Overlawyered » disability & schools

Disabled rights roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:15:03 +0000

On party-line vote, Sacramento Dems turn down bill to curb ADA access shakedown suits [ATRF, KABC, Sacramento Bee (auto-plays video ad)]
Illinois sues local schools for not developing standards for disabled athletic competition [Chicago Tribune]
Open secret: criminals exploit federally mandated IP Relay disabled-phone system [Henderson]
Judge certifies nationwide ADA accessibility suit against Hollister over stepped entrances to its stores [Law Week Colorado via Disability Law]
In settlement, AMC movie chain agrees to install captioning, audio-description at Illinois theaters [ABC Chicago]
“Has the Expanded Definition of Disability under the ADAA Gone Too Far?” [Russell Cawyer]
“Fake handicaps a growing problem for disabled sports” [Der Spiegel]

Tags: ADA filing mills, disability & schools, disabled rights, Illinois, movies film and videos, sports, telecommunications

Disabled rights roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Education roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:06:33 +0000

Thomas Cooley Law School in Michigan, facing class-action suit, subpoenas Colorado lawprof Paul Campos, vocal critic of schools’ disclosure policies [Campos, Scott Greenfield]
“Maintenance of effort”: Yielding to special ed lobby, feds won’t let local school districts cut outlays [Nirvi Shah, Ed Week] “Havoc in classrooms” feared as NYC pushes least restrictive placement of disabled students [NY Post] Feds to universities: it’s an ADA violation to ask suicidal students to leave [WFAE, Popehat]
Arizona lawmaker proposes ban on political viewpoint discrimination in faculty hiring [Inside Higher Ed]
“University of Maryland Cuts Varsity Cheer Program” [Washington Post] Title IX competes with true gender equality
[Doug Robinson, Deseret News via Saving Sports]
Due-process revolution in school discipline hasn’t worked out as intended [Richard Arum, The Atlantic] Heavy police presence in schools is something new [J.D. Tuccille, Reason] “Education Department Pushes Racial Quotas in School Discipline” [Hans Bader, CEI]
“What Yale and the Times Did to Patrick Witt” [KC Johnson, Minding the Campus]

Tags: colleges and universities, disability & schools, law schools, New York Times, school discipline, schools, suici, Title IX, Yale

Education roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Recent rehab history no bar to school-bus-driver employment

Walter Olson — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 15:54:26 +0000

In Jefferson County, Colorado, police have filed misdemeanor charges against a substitute bus driver for allegedly heading into a crosswalk against the right of way, hitting three middle school students. After questions were raised about the school’s having hired the driver in October — “He was convicted on a DUI in 1992 and he was going through alcohol rehabilitation treatment as recently [as] 2009″ — a spokesman for the school district cited the following: “It is illegal under state and federal disability laws to deny employment solely on the basis of a history of treatment for alcohol or substance abuse.” There is no indication in the article that alcohol was a factor in the bus accident. [KDVR via Brian Martinez]

Tags: alcohol, disability & schools, disabled rights

Recent rehab history no bar to school-bus-driver employment is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Diploma requirements may violate ADA: EEOC

Walter Olson — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:24:26 +0000

Requiring a high school diploma of applicants for a given job may improperly screen out those with learning disability, according to the federal agency. I’ve got more at Cato at Liberty. Update: more from EEOC.

Tags: disability & schools, disabled rights, EEOC

Diploma requirements may violate ADA: EEOC is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

A roadblock to e-readers in schools?

Walter Olson — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:02:22 +0000

Assisted by a foundation, Baltimore has proposed putting Nook e-reader devices in some school libraries, but a complaint from the National Federation of the Blind says that would violate Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). [Business Wire]

Tags: Baltimore, disability & schools, web accessibility

A roadblock to e-readers in schools? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Schools roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:54:46 +0000

Students respond to L.A.’s “healthful” school lunch initiative with a loud “yuck” [L.A. Times, Michelle Malkin/NRO]
L.I.: School suspends students for “Tebow” kneeling in hallway [Newsday]
“Growing number of college students asking for wiggle room with their academic workloads due to mental health issues.” [WSJ]
Proposal to address “learning disability” tangle: give all test-takers extra time [Ruth Colker, SSRN, see p. 126] A.D.H.D. diagnosis and the academic struggle for advantage [Melana Zyla Vickers, NYT "Room for Debate"] “Pediatrician Group Seeks to Boost ADHD Diagnoses” [Sullum]
Will distance technology defeat the teachers’ union? [Larry Sand, City Journal]
Time to repeal Maryland’s awful “maintenance of effort” law on school funding [WaPo, Baltimore Sun] Contra: MSEA, PDF.
French-language cops: “Montreal schools move to scan playground chatter” [Ottawa Citizen]

Tags: Canada, colleges and universities, disability & schools, labor unions, obesity, schools, testing

Schools roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

A swipe at school choice?

Walter Olson — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 05:31:19 +0000

“The Department of Justice has begun an investigation into Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction, probing whether Milwaukee’s state-administered voucher system is discriminating against students with disabilities.” [Joy Resmowits, Huffington Post]

Tags: disability & schools, Milwaukee, schools, Wisconsin

A swipe at school choice? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Wave of new disabilities swamps school budgets”

Walter Olson — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 16:41:37 +0000

According to one expert, “special education’s share of school budgets has jumped to an average of 21% in 2005, from just 4% in 1970.” A major contributor: “hidden disabilities” like chronic fatigue syndrome, ADHD, migraines, multiple chemical sensitivity and fibromyalgia that can precipitate demands for expensive accommodations such as home tutoring at school district expense. [Amy Dockser Marcus, WSJ]

Tags: disability & schools

“Wave of new disabilities swamps school budgets” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“To get the check, you’ve got to medicate the child”

Walter Olson — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 15:52:41 +0000

The ghastly incentives created by the federal SSI dependent disability program [Boston Globe series first, second, third parts, more]

Tags: disability & schools

“To get the check, you’ve got to medicate the child” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

ADA: Feds intervened against college Kindles

Walter Olson — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:35:19 +0000

When several universities put out word that they were considering lightening the textbook load on their student body by moving to e-book formats, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division put them under investigation for possible violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The targets soon buckled: “The schools denied violating the ADA but agreed that until the Kindle was fully accessible, nobody would use it.” [Byron York, Examiner]

Tags: colleges and universities, disability & schools

ADA: Feds intervened against college Kindles is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system