By: Tom Duggan
LAWRENCE – State Rep. Francisco Paulino says the Lawrence Public Schools are failing to provide some special education students with services required under their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and says he is working on a program that would provide free legal representation to parents fighting for those services.
Paulino made the comments during a recent appearance on the Paying Attention! Podcast while discussing the rising cost of special education and the obligations school districts have to students with disabilities.
Under an IEP, school districts are required to provide specific services and accommodations based on the individual needs of a student.
Paulino rejected the suggestion that school districts have an incentive to unnecessarily classify students as special education students to obtain additional funding.
In fact, Paulino said, the problem is often the opposite because once an IEP is established, the district is required to provide the services spelled out in the plan.
Then he specifically called out the Lawrence Public Schools.
“I’m not afraid to say this,” Paulino said. “The Lawrence School District has failed to fulfill the need of many, many students that have autism.”
Paulino said the district does not always follow students’ IEPs and that parents often lack the knowledge or resources necessary to force the district to provide the services their children are supposed to receive.
“The parents’ voices are not heard, and they don’t have the tools to make sure the district goes line by line to the recommendation on the IEP,” he said.
Paulino said parents receive a very different response when they attend IEP meetings with a school advocate or an attorney.
To address the problem, Paulino said he is working with his law school alma mater on a pilot program to establish a legal clinic where parents of special education students could receive free legal representation when dealing with school districts.
Paulino said having an attorney at the table would give parents someone who understands their child’s legal rights and can demand that required services be provided.
Later in the discussion, Paulino stressed that he was not blaming classroom teachers for the failure to provide services.
He said teachers are often overworked and are not being provided the resources necessary to meet every requirement in a child’s IEP.
“If a kid with autism has an IEP that says that he needs to have one-to-one help and you have a teacher with 10 students, is that the teacher’s fault?” Paulino asked.
“It is a system that is not complying with the IEP.”
Paulino represents the 16th Essex District, which includes portions of Lawrence and Methuen. ◊