From a SEAL: “I looked at my annual tax bill and saw that I'm paying taxes to District via the County tax collector. The voters at the City of Temecula passed a bond initiative to increase facility needs @TVUSD.
The same law firms who have attorneys used for bond
measures at Districts have lawyers within their firm who go to due process, federal court against students with disabilities.
@IUSD, SanD ieguito HS, @TVUSD and other Districts have legal agreements in Special Education with Dannis Woliver Kelly that are approved by the
elected school board.
I have a lot more to speak about how special education is tied into the bond measures at Districts within CA and how the same firms departments in Special Education and bond measures paid using our tax payer dollars intended to educate students.
Why
are the same law firms who are used with bond measures at Districts used to sue students with disabilities in special education? — at @TVUSD.
Do you want your children or grandchildren back in school? Would you at least like the option? The leadership of @CentralSchoolD1 doesn’t believe you should have that option and has refused to apply for a waiver as other districts in the area have done. Many families need the
option of their children returning to school. In a recent tweet from @CSBA_Now, they shared that students across the state have been returning to the classroom this month and so far public health officials report no significant increase in Covid-19 cases. When it comes to
schools reopening, @CentralSD leadership is on the wrong track. Vote for Mario Silva to bring a parent’s voice to the board, one who knows what young families are dealing with during these challenging times.
➡️Marc Levine: Marc is a retired Special Education Judge. He retired to help families of children with special needs. He co-founded Levine & Maybaum, LLP, a law firm that specializes in matters involving special education.
➡️Rita Fernandez-Loof: Rita has led efforts to improve education for children with disabilities and educate parents about their children’s rights. She authored legislation (SB 1327—Soto) to strengthen protections for children with disabilities attending private schools, which
ultimately became law.
➡️ Raven Woods: Raven is a Special Education and IEP Advocate from Northern Virginia. She has advocated for children for over 14 years. Raven has advocated not only for her own child, but for thousands of families across the US.
The link below is from the #Fiscal Crisis Management Team (#FCMAT), an independent
organization that was called in by Independent districts within #WESELPA because of lack of trust and transparency. This report was done in 2010 and the same issues still exist in 2020.
This report talks about the contingency fund (#Xpot)* that is used for legal fees, p29.
The report states that staff was skeptical if Xpot* was used for intended purposes, #Xpot may encourage undesirable practices, Xpot is not a source of funding, #SELPA members do not have a clear understanding. *the term Xpot is no longer used.
Public comments @ #WESELPA Program Advisory Committee (#PAC), the #SELPA spedheads from Advocate Peter Atwood:
“Some arithmetic: It captures the prevailing attitude that the #WESELPA reimburses 100% to litigate against kids, while only reimbursing 30% to actually do something
for a kid. Ricky [#SELPA Administrator], and the rest of you, so long as the #SELPA makes its priorities that clear with its checkbook, any talk about wanting to work with parents or to do anything for kids is idle chatter. I have two outstanding cases with you all.?
Mary Kate Perez [of @CentralSD] is litigating a #Section504 due process case, and will shortly be getting an #IDEA filing at #OAH too, because she doesn't want to spend a few thousand dollars to help a kid who has crippling problems with reading due to his visual processing
@CSBA_Now or California School Boards Association is a membership-driven association that provides policy resources and training to members and represents the statewide interest of public education through legal, political legislative, community and media advocacy as stated on
CSBA's website. @CSBA_Now offers
Premier Business Affiliate memberships to law firms that school districts use to litigate against families with disabled students. In particular, one law firm @F3Law Fagen, Friedman & Fultrust, is a Premier Business Affiliate at CSBA. This Premier
Business Affiliate membership is $25,000 per year. @CSBA_Now states "CSBA introduces its members (school board) directly to business affiliate companies, providing the unique opportunity for affiliates to shape current and potential customer attitudes toward products & services”.
September 1, 2020, will be day 3 trail against special education student - @UplandUnifiedSD using taxpayer dollar intended for education students, paying a private law firm with our taxpayer dollars to fight not support a young girl with reading disability.
We are passionate about exposing the use of private law firms in Special Education at Districts like @UplandUnifiedSD (CA) and @TVUSD (CA).