The National Academy for IDEA Administrative Law Judges and Impartial Hearing Officers Established 2002

National Academy 2024 Program Details

Special Education Solutions, LLC is excited to announce that registration is now open for the 20th National Academy of IDEA Administrative Law Judges and Impartial Hearing Officers.

Who: This program is exclusively for IDEA Administrative Law Judges, Impartial Hearing Officers, or the individuals who have oversight of their state’s IDEA due process hearing system and the cadre of ALJs/IHOs. This conference is not for attorneys or advocates who represent parties before IDEA ALJs/IHOs.
When: Tuesday, July 9, 2024, through Friday, July 12, 2024

We will offer a one-day basics program on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, for any ALJ/IHO who is new to special education hearings or who would like to take a refresher course. The regular program will commence on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, and conclude by mid-day Friday, July 12, 2024.

Where: The SUNY Global Center [MAP]

The SUNY Global Center is a modern state-of-the-art meeting and conference center. The SUNY Global Center is in the heart of Manhattan within steps from great restaurants, hotels, parking, and public transportation. Located in midtown, there is convenient access to the city’s greatest attractions. LaGuardia Airport (LGA) is 20 minutes travel time. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) is 35 minutes travel time.

Fees: Regular Program (Wed. – Fri.) $1495
Basics Program Add-on (Tues.) $200 ($1695 total)

The fee includes a light breakfast per day. Attendees are responsible for their own lunch. There are dozens of dining options within minutes of The SUNY Global Center.

There is a team rate for States who send 6+ attendees. The Regular Program is discounted to $1250 per person ($1450 with Basics Program add-on). To receive the team rate, you must submit one registration for the 6 or more attendees.

Payment must accompany registration. Payment can be made by credit card, or check written to Special Education Solutions, LLC. Attendee substitutions can be made at any time prior to June 21, 2024, with no additional cost. (Substitutes must either be an ALJ, IHO, or due process coordinator / supervisor.) Any cancellations must be made in writing by May 10, 2024. Cancellations received by this date will receive a refund minus an administrative fee of $150. There are no cancellations or refunds after the cancellation date.

Program

At the 20th National Academy for IDEA Administrative Law Judges and Impartial Hearing Officers, you’ll experience a high-quality program that will allow for ample opportunities to engage with nationally recognized speakers on topics that matter to your day-to-day work. You’ll also have opportunities to collaborate with colleagues from around the country who have a wealth of experience and varying perspectives.

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

8:15 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Registration and Sign-in
9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Welcome, Introductions, and Announcements – Deusdedi Merced, Managing Member, Special Education Solutions, LLC
9:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Overview of Special Education Process – Deusdedi Merced, Managing Member, Special Education Solutions, LLC

The IDEA’s framework is complex. In this session, Mr. Merced will provide a summary overview of the IDEA’s various component parts to enable new IDEA ALJs/IHOs to see the forest for the trees and how due process fits into the larger picture.
10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Break
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Basic Hearing Procedures and Management: An Overview for New IDEA Administrative Law Judges and Impartial Hearing Officers – Deusdedi Merced, Managing Member, Special Education Solutions, LLC

This nuts and bolts session introduces new IDEA ALJs/IHOs to the major IDEA federal statutory and regulatory requirements, including the various timelines and the hearing rights of the parties.
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Basic Hearing Procedures (cont.)
3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Break
3:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. EHA to IDEA, Foundational Case Law –James R. Mortensen, Administrative Law Judge, Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings

This session will provide an overview of some key court decisions that have driven the evolution of special education jurisprudence.

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

8:15 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Registration and Sign-in
9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Welcome, Introductions, and Announcements – Deusdedi Merced, Managing Member, Special Education Solutions, LLC
9:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Looking for FAPE in All the Wrong Places: The Ballad of Rowley and Endrew F., Richard D. Marsico, Professor of Law and Director of the Wilf Impact Center for Public Interest Law, New York Law School

This presentation will document the efforts the Supreme Court made in Rowley and Endrew F. to define the educational benchmark school districts must meet to satisfy their obligation to provide a FAPE to children with disabilities. In Endrew F., the Court swept away Rowley’s “educational benefit” standard, which had devolved into the “de minimis” benefit standard in several circuits, and replaced it with the requirement that school districts must prepare an IEP that is designed to allow a child to make progress that is “appropriate” in light of the child’s “circumstances.” Although the circuit courts formally, if not often grudgingly, adopted the new FAPE standard, neither they nor the district courts have not faithfully implemented it. This presentation will present a case study of post Endrew F. decisions that shows that the lower courts frequently ignored Endrew F. in cases involving mixed progress, no progress, and even repeated IEP goals, which was at issue in Endrew F. The presentation will conclude with a proposed FAPE test that is grounded in the IDEA’ statutory language, faithful to Endrew F., and simple to apply.
10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Break
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Disability and Discipline under the IDEA, Samantha C. Powell, Director of the Education Law and Policy Institute and Assistant Professor of Law, New York Law School

The IDEA contains several provisions that protect children with disabilities when they face exclusion or removal from school. In this session, we will discuss the recent guidance from the Office of Special Education Programs in interpreting these provisions, and the different ways student disciplinary issues can come before an Impartial Hearing Officer. We will cover procedural safeguards under 20 U.S.C. § 1415 and how they interact with the Child Find requirement under Section 1412. We will also examine the IDEA’s standards for assessing whether a student’s behavior was a manifestation of the child’s disability; and the evidentiary issues to consider when hearing an expedited appeal under Section 1415.

12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. IHO/ALJ Remedies under the IDEA: Doing Equity, Perry A. Zirkel, University Professor Emeritus of Education & Law, Lehigh University

This session will show the various remedial options available to hearing officers under the IDEA; review the analytical approaches for the two primary remedies – tuition reimbursement and compensatory education; and encourage more affirmative exercise of this broad equitable authority, including purely prospective orders for procedural violations that do not result in cognizable harm to the child or parents.

3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Break
3:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. IHO/ALJ Remedies under the IDEA: Doing Equity (cont.)

Thursday, July 11, 2024

8:15 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Sign-in
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Civility, Decorum, and Due Process – James R. Mortensen, Administrative Law Judge, Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings

Have you ever seen the wheels come off the bus in an IDEA hearing? Administrative Law Judge Jim Mortenson will facilitate a discussion of best practices in presiding over an emotional court room. Hear and share ideas about keeping the process fair, efficient, civil, and how to get the bus moving again if the wheels have come off.
10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Break
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. “Special” Special Education Issues – Ian Spechler, Administrative Law Judge and Mediator, Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings

This session will focus on issues that do not come up often but require special considerations from hearing officers and mediators when they do arise. Judge Spechler will look at issues arising when a case is filed on behalf of a child in foster care, a child in a juvenile justice facility, a child or adult in an adult jail or prison, and/or a child in a hospital or treatment center.
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Law’s Credibility Problem – Julia Simon-Kerr, Evangeline Starr Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law

Credibility determinations are at the heart of adjudication. Yet, not only is there no stable definition of credibility in the law, but courts and agencies diverge at the most basic definitional level in their use of the category. Still, the law maintains a fiction that credibility is a functional legal construct that advances the truth-seeking project of the legal system. This talk will discuss different ways that legal actors commonly conceptualize credibility and the factors that judges have traditionally used to assess it. It will suggest that some of the inputs we accept under the credibility label cannot be reconciled with the project of assessing a witness’s truthfulness, but instead that these inputs are a source of bias in the system. In this way, credibility can become a signifier of how worthy a witness seems of being believed rather than of the witness’s truthfulness itself.

3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Break
3:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Hear ye! Hear ye! The Panel is Now in Session – Jenna Clark, Administrative Law Judge, Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings

Last year’s introduction of this panel session was well received and Judge Clark’s practical and entertaining approach to answering questions was a highlight. Judge Clark will take the lead this year in facilitating a discussion with a distinguished panel of IDEA national consultants, ALJs, and SEA folks. Our experienced panelists will share what they’ve learned during the course of their judicial careers, what has worked and not worked, as well share other insights on how to do our jobs better. There will also be time for anything-due-process questions.

Friday, July 12, 2024

8:15 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Sign-in
9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Least Restrictive Environment: Background and Current Issues – Mark C. Weber, Vincent de Paul Professor of Law, DePaul College of Law

This session will discuss the obligation of school districts to educate children with disabilities in the least restrictive environment. The session will begin with a brief review of the statutory background and fundamental cases, then go into recent caselaw and ongoing controversies. The session will discuss the current disagreement among courts as to whether mainstreamed settings are appropriate when the student can make sufficient progress on the student’s IEP goals in such a setting but cannot keep up with the mainstream class curriculum even with additional aids. It will also take up remedies for failure to educate in the least restrictive environment.

10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Recent Case Law Developments – Mark C. Weber, Vincent de Paul Professor of Law, DePaul College of Law

This session will cover developments in the courts over the last twelve months, concentrating on precedential decisions from the federal courts of appeals, but including some noteworthy lower court and unpublished appellate decisions. The discussion will include the continuing impact of the Supreme Court’s 2023 case Luna Perez v. Sturgis School District.
12:00 p.m. Adjournment

Hotel Accommodations

A limited block of rooms is being held until June 8, 2024, or until all rooms are sold out at the following area hotel:

Courtyard New York Manhattan/Midtown (6-minute walk to SUNY Global Center)
866 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
(212) 644-1300
View Hotel Website HERE.

Group Rate: $299 per night, plus applicable state and local taxes and fees
Reserve a Room HERE.

Things to Do In and Around New York City

Events happening during and around the time of the conference in greater New York City

Get tickets to all the hottest Broadway shows.

New York City in general

Reasonable Accommodations

Special Education Solutions, LLC is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible event. To request a reasonable accommodation or discuss your needs, please contact Deusdedi Merced at (203) 557-6050 or email him at dmerced@spedsolutions.com. All requests for a reasonable accommodation must be made by May 10, 2024.

Questions?

If you have any additional questions, please call Deusdedi Merced at (203) 557-6050 or email him at dmerced@spedsolutions.com.