SPECIAL NEEDS/CHILDREN NEWS

Here's some of the latest news concerning disabilities, special needs, children, institutions, awareness, you name it.  Some of the news is not so good; some of the news is very good.

First, some bad news:  disability-related educational complaints are trending up:

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Federal education officials are fielding an increasing number of complaints related to disability discrimination in the nation’s schools.

More than 3,900 complaints based on disability were filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights during the 2014 fiscal year, the most recent period for which statistics are available.

Though that’s somewhat fewer than the department received in 2013, it represents a sharp rise over five years. By comparison, less than 3,000 complaints were filed in 2009.

The uptick comes as the Education Department deals with an overall surge in complaints to its Office for Civil Rights, which is tasked with ensuring equal access and prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability and age in education programs.

Nearly 10,000 complaints were reported to the agency last year compared with about 6,300 in 2009. The agency reviews each case but does not necessarily act on every matter.

“There are likely a number of factors causing the increase, including the public’s increased awareness of civil rights laws and the public’s confidence in the Office for Civil Rights enforcement of those laws,” said Dorie Nolt, press secretary at the Department of Education, in a statement to Disability Scoop.

The Education Department is requesting an additional $30.7 million for next year in order to hire 200 more staffers to handle the influx of cases.

Disability issues account for the majority of civil rights complaints filed with the Education Department. The Office for Civil Rights said it is working more efficiently by using “expedited case review procedures” to address a portion of these complaints that focus on only a single issue.

Beyond responding to individual charges, the Education Department indicated in its budget request that plans are underway to “issue further guidance protecting students with disabilities from discrimination, including unfair discipline practices and restraint and seclusion.”

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Second:  more bad news--in the Pittsburgh area, some teachers are fighting what appears to be a very reasonable special-needs accommodation for a student:

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A teachers group is fighting a plan to allow a student with a disability to use a faculty restroom, all because they say the accommodation violates their right to exclusive facilities.

Eighteen teachers — including two special educators — signed a petition filed alongside a union grievance after administrators opted to allow a student at Park Elementary School near Pittsburgh to use the faculty restroom, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The student has a physical limitation, school officials say, which makes it difficult for the child to climb stairs needed to access the student facilities. The school’s bottom floor does not have a student restroom nor is there elevator access.

Teachers at the school argue the plan violates a provision of their contract stating that the school will provide “lavatory facilities exclusively for employees’ use.”

School officials, however, say the building has other faculty-only restrooms and the district has an obligation to “meet the needs of students with disabilities.”

The Steel Valley School Board is expected to vote on the matter.

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Good grief.  Those complaining teachers sound pretty pathetic to me.
Meanwhile, third:  some good news---a movie featuring an actor with Down Syndrome is set soon for nationwide release:

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A film starring a man with Down syndrome is set for a nationwide release this spring.

“Where Hope Grows” is expected to appear on about 300 screens across the country when it is released May 15.

Central to the story is a grocery-store worker named Produce, played by David DeSanctis who has Down syndrome.

In the film, Produce strikes up an unlikely friendship with a professional baseball player who was sent into early retirement after having panic attacks at the plate.

The movie marks DeSanctis’ acting debut and makes the Louisville, Ky. resident among the first with Down syndrome to have a lead role in a feature film.

“I want people to see me for my abilities, not my disabilities,” DeSanctis told The Hollywood Reporter.

Ahead of the movie’s release, a trailer for “Where Hope Grows” began screening at movie theaters nationwide this past weekend coinciding with World Down Syndrome Day.


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