and accountability.

Meanwhile, a number of states expanded protections for students against harsh restraint and seclusion policies on students with disabilities. COPAA for its part, conducted an in-depth examination of the written state complaint process under IDEA, and found an unresponsive system that often failed to correct problems brought forth by parents. 

See complete Roundup 

Nov 7, 2023 

COPAA was honored to receive the 2023 Special Recognition Award from the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) at their annual conference in Washington DC.

The AUCD Special Recognition Award is presented to an individual, group, or organization outside of the AUCD network to recognize outstanding contributions toward creating more inclusive communities for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

(pictured left to right: Marcie Hipple, Denise Marshall, Selene Almazan, Maureen van Stone)

Over the five years we will conduct three related studies that are consistent with the Rehabilitation Act and NIDILRR mission. Across these studies, we aim to: (1) identify disparities in access to Section 504, (2) explore the lived experiences of individuals with disabilities and their families in accessing Section 504, and (3) develop and test an intervention based on our findings.

Study #1: Identifying disparities within Access to Section 504. This study will involve a national survey of individuals with disabilities and their caregivers to identify disparities in: accessing Section 504, the quality of the 504 plan, services and accommodations per Section 504, and barriers in accessing Section 504. By identifying disparities, we can discern populations in need of targeted interventions.

Study #2: Exploring the lived experiences of individuals with disabilities and family caregivers. This study will assess the experiences of 100 individuals with disabilities and their caregivers through in-depth interviews. We will focus on exploring the experiences of individuals with disabilities and their caregivers who are especially negatively impacted by disparities (as identified by Study #1).

Study #3: Developing and Piloting an Advocacy Intervention. We will develop an intervention that targets individuals with disabilities and their caregivers to improve access to Section 504, the quality of the Section 504 plan, and unmet service needs and accommodations. Building off of two advocacy interventions focused on individualized education programs (IEPs), we will develop this program using the data from Studies 1 and 2. Then, we will conduct a pilot study and small randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the intervention.

n the 2023-2024 school year, roughly three full generations of disabled students have now made their way through primary, secondary, and even post-secondary or graduate levels of education. These students grew up with IEPs, accommodations at all levels of education, and, to a large extent, the right to be educated with their nondisabled peers and accommodated in society at large, thanks to the IDEA, its predecessor Education for All Handicapped Children Act, Section 504, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and countless state and local access laws. These students are called the “ADA Generation,” a term coined by Rebecca Cokley, who is a prominent leader and policy expert  in the Disability Community.

The ADA Generation is already immersed and active in COPAA. Indeed, COPAA has recognized that its membership includes disabled attorneys, advocates, and law students, many of whom grew up with IEPs and 504 plans, including those who are co-chairs of this committee!  

Over half of COPAA’s membership identifies as a person with a disability. Yet, members with disabilities have not yet had a chance to organize or form a formal community or committee within COPAA, especially for those members who proudly identify as disabled or proudly and openly discuss their personal experiences as a disabled person. (#NothingAboutUsWithoutUs)

With that in mind, the COPAA Board recently created the Disabled Members Committee. Membership in the Committee is open to all COPAA members. The expressed purpose of the committee is to provide a space for individuals who have a diagnosed disability, who are Deaf, and/or who identify as disabled and/or Deaf to form a formal community or committee within COPAA, especially seeking to engage those members who proudly identify as disabled or proudly and openly discuss their personal experiences as a disabled person to work in support of the COPAA mission. It is not necessary for interested members to have personal experience with an IEP, 504 Plan, or to have had accommodations elsewhere – allies are welcome. 

The Disabled Members Committee will serve many meaningful, and even necessary, purposes in COPAA. These include (but are not limited to):

• Create more awareness of disabled and Deaf members in COPAA and the lived experience of having an IEP, 504 Plan, accommodations in education, transition, and independent living philosophy

• Increase awareness of disability sensitivity, agency, and voices within special education advocacy

• Create community and shared experience among disabled and Deaf COPAA members

• Create mentorship programs for disabled and Deaf COPAA student members who wish to take stronger roles or pursue careers in special education advocacy and learn how to meld personal experience with professional services

• Create a safe space for disabled and Deaf COPAA members in a system that was built for nondisabled people to make decisions on behalf of disabled people. 

• Define specific outcomes for the committee that align with COPAA’s strategic plan. This may include but is not limited to recommendations to or collaboration with other committee members, projects or activities.

Click here to join the DMC.

The National American Indian and Alaska Native MHTTC K-12 School Mental Health Program has partnered with Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPPA) to develop a program titled Sacred Seeds. Sacred Seeds was developed specifically as an IEP advocacy training for AI/AN students to further the movement that EVERY CHILD DOES MATTER. Upon the completion of the course, participants will receive a Sacred Seeds IEP Training Certificate.

Classes are every Tuesday from July 19 through September 27, 2022
3-5 ET / 2-4 CT / 1-3 MT / 12-2 PT / 11-1 AKT

View an Informational Video Below

Meet the Team
	Dwight K. Lomayesva (Hopi) Dwight K. Lomayesva, JD, is a member of the Hopi Tribe and is a co-founder of American Indian Recruitment Programs, a non-profit organization that serves American Indian youth within education.
	Ronalda Tome-Warito (Diné (Navajo)) Ronalda Tome-Warito, Diné (Navajo), is an advocate for Native American children with disabilities, with 20 years of experience working alongside parents, Native communities, and school districts. Ronalda specializes in special education law, the process, and parents' rights. Ronalda is a powerful force in the arena of special education, networking, and mentoring parents in the process. Ronalda was inspired by her three children and the voice for parents in education.
	Susan Bruce Susan is the mother of three children with disabilities and has more than a decade of experience as a parent advocate and trainer on special education and civil rights law.
	Shatta Mejia Shatta García Mejía, MEd, has worked toward a vision of leveling the playing field in K-12 education. As a consultant and content developer with HMH for more than 5 years, Shatta experienced many aspects of the publishing world and saw so much left to do to reach learners.
	Ilana Lopez Ilana Lopez, MEd, is the education manager at COPAA, has worked in nonprofits dedicated to transforming education for over a decade, and is passionate about educational equity.
	Teresa Brewington, MBA, MEdL (Coharie enrolled, Lumbee descendent) Teresa works for the Native Center for Behavioral Health at The University of Iowa. She is co-director for the National American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health TTC – School Mental Health Program and the National American Indian and Alaska Native Child Traumatic Stress Initiative – Category II. She is an enrolled member of the Coharie Tribe and a descendent of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Teresa’s personal vision is to influence and inspire others to shower Native children with all they need to become a success story—the person they are supposed to become.

For more information, contact:

Teresa Brewington, MBA, MEdL
Coharie (enrolled), Lumbee (descendent)
Co Director, National American Indian & Alaska Native Mental Health TTC, K-12 Initiative
Co Director, National American Indian & Alaska Native Child Traumatic Stress Initiative - Category II
teresa-brewington@uiowa.edu

Ilana Lopez, MEd
Education Manager, COPAA Council of Parent Attorney and Advocates
ilana@copaa.org

 “I was restrained every single day. I was thrown into a padded seclusion room. I could hear other students screaming throughout the hallways, I can’t express how horrifying it was… My only coping mechanism was to sleep on the floor at school. I didn’t learn, I gained no skills. I did not grow. I retreated into myself. I thought I was going to die there.”  ~ Sam Maloney, Keeping All Students Safe Act Briefing, Nov. 18^th

Did you know . . .Sam was alone in the seclusion room, but he is not alone in having this traumatic experience at school.Over 100,000 students are locked in seclusion rooms or held down and restrained by 4-5 adults each year in our nation’s schools; over 78% are students with disabilities and/or students of color. There is no federal law to protect school children from this abuse.

COPAA is working hard to pass federal legislation, the Keeping All Students Safe Act, that would outright ban locking a student alone in a space from which they cannot exit in school, limit restraint to the situations presenting the most imminent danger of harm and provide training/resources to teachers and staff to stop these harmful practices. Sam and his peers deserve to be safe at school.

COPAA, as a co-chair of the Alliance to Prevent Restraint, Aversives, and Seclusion (APRAIS) sponsored a briefing on November 18th entitled: "How Seclusion and Restraint Harm Children and What Congress Can do to Stop!" To learn more about APRAIS visit http://www.stophurtingkids.com

This is why we do what we do.

Did you know . . .We have also been fighting for student's right to be safe in school in court.

On November 23, 2021, ASAN, COPAA and CommunicationFIRST joined numerous individual families in signing a settlement agreement with Fairfax County, VA about its use of seclusion and restraint. 

We were represented by Brown, Goldstein, & Levy, a law firm in Baltimore with a history of protecting the rights of people with disabilities. We joined the case to support the multiple students who had been harmed by seclusion and restraint in FCPS schools, including students of color. This settlement protects their rights. The settlement also protects the rights of all students in Fairfax County.  

Importantly, the settlement includes an agreement to stop using seclusion rooms in nearly all of FCPS public schools by January 1, 2022, and in ALL public schools by Fall 2022 (next school year). FCPS will stop using restraints, except in emergency situations where safety is at risk (this doesn’t include damage to property); will not allow restraint or seclusion to be written into an IEP - and will provide in-depth consulting and training to teachers and staff. The agreement also includes oversight and data collection and factors in students who need communication alternatives among other provisions.   

Read the press release. 

This is why we do what we do.

Support our work with a donation to COPAA today at www.copaa.org/donations.  Help us keep kids safe at school. 

Please feel free to share this with friends, family, colleagues and clients. 

Hate and bias have no place in our schools or in our community. As an organization committed to civil rights, COPAA recognizes the relationship between discrimination and bias against students with disabilities and works to eliminate hate, bias and other forms or systems of oppression, domination, or discrimination based on race, national origin, ethnic and/or religious identity, sex/gender/gender identity/sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status.

In Solidarity,

Denise S. Marshall

COPAA CEO

We stand in solidarity against the systemic racism that has historically oppressed communities of color and the brutal social injustice that occurred last week in Minneapolis with the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police officers sworn to protect and serve. We rally against the continued oppression that leaves students of color pushed out of schools, disciplined at alarmingly high rates, and left to languish in a long existent, dead-end school-to-prison pipeline.

Equity and justice are at the core of our purpose and values. When social injustice or inequities pose a barrier to each person’s right of full potential, we need to speak out. COPAA is committed to listening, to learning, and to continuing our work to fully address the inequities and disparities experienced by students of color and their families.

Position available: 5/1/2020

Read the full job description. 

Send resume and cover letter to marcie@copaa.org by 5/4/2020. Position will remain open until filled. 

______________________________________________

COPAA does not discriminate against present and prospective employees on the basis of disability, age, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, veteran status, marital status, or sexual orientation.  It is COPAA’s policy to be an equal opportunity employer.  COPAA will conduct all programs and activities in a manner free of discrimination.

Under Federal law, State and local educational agencies are required to provide all children eligible for special education and related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). While the IDEA does grant the Secretary of Education the authority to waive state maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements and requirements to supplement, not supplant, federal funds under certain circumstances, the Secretary does not have the authority to grant waivers to FAPE under IDEA. COPAA has grave concern with the Department of Education’s proposition that students with disabilities are not entitled to services during a school closure. COPAA believes the obligation remains.

If schools close for only a brief time for all students, the school district must maintain continuity of learning by providing educational services to students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). For such temporary emergency closures, the provision of homebound services such as instructional telephone calls, homework packets, Internet-based lessons, and other available distance-based learning approaches is not considered a change in placement.

If schools close for an extended period of time (generally more than 10 consecutive school days), then school administration officials and the child’s IEP team must determine whether the child is available for instruction and could benefit from homebound services such as instructional telephone calls, homework packets, Internet-based lessons, and other distance-based learning approaches. Even prior to that point, a child’s parent may request an IEP team meeting to discuss the potential need for special education and related services, if the exclusion is likely to be of extended duration. If neither parent can attend an IEP team meeting, the school must use other methods to ensure parent participation, including individual or conference telephone calls, consistent with 34 CFR §§ 300.322(c) and 300.328. 

If schools are developing plans for online learning for students, they also need to plan for students with disabilities. If an eligible student with a disability is required to stay home at the advice of their physician, due to vulnerability concerns or due to testing positive for COVID-19, the IEP team should convene to discuss the need for special education and related services, available distance-based learning approaches, or compensatory education in the case of an extended absence.

Due to an increasing number of troubling news reports, on March 4, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights wrote to all Education Leaders to clarify federal protections that exist for students who become victims of “stereotyping, harassment, and bullying directed at persons perceived to be of Chinese American or, more generally, Asian descent…” and that “[states and school districts] must take special care to ensure that all students are able to study and learn in an environment that is healthy, safe, and free from bias or discrimination.”

COPAA is actively monitoring updates from the U.S. Department of Education and will keep you apprised of any new resources.

Read the full OCR Letter to Education Leader

Review resources provided by U.S. Department of Education on COVID-19 including two fact sheets on Coronavirus related Q&A documents – one concerning FERPA and one on providing services for students with disabilities, and one fact sheet on assessments and accountability under ESEA. 

Washington, D.C.

WHAT 

The U.S. Department of Justice has dismissed the U.S. Department of Education’s (the Department) appeal of a federal court ruling finding that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Department engaged in an “illegal delay” of the 2016 Equity in IDEA regulation. The regulation was designed to ensure that students with disabilities of color are protected from over- and under-identification, segregation and harsh discipline. This dismissal marks the end of a years-long attempt by the Department of Education to block the regulation and retreat from its obligation to stop the unlawful segregation and punishment of students with disabilities, particularly students of color with disabilities. The lawsuit was filed in July, 2018 by the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), who were represented by the National Center for Youth Law and Sidley Austin LLP.

WHO

Denise Marshall, executive director, Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, “Finally, we hope this signifies that DeVos and her Department are ready to step up action to assure states implement the Equity in IDEA Regulations. Too many generations of children of color have been harmed by harsh discipline, unlawful suspensions, assignments to segregated and restrictive classrooms, and improper decisions of both under and over identification for special education.  Clear rules to address significant racial disproportionately will help children receive the early intervening services and proper identification and supports they deserve.” 

Seth Galanter, attorney, National Center for Youth Law, “DeVos’s efforts to delay the IDEA regulation were unreasonable, illegal and clearly harmful to kids. We are hopeful that she will now give states the chance to comply with this important civil rights regulation.”

Jean-Claude André, partner at Sidley Austin LLP, “We are very pleased that the government has decided to accept the district court’s important and impactful decision in this case.”

BACKGROUND

• One of the purposes of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is to ensure that children with disabilities are provided the education services they need in the most appropriate setting without regard to their race. 
• Many school districts do not correctly identify whether students of color need special education. 
• Students of color who are wrongly identified as needing special education can be improperly placed in restrictive classrooms, lose access to challenging academics, and subjected to harsh and aversive disciplinary measures.
• The 2016 Equity in IDEA Regulation compels States and school districts to measure, examine, and, when appropriate, reduce significant disproportionality in the identification of students of color as students with disabilities for the purposes of IDEA, as well as in the educational placement and disciplining of students of color with disabilities under IDEA. 
• The Equity in IDEA Regulation was supposed to go into effect on July 1, 2018, but the Trump Administration attempted to delay it.
• COPAA filed a lawsuit on July 12, 2018, in federal court challenging the Trump Administration’s attempt to delay the 2016 Equity in IDEA Regulation.  The court ruled in favor of COPAA on March 7, 2019.
• The 2016 Equity in IDEA regulation has been in effect since the court’s decision. 
• The U.S. Department of Education dismissed its appeal on September 12, 2019
• The decision of March 7, 2019 stands, in which a federal judge called the Education Department’s delay of the special education rule illegal and “arbitrary and capricious.”

MEDIA CONTACT

• Denise Marshall, Executive Director, COPAA, denise@copaa.org, 443.310.8638
• Patty Guinto, Communications Director, National Center for Youth Law, pguinto@youthlaw.org, 626.512.4974

ABOUT

The National Center for Youth Law is a non-profit law firm that helps marginalized children achieve their potential by transforming the public agencies that serve them. For more information, please visit www.youthlaw.org.

COPAA is an independent, nonprofit organization of parents, attorneys, advocates, and related professionals. COPAA members nationwide work to protect the civil rights and secure excellence in education on behalf of the 6.5 million children with disabilities in America. COPAA’s mission is to serve as a national voice for special education rights and is grounded in the belief that every child deserves the right to a quality education that prepares him or her for meaningful employment, higher education and lifelong learning, as well as full participation in his or her community. www.copaa.org

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"Today's announcement by OCR shows that recent legal action taken against them is working. While we are still reviewing the reported updates to the manual, we remain steadfast in our commitment to assuring that the needed changes are substantive and put the rights of students and their families first. OCR's mission is 'to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence through vigorous enforcement of civil rights in our nation’s schools.' It's COPAA's right to use every available strategy to ensure they take steps to fulfill that mission rather than make decisions that run counter to it."

The COPAA Board of Directors is pleased to announce Janeen Steel as the recipient of the 2018 Diane Lipton Award for Outstanding Educational Advocacy on Behalf of Children with Disabilities. 

The award is given each year during the COPAA Conference at the awards luncheon to an individual or group of individuals who have made a particularly exceptional and outstanding contribution to COPAA's primary mission: obtaining high-quality educational services for children with disabilities, and honors the memory of Diane Lipton, a tireless advocate for children with disabilities for over two decades, who began as a parent-advocate on behalf of her own daughter, Chloe, who had been placed in a segregated school, separated from her peers without disabilities by a chain link fence.  Diane Lipton became an attorney for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), where she championed the civil rights of children with disabilities. She was on the Board of COPAA for many years.

We always receive many worthy nominations for this prestigious award. This year the Board chose Janeen, the Co-founder and Co-Executive Director of Learning Rights Law Center, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization which seeks to ensure that all students are provided with equitable access to the public education system and focuses on low-income students who have disabilities, face discrimination or are involved in the foster care or juvenile justice systems.  Learning Rights includes among its constituents the students, as well as parents, service providers, educators and legal professionals who impact the lives of these young people.

The extraordinary work Learning Rights Law Center does today resulted from Janeen’s vision that in a world where there are huge shortages of legal services for the poor, lawyers should be doing (formal) legal advocacy, hearings and litigation. Janeen has been counsel on numerous impact litigation filings which advance civil rights for students. These filings include M.S. v Los Angeles USD (defending rights of foster children), S.L. v. Downey USD (defending rights of children with medical issues), and Jocelyn B. v. CDE (defending rights of foster children with disabilities), among many others.

Meanwhile, her vision for systemic education change has resulted in Learning Rights’ unique approach to education advocacy: lawyering while simultaneously educating and empowering parents to become their own advocates for their children. Learning Rights has seen that in many situations, parents who understand their children’s education rights can advocate quite successfully. Janeen was instrumental in developing the award-winning Training Individuals for Grassroots Education Reform (TIGER) Program which effectuates this through an intensive year-long, hands-on learning curriculum. So far TIGER has graduated over 700 parents – many of whom are now parent leaders throughout Los Angeles’ various school districts, PTAs and Community Advisory Committees (CACs).

Janeen has never shied away from a challenge, and she is committed to ensuring that low-income families receive the same type and quality of legal representation as children of means. Janeen’s vision does not stop in the courtroom: she is a frequent guest-speaker at numerous conferences discussing legal issues in the public education system, as well as describing her personal experience growing up with an undiagnosed learning disability.  Janeen shares her story openly to create an atmosphere of respect and hope for other students with learning differences. In this way, Janeen is also a mentor to the next generation of disability rights advocates. “With proper treatment,” she says, “I found my intellect and, for the first time, confidently pursued my studies. The diagnosis [in my twenties] was an epiphany revealing my life calling: to make sure that those in similar situations receive the proper assistance they require. The only way to achieve this was to become a lawyer. Education, the most difficult thing in my life, actually became my calling.”

The TIGER Program is becoming increasingly popular and is growing at an unprecedented rate: in 2017, Learning Rights benefitted more than 2,000 parents, children with disabilities and other family members through the TIGER Program.

The TIGER Program is available at no charge to parents whose children, birth through age 22, have disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorders, specific learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities. More than 70% of participants are Latino and reside in economically-marginalized communities throughout Los Angeles County. In July 2014, Dr. Terese Aceves, Associate Professor of Special Education at Loyola Marymount University and her team conducted the first Beginning TIGER effectiveness study and concluded that there is a statistically significant difference between pre and post-test scores that parents took. The Study establishes that the TIGER Program prepares its participants to become better advocates for their children and thus validates Beginning TIGER’s impact.

Janeen has advocated on a legislative level for students with disabilities on numerous occasions on bills that make a huge difference in the education of at-risk students in the State of California. She has been an adjunct professor at a number of prominent institutions including the UCLA School of Law, Loyola Law School and the USC School of Law. She currently teaches a course on special education law at Claremont Graduate University.

Since entering UCLA, Janeen focused all of her efforts on realizing this calling. While there, she received the UCLA La Raza Alumni Association Cesar Chavez Summer Fellowship (in 1998) which she used to create the blueprint for her future: “The Learning Rights Manual”, an education advocacy guide for parents of students with disabilities. In 1999, she received an Echoing Green Fellowship, the prestigious and highly-competitive award given to emerging leaders working to bring about positive social change. The fellowship enabled Janeen to launch the Learning Rights Project and in 2005, she took the project independent and founded a separate nonprofit, Learning Rights Law Center.

The award is being presented at the 2018 COPAA Conference in Monterey, CA, March 10, 2018 at the Hyatt Recency Monterey. 

We know there are many worthy organizations and sure hope this year you choose to support the work of COPAA. 100% of your donation will go to supporting families of and students with disabilities through scholarships for COPAA membership; reduced rate registration or scholarships to attend our annual conference; or reduced rates to participate in one of COPAA training programs.  Click here to donate. 

Our members work everyday to protect rights, create opportunities, and change lives.  Here is just one example of the power of special education advocacy or representation:

Reginald, an 18-year-old boy diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), opposition defiant disorder, and a learning disability, attended a public high school for his freshman through junior year. Reginald and his mother did not believe that the school was implementing Reginald's individualized education program (IEP) and were concerned about his transition from high school to post-secondary education or employment. Reginald told his mom that he felt unsafe in his school, which was in a high crime urban neighborhood. They sought the assistance of an attorney to help determine whether the school was implementing Reginald's IEP, and to assist with transition planning.

Over the course of three IEP meetings it became clear that the IEP team had moved Reginald from his agreed upon placement in a self-contained classroom to the regular classroom without having an IEP meeting; that the school was not implementing Reginald's IEP; and, that far from being meaningful - Reginald's IEP goals and objectives had been copied from year to year for the three years he attended the high school!

Because of these clear violations of the law, the attorney advocated for Reginald to be transferred to a higher performing school in the district. Reginald and his mother visited several schools and the attorney worked with the Office of Enrollment for the local school system to transfer Reginald to his preferred school. The IEP team met at the new school to discuss compensatory services for the substantive and procedural violations that occurred during the three years that Reginald attended the previous school. The local school system agreed to pay for two years of education at a local community college in a program in Reginald's area of interest after he graduates from high school, transportation to and from the local community college, and 80 hours of tutoring services during his senior year of high school. Reginald was thrilled at the end of the IEP meeting, feels safer in his new school, and is relieved to have a plan in place upon his graduation from high school.

We hope you will join us! Every dollar raised will help a parent or student with disabilities to benefit from the power of COPAA's peer-to-peer network. Every student deserves the chance to succeed!

Click here to donate. 

The COPAA Board of Directors is pleased to announce Robert K. Crabtree as the recipient of the 2017 Diane Lipton Award for Outstanding Educational Advocacy on Behalf of Children with Disabilities. 

The award is given each year during the COPAA Conference to an individual or group of individuals who have made a particularly exceptional and outstanding contribution to COPAA's primary mission: obtaining high-quality educational services for children with disabilities, and honors the memory of Diane Lipton, a tireless advocate for children with disabilities for over two decades.  Diane began as a parent-advocate on behalf of her own daughter, Chloe, who had been placed in a segregated school, separated from her peers without disabilities by a chain link fence.  Diane became an attorney for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), where she championed the civil rights of children with disabilities. 

We always receive many worthy nominations for this prestigious award. This year the Board chose Bob, who was nominated by several people, in recognition of his exceptional and outstanding contribution to obtaining high-quality educational services for children with disabilities in Massachusetts. 

Bob, a partner at Kotin, Crabtree & Strong, is known as consistent and fearless; dedicated to doing whatever is needed to ensure the right outcome for students with disabilities and their families.  Along with his individual advocacy, Bob is an extraordinary leader in the special education field.  His knowledge, experience, energy and leadership have contributed in many ways to advancing the systemic rights of students with disabilities in Massachusetts through legislative and regulatory changes.  Bob has also mentored many law students, parent advocates, and younger attorneys throughout the country. He is a person of integrity who can be counted upon –whether in engaging in state administrative and legislative advocacy in pursuit of equal educational opportunities for all students with disabilities, providing workshops, technical assistance and support to families supported by the State’s Parent Training Information Center, or contributing to publications.

In addition to his private practice, Bob works pro bono with the Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC), testifying on proposed legislation, advising on proposed legislative language, strategizing around difficult individual cases. 

Bob has been the lead trainer for the Federation for Children with Special Needs Advocacy Course and has trained thousands of advocates throughout Massachusetts. His training never ends with each workshop, for countless advocates seek his counsel well after the course is completed.  In addition to these trainings, Bob has given so much of his time to training parents, health care professionals and other lawyers in special education law.

Please join us in congratulating Bob for this prestigious award.  The award is given on Saturday, March 4th at the Awards Luncheon as part of the COPAA Conference in Dallas, TX. 

The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. has chosen Debra Liva as the recipient of the 2016 Diane Lipton Award for Outstanding Educational Advocacy on Behalf of Children with Disabilities.  The award is presented at our annual conference on Saturday, March 12, 2016 in Philadelphia, PA. 

The award is given to an individual or group of individuals who have made a particularly exceptional and outstanding contribution to COPAA's primary mission: obtaining high-quality educational services for children with disabilities, and honors the memory of Diane Lipton, a tireless advocate for children with disabilities for over two decades.  She began as a parent-advocate on behalf of her own daughter, Chloe, who had been placed in a segregated school, separated from her peers without disabilities by a chain link fence.  Diane became an attorney for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), where she championed the civil rights of children with disabilities. 

We always receive many worthy nominations for this prestigious award. This year the committee nominated Debra in recognition of her exceptional and outstanding contribution to obtaining high-quality educational services for children with disabilities in Texas.

Debra's embodiment of COPAA’s mission; service to families, including those who speak Spanish as a first language; establishment of the organization In the Child's Best Interest (ICBI) to support families; and, her role in the development of a community of advocates recognized under TX law as professionals dedicated to ensuring that children receive a free appropriate public education are some of the many examples of  Debra's service and commitment.  Debra volunteers a great deal of time to such organizations as Child Protective Services, Juvenile Courts, Municipal Courts, National Autism Association of North Texas, Texas Parent to Parent, and various family support groups to educate parents, caregivers and caseworkers of the basic rights under IDEA and the ARD (IEP) process in the Texas public school system. She has participated as a moderator for TACA Roundtable (Talking About Curing Autism), acts as a resource for many health care providers from therapists, psychologists, hospitals, counselors, as well as the Jewish Family Service in the area of the Special Needs population.  This past January Debra was part of the inaugural MLK Day of Service in Dallas with fellow colleagues and COPAA members educating parents about their educational rights and the rights of their children - not dependent on economic, educational, and/or social status.

Debra will receive the award at the COPAA conference luncheon on Saturday, March 12, 2016 at the Philadelphia Loews Hotel. Please join us in congratulating Debra, and we hope to see you there.

I do give her credit for owning the mistake and calling COPAA and many of our colleagues directly to discuss and apologize.  We spoke last night and I had the opportunity to tell Ms Esklesen Garcia that our members know all too well that through deeds and words students with disabilities are often marginalized in our schools.  I explained that the reality is that words, whether intentional or not,  are the most hurtful when they reflect the tone and attitude many of our families experience daily in schools.  

We see it when the general education teacher forgets to include the child with disabilities in field trips, class photos and assemblies. 

We hear it when we are told that our children cannot have related services because "that's not how we do it here," and, when we are told that our children have to spend their day in the hall way or principal’s office because of their behavior and are encouraged to medicate our children in order for them to attend school. 

We experience it when our kids are pushed out, restrained and secluded and arrested. 

Our kids are often treated at school as annoyances, afterthoughts.  It seems the only time they get mentioned at all is at budget time as the scapegoat for all that is wrong with funding education.  

In our call, I pointed out that in a blog post on the NEA site Ms Esklesen Garcia herself rightly stated that when students of color are marginalized and stereotyped, it is far more difficult for them to learn and achieve.  And that is exactly our point regarding students with disabilities.  

To me, Ms. Esklesen Garcia's statement verifies that implicit bias is alive and well in our nation’s schools.   One of the obvious challenges of changing implicit bias is to become conscious of our beliefs and take actions to counteract the bias.  Ms Esklesen Garcia, and the educators she leads, can and must use promising practices to address this implicit bias for all marginalized students. 

To be fair there are many wonderful examples of teachers and administrators who go above and beyond to creatively and enthusiastically support students who need additional supports and services, modified curriculum or differentiated instruction. We said in our statement the other day, and I repeat: our children will not be successful without good teachers.  We applaud and support their efforts.  We recognize the extra steps many take on a daily basis to support students with disabilities to learn and to grow.

The message from the NEA leadership needs to embody the good work of their teaching professionals and the care, strength and commitment teachers bring to all students, including those with disabilities every day.

So I frankly told her that what we need and what we expect now are deeds from NEA to promote exemplary teaching.  Help us change the conversation to how to support every child to succeed.  We know all students can learn and we need teachers to be meaningful partners with us in that journey.  I asked that future posts, speeches, activities and policy from the NEA serve to move our educational system forward in serving diverse students well.  She graciously agreed.  COPAA stands ready to work with the NEA and our colleagues to make such positive change a reality.

The glass half full part of me certainly hopes to see glimpses of understanding and support for our students here forward from the NEA. For after all, actions speak louder than words. 

While students with disabilities may, at times, require more individual attention than other students disparaging comments about their needs or their disabilities is neither funny nor appropriate.  There is no room for the head of the largest association of teachers to make such comments – even if with good intentions – when she speaks for the first providers who interact with our children every day.

Our children will not be successful without good teachers.  We applaud and support their efforts.  We recognize the extra steps many take on a daily basis to support students with disabilities to learn and to grow.  The message from their leadership needs to embody the good work of their teaching professionals and the care, strength and commitment teachers bring to all students, including those with disabilities.

NEA President Remarks 

The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA) is an independent, nonprofit unparalleled peer-to-peer network of attorneys, advocates, parents and related professionals dedicated to protecting and enforcing legal and civil rights of students with disabilities and their families at the national, state and local levels.

COPAA is premised on the belief that every child has the right to high-quality education and an equal opportunity to achieve his or her full academic potential. States, school districts and schools have an obligations under federal and state law to ensure that each student receives an individualized education that prepares them for work, college, and participation in his or her chosen community.

We work to increase the quality and quantity of advocate and attorney representation. We believe the key to accessing individualized, effective educational programs is assuring that students with disabilities and their parents are equal members of the educational team. 

www.copaa.org

The COPAA Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Valerie Vanaman, Esq. is the 2015 recipient of the Diane Lipton Award for Outstanding Advocacy. The award is given to an individual or group of individuals who have made a particularly exceptional and outstanding contribution to COPAA's primary mission: obtaining high-quality educational services for children with disabilities. 

COPAA's award honors the memory of Diane Lipton, a tireless advocate for children with disabilities for over two decades.  She began as a parent-advocate on behalf of her own daughter, Chloe, who had been placed in a segregated school, separated from her peers without disabilities by a chain link fence.  Diane became an attorney for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), where she championed the civil rights of children with disabilities.  She advised President Clinton on special education issues and helped shape the laws prohibiting schools from segregating children with disabilities.  In memory of Diane, COPAA honors individuals who are exceptionally dedicated to the rights of children with disabilities.

COPAA Board Member Alexis Casillas said in her nomination of Valerie: "I know that across the country, Valerie Vanaman has seeped into the collective consciousness of the special education world. I remember that as a family seeking services for my brother, her name meant hope that we would finally get what Austin needed. I know how just uttering the name “Valerie Vanaman” can change the course of a case."

Valerie is a master at creating multidisciplinary strategies for addressing complex social problems. After her studies at Harvard Valerie spent six years working with the Legal Aid Foundation of Long Beach and with the Western Center on Law and Poverty in the Los Angeles area. She has committed her career to providing civil legal services to the poor and low-income populations.

Valerie see the need to "spread the word," and to get others behind our cause. So in 1973 she returned to Harvard where she spent two years teaching the next generation of lawyers to fight our good fight. While Valerie was serving as the Acting Civil Director of the National Legal Aid and Defense Association and as a Clinical teaching fellow at Harvard, Congress passed the IDEA to protect students with disabilities. As Valerie watched the law come to fruition, and saw how it could change the way we help our students, she began to plan.

Valerie began working in education law at the IDEA's inception. She spent two years with the Children’s Defense Fund, after which she returned to Los Angeles in 1977 to serve as Senior Counsel for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. In 1981 Valerie and her close friends founded Newman.Aaronson.Vanaman, a private firm committed to special education and disability advocacy.

Since founding Newman.Aaronson.Vanaman, Valerie and the lawyers she has mentored have helped tens of thousands of children. Many a family shares stories of how Valerie changed the course of their child and family's lives.

The mark Valerie has made goes further. Beyond the tireless work that goes into individual representation, Valerie has worked for broader institutional change. She was intricately involved in the Chanda Smith litigation which challenged the failure of second largest school district in the country’s failure fully and appropriately comply with the federal and state laws providing protections for all students with disabilities. Valerie has continued to be involved in that case, working with court monitors as they implement the consent decree issued after Chanda Smith was brought.

Valerie is one of the founding members of COPAA. She is also a leader in the state organization California Association for Parent and Child Advocacy (CAPCA) has organized conferences and lobbying trips through CAPCA in an effort to protect the rights of the clients we seek both in educational and other matters. Valerie spends a great deal of time dissecting proposed legislation with other lawyers and with our clients about how the proposed laws might impact them.  

Valerie has also supported countless organizations working to protect clients through research, through representation, through services--anyone who is trying to make a difference seems to be on her radar. Valerie has always gotten that it matters. No matter how big or small the issue, she knows that it matters and she has worked to make sure others do too.

Valerie's role in the development of a parent's bar in California is undeniable. Given her commitment to developing the next generation of advocates, her impact is exponentially greater than what we can observe from her work thus far. She is often referred to as the grandmother of special education law, and she certainly has left a lasting mark as she worked with it from its early days as Public Law 94-142, to try to make the IDEA the exemplar of a law we know it is supposed to be.

Valerie is a leader for our community. She has led the way for many to practice quality special education law, and she has touched many lives.  Please join us in congratulating Valerie on this honor. Valerie will be presented the award in San Diego on Saturday, March 7,2015 at the 17th Annual COPAA Conference Awards Luncheon.

For more information about and to register for the COPAA Conference visit The 2015 COPAA Conference website.