lawprofessors

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Time and time again, I meet with parents who are baffled why their child's IEP (Individualized Educational Program) or 504 Plan (accommodations plan) is not being implemented at school.  Sometimes parents do not notice for years that although their IEP or 504 has many items which are supposed to be done, not all of them ARE being done.  This can be a heartbreaking discovery as lack of implementation may waste years of valuable time for a child. Special education (both IEPs and 504 Plans fall under special education), is awash with issues like this.  There are always questions of qualification and what to include in the IEP or 504.  But, once the 504 or IEP is finally complete, most parents mistakenly put their minds on other things, trusting the school to follow through.  Not so fast.  A parent's job is NEVER EVER done when their child is in school, special education or otherwise. ...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Are you frustrated that your school's Principal or Vice Principal are not listening nor acting adequately on your school complaints?  Are you being given a blank stare when you sit in the office telling your tale?  Is your child's problem not being resolved?  When problems are not resolved at the school site, don't forget the school district. I have sat and consoled many parents who have complained to their child's principal or other school staff about issues, such as continual bullying, targeting by a teacher, a dangerous situation on campus, issues with a student group, etc. to no avail.  The parents complain of getting nowhere, being treated like idiots or bothersome pests, and know their issues are not being taken seriously.  They are at a loss. Often these parents do not know nor think to involve their school district.  I think some parents believe that their school district may re...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 This week, Judge Rolf M. Treu, Superior Court of California,  in Vergara v. State of California  (2014) determined that our teacher tenure, seniority and dismissal laws ( California Education Code 4492 1(b) , 44934, 44938(b)(1) 44944, and 44955  ) are unconstitutional as they breach California students' rights to a quality education.  You may be saying- ho hum who cares, so I will attempt to explain the very BIG DEAL this case is.   First, I don't know about you, but since birth I have heard that teachers are measly low paid workers who barely scrape by.   This urban myth is false .  Teachers work approximately 9 months a year , yet get paid very favorable salaries.  Per the California Department of Education " Average Salaries & Expenditures Percentage" publication , teacher salaries in 2011-2012 ranged from: $38,390-$42,865 for a beginning teacher fresh out of coll...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Have you ever felt that a public school grade was wrong in a particular class or that your child was graded unfairly on his student work?  California law has a solution for you! Per California Education Code section 49066 , the teacher determines the final grade for a student.  However the grade can be challenged for: - Clerical mistake -  Fraud -  Bad faith, or -  Incompetency If one of these can be shown, the Superintendent or Board of Education for the school can overturn a grade issued by a teacher.  The teacher, however, is "to the extent practicable" to be included in discussions regarding the grade, and to be allowed to state orally or in writing, the reasons the grade was issued. I have seen many bad teachers in my time, unfortunately, who may issue grades improperly.  If a grade issues because the teacher was incompetent, is discriminatory, is based on whim or fancy, or...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 School staff willfully inflicting physical pain to students is considered corporal punishment and prohibited in California unless certain exceptions exist.  As such, hitting, pulling hair, pinching, kicking, and other forms of physically painful contact with a student, usually is unacceptable and illegal. In California Education Code 49001 , "Corporal Punishment" is defined as: " willful infliction of, or willfully causing the infliction of, physical pain on a pupil ."  This means that any PHYSICAL PAIN caused intentionally to a student, by a person employed or engaged by a school, is not okay.  Would purposefully slamming a student into a wall, spanking a student, slapping their hand with a ruler, and/or lifting a student out of a pool by their hair be considered "corporal punishment?"  To determine this, ask yourself: was physical pain caused to the student?  Was the physical pain in...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Some time ago, a question was sent to me via  my Twitter account regarding just WHAT is enough to get a teacher terminated.  Termination is up to the individual school district involved and what is enough may be very fact specific.  However, some instruction on just what a teacher can be fired for was outlined by the California Court of Appeals, Fourth District in its decision San Diego Unified School District v. Commission on Professional Competence (2011) issued this week (May 3, 2011). In its opinion, the Court of Appeals upheld a District termination of a teacher for posting a highly explicit sexual ad on Craigslist seeking male-on-male companionship.  The ad included four pictures, two of which were very intimate pictures of the teacher, while another showed the teacher's face.  The ad did not reference the teacher's employment, name, nor was the ad connected in any way to the t...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 As the focus of my practice is solely to assist and resolve issues for students, I frequently hear complaints about teacher misconduct, school administrator failures, school personnel allegedly targeting a student and other problems involving specific school employees.  Although my main goal is to resolve matters for the specific student involved, there is something important which parents can do to help get rid of bad school personnel: file a written personnel complaint with the school and/or school district about the teacher, administrator, or staff member. More Parents Need to Complain in Writing If there is a bad apple in a school, resolving a single student's concerns, such as handling the bullying of student Joe Smith by Teacher A, may not result in Teacher A being terminated and/or being punished "enough" to solve the problem long term.  This is because school staff may believe that a single co...