I recently discovered a study that analyzed outcomes in due process hearings in Illinois, and whether or not outcomes were correlated with the parent having an attorney (the school board always has an attorney).
Dr. Melanie Archer looked at approximately 350 due process hearings in Illinois between 1997-2002. The first thing to note is the relatively low rate of due process hearings compared to the overall number of children receiving special education services (about 300,000) - that's less than 0.2%. So the next time a school district attorney complains about how special education is the "next big litigation explosion", take it with a grain of salt.
And then there's the question of outcomes - who wins? Not the parents! Parents lose 70% of the time. Twenty hearing officers made between 4 and 28 decisions during this time, with some officers never finding in favor of parents.
Dr. Melanie Archer looked at approximately 350 due process hearings in Illinois between 1997-2002. The first thing to note is the relatively low rate of due process hearings compared to the overall number of children receiving special education services (about 300,000) - that's less than 0.2%. So the next time a school district attorney complains about how special education is the "next big litigation explosion", take it with a grain of salt.
And then there's the question of outcomes - who wins? Not the parents! Parents lose 70% of the time. Twenty hearing officers made between 4 and 28 decisions during this time, with some officers never finding in favor of parents.
