Callie Oettinger, Author at Special Education Action

About Callie Oettinger

The short version: I'm a mom who was educated in the Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DODDS) and public school systems, who believes children come first, and who doesn't take no for an answer. The long version: For 20+ years, I've helped bestselling authors, publishing houses, award-winning indie and documentary filmmakers, and other entrepreneurs and business leaders with writing, editing, production management, publicity and community outreach and development, sales and content partnerships, content monetization, and ecommerce and customer support. Along the way, I was introduced to the Special Education system by a close friend who struggled to obtain services for her son — and then struggled to have those services implemented in full — within Fairfax County (VA) Public Schools. And then the struggle entered my home. So . . . I pivoted. I turned skills sharpened over 20 years toward raising awareness of the problems, helping other families, and holding Fairfax County and the Virginia Department of Education accountable. And, I made a lot of mistakes along the way, because 1) special education law is kin to learning a foreign language and 2) I trusted FCPS to a) know the law and b) implement it in full. I'm forwarding my experiences and lessons learned to help other families.

Mediators: Know Who Constitutes an “Impartial Mediator”

01.25.2023

§300.506(c)(1) states mediators may not be an employee of the state education agency (SEA) or local education agency (LEA) that is involved in the education or care of the child.

Makes you think that the mediator lined up for your mediation will be impartial—and won’t be an employee of the SEA or LEA—right?

That sort of thinking does make sense, but in this Bizarro World of special education regulations and laws and school divisions and lawyers and parents and kids . . . Things don’t always turn out as they should.

Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Virginia Department of Education and Fairfax County School Board; Alleges Civil Rights Violation of Students Who Have Special Needs

01.25.2023

January 25, 2023: Article republished and updated to include amended complaint filed January 20, 2023.

September 21, 2022, a federal class action lawsuit was filed against the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) and Fairfax County School Board (FCSB), for violations of the rights of students under the U.S. Constitution and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). The Civil Rights Clinic of Georgetown Law School, the law firm of Susman Godfrey, LLP (each working pro bono), and Merritt Law, PLLC, collaborated to develop and file the case.

According to the complaint, plaintiffs allege that the Virginia due process hearing officers are not impartial, but in fact, have the worst ruling record of any major state in the entire country with respect to parents who have brought claims under the IDEA.

Dear VDOE: Why Did Sam Hollins Include Incorrect Information in Her Response to U.S. DOE’s Monitoring Letter on Virginia?

01.24.2023

September 2, 2020: Article published.

January 24, 2023: Article republished with new introduction (see italics below).

Almost three years ago, U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs issued a Differentiated Monitoring and Support report on Virginia. In response, VDOE issued a ten-page letter from Superintendent of Special Education and Student Services Samantha Hollins, which included false and misleading information.

In the years that have followed, noncompliance has continued in Virginia, as has Samantha’s failure to release a public statement correcting and/or apologizing for the false information in her previous ten-page letter. Within the last two months, VDOE’s failures made the news again when Office for Civil Rights issued two letters of finding for two Virginia agencies: Fairfax County Public Schools and Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs.

The big question now: Will USDOE eventually pull funding for Virginia as it did for Texas, when Texas hit its post-DMS release three-year mark?

Samantha Hollins Prohibits Recording of Resolution Meeting; Hangs Up on Parent

01.23.2023

July 13, 2020: Article first published. January 23, 2023: Republished with new introduction (see italics below).

January 24, 2020, Samantha Hollins, assistant superintendent of VDOE’s Department of Special Education and Student Services, provided incorrect guidance on the recording of resolution meetings.

She first indicated that there is a Virginia regulation prohibiting the recording of resolution meetings.

Not true.

U.S. Dept. of Ed. Finds Arkansas and Michigan in Noncompliance with IDEA

01.19.2023

United States Department of Education (USDOE) Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has found the states of Arkansas and Michigan in noncompliance with Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

January 12, 2023, OSEP issued differentiated monitoring support (DMS) reports for both states. In addition to including findings of noncompliance, the reports include required actions and timelines by which those actions must occur.

Perez v Sturgis: Will Supreme Court’s Decision Lead to Helping or Harming Students?

01.18.2023

January 18, 2023, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Perez v Sturgis Public Schools.

The case focuses on 1) whether, and in what circumstances, courts should excuse further exhaustion of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s (IDEA) administrative proceedings under Section 1415(l) when such proceedings would be futile, and 2) whether Section 1415(l) requires exhaustion of a non-IDEA claim seeking money damages that are not available under the IDEA. It is based on the experiences of Miguel Luna Perez, who was denied a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for years while attending Sturgis (Michigan) Public Schools (SPS).

Heartache and Lies Instead of FAPE

For 12 years, SPS advanced Miguel Luna Perez from grade to grade and inflated his grades to the point he repeatedly made honor roll, even though he couldn’t read or write—and then just before graduation told his family he would receive a certificate of completion but not a high school diploma. His experiences with SPS during those years are heartbreaking.

FCPS Reports List 400+ Special Education Violations; VDOE Refuses to Investigate

01.18.2023

7.17.20: Article first published. 1.18.23: New introduction added (in italics below).

As I type this, oral arguments for the case Perez v Sturgis are being held in the Supreme Court. Reading about Sturgis Public Schools’ failures to address the unique needs of Miguel Luna Perez is both heartbreaking and horrifying. It is a reminder, too, that the special education system is broken. The recourse offered isn’t adequate and the agencies and individuals responsible for holding state and local education agencies accountable continuously fail children themselves.

Almost five years ago, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) refused to investigate 400+ cases of noncompliance in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). To date, that hasn’t changed. The article below was written in 2020, a month after the United States Department of Education (USDOE) released a Differentiated Monitoring Support (DMS) letter on Virginia. VDOE had 90 days to come into compliances. Almost three years later, the noncompliance continues, as does USDOE’s failure to hold VDOE accountable and VDOE’s failure to hold FCPS and other counties state-wide accountable for their noncompliance. November 30, 2022, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found FCPS in massive noncompliance, yet even as it was investigated, even as it negotiated its resolution agreement with OCR, and even as its findings released, FCPS continued its noncompliance—and VDOE has remained silent.

VFOIA-6763 Response: FCPS’s Recovery Services and/or Comp Ed Records and Practices

01.13.2023

October 21, 2022, I submitted a Freedom of Information request (FOIA) to Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). The request was for the following:

1) any forms, letters, or documentation that address FCPS advising parents to pick their own recovery services and/or comp ed provider

2) any forms, letters, or documentation that address FCPS advising parents FCPS will reimburse parents for recovery services and/or comp ed.

3) any forms, letters, or documentation that address FCPS capping the service provider payment amount to a certain amount of dollars per hour and/or per service.

I know the above has already been provided to parents. I’m not asking for their educational records.

I know FCPS has internal records and form letters it developed.

I know that responsive records that are not also educational records exist.

This should include but not be limited to any training materials, slides, videos, presentations, too.

The Problems with Quarterly IEP Measurements

01.11.2023

Whether it is a functional or an academic goal, waiting a quarter is waiting too long, because the goal might need to be adjusted sooner. Why not assess whether the goal needs narrowing or expanding as soon as possible?

I’ve never understood why Individualized Education Programs (IEP) include goals for quarterly measurements. As a parent, if my kids failed to do their chores for a week, I wouldn’t wait until the end of the quarter to assess the situation. Why wait an entire quarter to address a problem that’s clearly getting worse? Why not assess sooner and narrow the goal until it can be expanded in full—or expand the goal if the student achieves the goal sooner than expected?

Accommodation Breakdown: Clarification of Directions and Expectations

01.09.2023

Imagine a teacher assigns a writing project, requiring students to write three paragraphs related to an element on the periodic table.

Imagine one student writes three paragraphs about Chlorine and turns it into the teacher.

Now, imagine the teacher returning the paper back to the student, with red marks noting points taken off and the message, “I expected five sentences per paragraph.”

What happened?

Fairfax County Public Schools Trains Staff to Thwart FERPA Requests: Don’t Put it in Writing

01.09.2023

Fairfax County Public Schools has a history of training staff to take actions that prevent information being obtained via Freedom of Information Act and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act requests.

Under FERPA, parents have the right to inspect their children’s education records. However, if there’s nothing in writing, there’s nothing to inspect.

Accommodations Don’t Have a Word Count: Clarity Trumps Word Count When Writing Accommodations

01.06.2023

No laws or implementing regulations state accommodations must be written within a specific word count.

However, pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the unique needs of students must be addressed.

In other words: Clarity and ensuring the unique needs of the child are met is more important than word count.

Posts by Callie Oettinger