A Big-Picture View of Special Education Litigation with Tim Adams

Welcome! Today’s episode takes a big-picture view of what’s going on in education with our taxpayer dollars and how we can educate more parents about their general rights in advocating for their children. We use a recent California case as an example of how things can go so wrong–and cost millions of dollars–in special education law. Tim Adams has been in law practice for over 23 years after working as a lay advocate in the special education legal clinic at the Pepperdine Law School. As president and CEO of the disability rights law firm Adams & Associates, Tim has worked with numerous families to help them advocate for their children and has firsthand experience in this role because of his younger brother with special needs. He sees his career as a special education attorney as a unique opportunity to help and support families.Show Highlights:Tim’s recent high-profile case: Irvine Unified School District V. Landers and GaglianoThe money side of this case (what the school district spent on litigation—over $1.1 million)The point of the recent Wall Street Journal article highlighting this caseThe facts: what parents and their attorneys are asking for in intervention and services is a drop in the bucket compared to what is spent in litigationTim’s perspective on how often school districts are appealing court decisionsWhy this case has been a “win at all costs” endeavor for the school districtDigging deeper into the argument that this case was a pushback attempt at anything jeopardizing the school district’s control, such as school choice, privatization, charter schools, etc. Tim’s decision-making process on which cases to appealWhy there will be many COVID cases in litigation for years to comeThe toll that a litigation process takes on familiesLinks/Resources:Connect with Tim Adams: Website, LinkedIn, and FacebookContact us on social media or through our website for more information on the IEP Learning Center: www.inclusiveeducationproject.org   Thank you for listening! Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday.If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, then please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and Review this show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, or Google Play. It helps other listeners find this show.Be sure to connect with us and reach out with any questions/concerns:FacebookInstagram–We are doing videos on Instagram, so connect with us here and send us your questions!TwitterIEP websiteEmail us: [email protected]