The New Jersey Student Advocate
A publication of A Parents’ Initiative
for Every Child’s Education (APIECE)
Fall 2005, “The First Issue” Volume 1, Issue Number 1
“Standing up for the rights
of all students including those facing adversity due to disability, racial
disparity and economic inequity”
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NJ 08502
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Promote
The Roberts Nomination and Your Child
The following information was provided
by the Alliance for Justice, http://AFJ.org :
The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law has an excellent section dealing with
John Roberts’ record in this field (of special education). That page is
available at
http://www.bazelon.org/issues/disabilityrights/judicialnominees/roberts.htm
The following is a description of Board of Education v. Rowley, where it was
ruled that the district did not need to provide a sign-language interpreter for
a student.
Narrowing Federal Education Law Protections for Students with Disabilities ·
In Board of Education v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176 (1982), an 8-year-old
student who was deaf sought to have a sign language interpreter provided to
assist her in school. The trial court ruled that federal law required the state
to provide an interpreter for her. The appeals court affirmed. Roberts, while at
the Justice Department, wrote a memo to the Attorney General criticizing these
decisions. Roberts stated that the “lower courts, in an exercise of judicial
activism, used the vague statutory language to overrule the board and substitute
their own judgment of appropriate educational policy.” Even the conservative
Justice Department of that time disagreed with this view and filed a brief
supporting the student. The Supreme Court held that the student was not entitled
to an interpreter because she was benefiting from her school instruction and
federal law did not require the state to maximize the potential of each student
with a disability.
The Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section of the American Bar
Association also published an analysis of the Rowley case, which is available
here:
http://www.abanet.org/irr/hr/hurder.html
In an article about Roberts’ time as a clerk for William Rehnquist (available at
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1122627917314 ) , this section
uses some text from his memo:
In his February 1981 memo on one important case that term, Board of Education v.
Rowley, Roberts wrote that a lower court dissent was "persuasive" in arguing
that the "free appropriate" education for handicapped students required under
federal law did not mean that states have to provide students with "the
opportunity to achieve maximum or a full potential." Advocates for special
education students had argued that Amy Rowley, a deaf student, was entitled to a
sign-language interpreter. The state of New York, Roberts wrote, had won
approval for a plan that did not provide interpreters for students like her.
When the Court decided the Rowley case the following term, Rehnquist wrote the
6-3 majority opinion along the lines Roberts suggested, interpreting the law to
require aid that provides only "some educational benefit." The decision has been
criticized ever since for giving school districts license to give only minimal
help to special students -- a "Chevrolet versus Cadillac" approach, as several
commentators describe it. The text of the US Supreme Court decision itself is
available at
http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/caselaw/ussupct.rowley.htm
Ask the Advocate
NJ Complaint Form (MS Word)
(PDF)
On Line Public Hearing on IDEIA 2004
Survey on NJ OSEP Complaint
Process
Past Activities
IEP Wkshp
Rec. Programs for
those w/ Disabilities
An Evening of Educational Advocacy
September 8, 2005 Edison, NJ
What The Student Advocate Has Done for Our Children
Lately . . .
NJ IDEIA 2004 Organizing Committee
Minutes of IDEIA 2004 meeting on Thu., May
26
Student Rights Radio
Discussion, October 31
Effort to
Reach Gubernatorial Hopefuls and Acting Governor / Candidates
IDEA: An Update
Dec. 5, 2005
Middletown
January 18,
2006: Hold a Candle Light for Our Children's Rights
50 Strong For Our
Children
No. Jersey Radio Interview Aired, 1/22
Petitioning for Rights Children: Legal in Princeton
Interview on NJ IDEIA Rights
- Racial Disparities in Sp-Ed
Call
is Heard in Montgomery Twp: Inclusive Recreation
NJSAU Minutes 2/18/2006
Playing and Singing for
Our Rights, 4/1/6
Better IDEA Laws for Special Education
Students?
Better IEPs? Anything is Possible!
April
1 Report: Student Advocacy Union - Fundraising Concert
Mobilization for Rights
of Our Children, May 17, 2006, Trenton
Nationwide Internet Radio Rally for Sp-Ed Parent Rights
9pm EST, Sat. May 20
Parents’ Rally @ Statehouse in Trenton Thursday, June 8, 2006
Piscataway Parents Mtg, June 19, 2006