Parents Helping Parents
PACER is the Minnesota Parent Training and Information Center, funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs.
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Resources
OCR Case Resolution and Investigation Manual
The Office for Civil Rights' (OCR) core mission as a law enforcement agency is to ensure that recipients of federal funds do not engage in discriminatory conduct. The Case Resolution and Investigation Manual (CRIM) provides OCR with the procedures to promptly and effectively investigate and resolve complaints against recipients allegedly engaging in discriminatory practices.
Minnesota's Complaint Procedure
The special education complaint system is designed to ensure that all students with disabilities are provided a free appropriate public education. A complaint can be filed about any entity that provides publicly funded educational services directly to students, that has violated a state or federal special education law or rule. Before filing a complaint, Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)
encourages parents or other persons to first contact the school district’s
Director of Special Education, who may be able to help resolve the issue.
Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, 2000
Students with Disabilities and the Right to Due Process in School Discipline, Center for Law and Education, 2000
In the area of school discipline eligible students with disabilities not only have significant rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Amendments of 1997. 20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(1)(A), 1415(j), 1415(k), the right not to be discriminated against under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act , 29 U.S.C. 7994, 34 C.F.R. 104.4(b), but, as all other students attending public education programs, they possess basic constitutional protections. Entitlement to public education has long been recognized as a property interest protected by the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565, 573-75 (1975).
What is a 'Functional' Assessment of My Child's Behavior?
What Makes a Good Individual Education Plan for Your Child?
PACER's site offers many PDF files for download, which require