The litigation-enforced “mainstreaming” of disruptive special-education students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is not only adversely affecting general-education students, but increasing teacher turnover. (John Hechinger, “‘Mainstreaming’ Trend Tests Classroom Goals”, Wall Street Journal, June 25). More: Another relevant investigative piece from the Journal: Robert Tomsho, “When Discipline Starts a Fight”, Jul. 9.
Posts Tagged ‘schools’
Privacy laws and Seung Hui Cho, cont’d
Better late than never:
Virginia Tech has provided some of Seung Hui Cho’s medical records to a panel investigating the April 16 massacre, after negotiating with family members to waive their privacy rights….
The records were released after weeks of frustration among the eight panel members over not being able to analyze Cho’s mental health in the years leading to the massacre, the worst mass shooting by an individual in U.S. history….
…panel officials said Thursday that they will continue to press for additional records, which also are protected under state and federal privacy laws.
(Tim Craig, “Panel Given Some Medical Files on Cho”, Washington Post, Jun. 15). And from a Thursday news report, also in the Post:
Authorities’ abilities to identify potentially dangerous mentally ill people are crippled across the nation by the same kinds of conflicts in privacy laws that prevented state officials from being able to intervene before Seung Hui Cho went on his rampage at Virginia Tech, according to a federal report commissioned after the Blacksburg shootings that was presented to President Bush yesterday.
Because school administrators, doctors and police officials rarely share information about students and others who have mental illnesses, troubled people don’t get the counseling they need, and authorities are often unable to prevent them from buying handguns, the report says.
(Chris L. Jenkins, “Confusion Over Laws Impedes Aid For Mentally Ill”, Washington Post, Jun. 14). My writings on the topic from April are here, here and here.
Vienna, Va. attorney Thomas J. Fadoul, Jr., who represents twenty victim families, has threatened to sue unless a family representative is appointed to the panel investigating the massacre so as to help “steer” its proceedings; Virginia governor Tim Kaine has replied that the panel was chosen so as not to include parties involved, and noted that the panel does not include any representative of Virginia Tech itself.
Oz: “Bullied teen awarded income for life”
Australia: “A bullied teenager will receive substantial damages and an income for life after a Supreme Court judge found NSW educational authorities failed in their duty of care to deal with playground assaults and bullying.” The court heard testimony that Benjamin Cox, now 18 years of age, was severely bullied at school by an older, disturbed pupil. ‘In her judgement, delivered today, Justice Carolyn Simpson commented that Mr Cox’s “adolescence has been all but destroyed; his adulthood will not be any better. He will never know the satisfaction of employment. He will suffer anxiety and depression, almost certainly, for the rest of his life'”. Cox’s mother said that because of the bad experience with classmates her son “didn’t like crowds, he didn’t like teachers, didn’t like the work,” and “just locks himself in his room playing PlayStation games”. The New South Wales state government may appeal the A$1 million verdict. (Leonie Lamont, Sydney Morning Herald, May 14; “Govt considers appeal on bullied boy”, AAP/Melbourne Age, May 22).
Cheating student sues school
Shi (“Carl”) Huang, a senior at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent, Ohio, and a Chinese national in the country on a student visa, hacked his teacher’s computer using a guessed password and obtained test questions. He was caught and given an “F” for the course, having been a straight-A student previously; the school also suspended Huang and is pressing criminal charges which could affect his ability to stay in the country. Now Huang and his parents are suing the teacher, James Zagray, the Kent board of education, and three school administrators, saying the boy was entrapped into the misconduct, that the teacher did not reach out sufficiently as he struggled with the course, and that the district mishandled the disciplinary process. Demands include monetary damages as well as changes to Huang’s grade and other records. (Marci Piltz, “Kent student sues over suspension”, Ravenna Record-Courier, May 3; Vic Gideon, “Honor student might have to leave country after getting caught cheating”, WKYC, May 2).
Playground wood chips ruled unfair to disabled
Uh-oh: “A Contra Costa County school district’s use of wood chips in play boxes makes it harder for boys and girls in wheelchairs to get to swings and slides, a violation of the disabled children’s rights, a federal judge has ruled.” Rubberized mats, the main alternative, are eight times as expensive, according to a lawyer for the district in Northern California. According to playground designer Susan Goltsman, “wood chips are more yielding and may cushion falls better”, aside from which employing a variety of ground materials is helpful in keeping playgrounds interesting to kids. (Bob Egelko, “Wood chips ruled unfriendly to disabled kids”, San Francisco Chronicle, May 5).
“What happens in Ms. Buford’s class stays in Ms. Buford’s class”
A couple of weeks ago, we reported on two teenagers who claimed to be traumatized by seeing a gay sex book at the library. But how traumatized could they be? After all, they sued for just $20,000. So, logically, they must have only been 1/20th as distressed by the thought of gay people as Jessica Turner of Chicago:
A suit was filed on behalf of a 12-year-old girl who claims she suffered psychological distress when a teacher showed in class the gay-themed movie “Brokeback Mountain.”
The girl, Jessica Turner, and her grandparents Kenneth and LaVerne Richardson, are seeking more than $400,000 in damages under the suit filed Friday against the Chicago Board of Education and others.
[…]
The plaintiffs accuse Diaz, Buford and the Chicago Board of Education of negligence, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The suit claims Jessica continues to suffer from emotional distress caused by watching the film and is currently undergoing psychological treatment and counseling.
You know, as I recall, William Faulkner had that effect on me. I wonder what the statute of limitations is on psychological-assault-by-bad-literature.
U.K.: “Teachers say greedy lawyers promote false abuse claims”
Great Britain continues to grapple with the repercussions of its decision to join the U.S. in permitting contingent-fee legal representation:
Lawyers who encourage parents and pupils to make speculative allegations of abuse against teachers in the hope of winning financial compensation risk are destroying the reputation of thousands of teachers, a teaching union has said.
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said that lawyers working on a “no win, no fee” basis were fuelling a rise in malicious allegations against teachers, made in the knowledge that local authorities would often pay complainants without even investigating their allegations.
(Alexandra Frean, Times Online, May 5).
Mom: I never authorized lawyer to sue school over football injury
Curious doings in Camden, N.J.:
Nita Lawrence, whose son Shykem was paralyzed in a scrimmage football game between Woodrow Wilson and Eastern Regional high schools on Aug. 25, said Monday she never gave a Michigan lawyer authorization to file paperwork naming both high schools in a potential $10 million lawsuit.
In fact, Lawrence said she fired [Ronald R.] Gilbert in early March after he tried to receive advance payment from Bollinger Insurance, the company that provides coverage for student athletes in the Camden School District.
“We didn’t say we were suing nobody,” Lawrence said. “All we wanted was the insurance company to pay for my son’s medical bills. That’s all we wanted.
“We don’t want no $10 million. We’re living fine. Whatever the insurance company doesn’t pay, Medicaid pays. We don’t need a lawsuit. Now, we’ve got all these people against us and it’s not fair because it’s not true.”
A $10 million notice of claim dated Mar. 20 names 18 people, including football coaches, principals and superintendents, as possible defendants. (Chuck Gormley, “Mom: No suit authorized over son’s injury”, Camden Courier-Post, May 1; “Michigan lawyer confirms he’s off Lawrence case”, May 2).
Further information on Fenton, Michigan attorney Ronald R. Gilbert can be found here. Gilbert appears to be the guiding spirit behind two seemingly philanthropic outfits, the Foundation for Spinal Cord Injury Prevention, Care & Cure and the Foundation for Aquatic Injury Prevention. Visitors to the two groups’ websites rather quickly run into discussions of liability and legal options which would seem helpful, no doubt unintentionally, to attorney Gilbert’s client intake efforts.
Saw sex book by mistake; $10K apiece demanded
In Bentonville, Arkansas, Earl Adams says his two teenage boys, ages 14 and 16, were perusing the local library shelves when they accidentally ran across a copy of “The Whole Lesbian Sex Book”, for which traumatization they deserve $10,000 apiece. It happened, Adams said, while they were browsing for material on military academies (titter ye not!) and the shock to their sensibilities from exposure to the “immoral” volume resulted in the boys being “greatly disturbed” and undergoing “many sleepless nights in our house.” According to the Washington Post, Library Journal has deemed the sex guide by Felice Newman suitable for public libraries. (Emil Steiner, “Off/Beat: Arkansas Dad Sues Library Over Lesbian Book”, Washington Post, Apr. 25; “Father Says Sons Traumatized By Lesbian Library Book”, 365gay.com, Apr. 20).
Discrimination against the mentally ill
David Bernstein is presiding over a thread at Volokh (Apr. 18).
More from the WSJ’s editors today:
A reasonable university administrator might conclude from all this [the suits against Harvard and MIT over the Sinedu Tadesse and Elizabeth Shin episodes, respectively] that mentally ill students–when there is even a remote possibility that they will be dangerous–need to be removed from campus, at least until their condition has improved. But not so fast. In 2004, George Washington University suspended Jordan Nott after he sought medical treatment for severe depression. Officials said later that they were trying to act in Mr. Nott’s best interests, by forcing him to take time off to get counseling. Mr. Nott sued the university, arguing that it had violated his rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act. The school and Mr. Nott settled out of court last fall.
In the same rights-based spirit, Virginia recently passed a law barring public colleges and universities from punishing or expelling students “solely for attempting to commit suicide, or seeking mental-health treatment for suicidal thoughts or behaviors.”
(“Caught in the (Legal) Crossfire”, Apr. 20).
And: “Privacy and anti-discrimination laws have meant paralysis in the face of the scarily insane.” (Kay Hymowitz (Manhattan Institute), “In loco parentis – not”, New York Sun, Apr. 20, original at City Journal). Speaking of privacy laws, Hymowitz writes:
Some years ago, when my daughter was starting out at Amherst, the college president explained the terms of the Buckley Amendment to the parents of incoming freshmen. One parent asked in disbelief, “You mean, if my kid were to disappear to California with a drugged-out nut, you wouldn’t even tell me she was missing?” The president smiled with just a hint of condescension. “That’s right,” he said.