Ithaca Press author Andrew Cuddy assisted in bringing to the
attention of the public a New York State Education Department scandal
which is now being widely investigated and reported upon. Cuddy is
the author of "The Special Education Battlefield: A Guide to Due
Process and Other Tools of Effective Advocacy." This recent
publication can be ordered at www.AndrewCuddyBooks.com .

Cliff Weathers of The Albany Project (www.thealbanyproject.com) has
referred to the corruption at the NYSED as the "Pillow Talk Scandal"
in his recent article posted below.

NY Dept of Ed "Pillow Talk" Scandal: Couple blocked disabled children
from appropriate education
by: cliffweathers
Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 16:11:04 PM EDT

(An investigation is warranted. - promoted by Roatti)

My wife and I are parents of a disabled child. My son’s condition,
Asperger’s Snydrome along with acute Anxiety Disorder (and other
yet identified comorbid factors), presents us with many challenges
and tragedies and makes our life's road a rocky one.


The educational program currently being suggested for our son is a
setting with a jumble of children with various emotional, social,
behavioral, and educational difficulties. Because the children in the
program are varied, no one child can get an education that meets
their IEP requirements. It’s a modern day “snake pit” where
it’s unlikely any child can prosper. We are in the process of
fighting this placement now.


Other parents of disabled children in New York that we've talked to
have noticed that many school districts in the State have lately
become curiously emboldened in denying the proper educational
services that are guaranteed by the “appropriate and free
education” stipulation in the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act.


Instead, many of the State's school districts would prefer to throw
our children into grossly inappropriate�"but cheap!�"special
education programs or sometimes even more inappropriate mainstream
classroom settings. We've read enough about the history special
education in the State and our district to know that the rules of
the game have changed to dismiss the concerns of the parent in favor
of the school district's choices, no matter how inappropriate they
may be. Still, we didn't know what led to these changes.
Much more on the flip...

cliffweathers :: NY Dept of Ed "Pillow Talk" Scandal: Couple blocked
disabled children from appropriate education
And, as parents we've supposedly got the right to due process to
fight these decisions made in regards to our child's welfare.
However, we find that legal recourse for us has become a sham. The
New York State Department of Education has illegally stacked the deck
against us. Our children's right to due process have been denied.
This is going to get real ugly, real quick, because the State
Department of Education has been gaming our children all along.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week on what appears to be
widespread corruption at the New York State Education Department.
This corruption targets children with disabilities. Dan Golden, the
journalist making this report, cited sources inside the Office of
State Review confirming that the State Review Officer, Paul Kelly,
was ruling contrary to recommendations of his attorney staff in order
to find in favor of school districts at the expense of children with
disabilities. The article suggests that his relationship with Kate
Surgalla, Kelly's paramour and a high ranking attorney with the
Office of Counsel of the State Education Department, may be
influencing his decisions. Kelly and Surgalla refused comment,
according to Golden. The State Review Officer is required by law to
be independent of the State Education Department and render impartial
decisions on the special education cases that come before him.
"Golden has confirmed many of the facts that my office has been
investigating over the last year in preparation for legal action
against Mr. Kelly and the others involved in what I believe to be a
conspiracy," Cuddy stated. Sources inside Kelly's office have been
reporting to parents' attorneys across the State that the office has
been compromised, and any voice of opposition to these shenanigans
within Kelly's office is quickly stifled. Kelly's office has been
determined to have turnover rate four times higher than other State
Education Department offices, as individuals are pressured to leave
when they speak out against Kelly's agenda. "Multiple attorneys in
that office reported that they left because they felt that
participating in Kelly's agenda would cause them to lose their
licenses to practice law, and sources inside the office confirm that
the agenda is ongoing despite expressed opposition within the office
from Kelly's staff," Cuddy said.
Because of today's Wall Street Journal report, Cuddy has requested
that New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo commence an
immediate, full-scale investigation in order to determine whether
there has been a criminal conspiracy to violate the civil rights of
New York State's disabled children and their parents. "We can't
allow evidence in Albany to be destroyed in shredders or wiped from
computers. We cannot allow witnesses to these events to be coerced or
intimidated into withholding information from investigatory
authorities. My office is offering assistance to any current or
former employee of the State Education Department who feels that they
are being threatened or intimidated into participating in a cover-
up. I am also concerned that the people of good conscience that
participated in exposing this situation will be retaliated against.
Steps must be taken to protect them as these issues move forward."
Cuddy also bought this matter to the attention of the Office of the
Inspector General of the United States Department of Education.
On July 20th, parents' lawyers from across the State met in New York
City to discuss possible legal avenues to address the situation at
the Office of State Review. As a result of Golden's article, these
attorneys will meet again at 3:00 p.m. on the 25th to coordinate
efforts in a legal action against the State Education Department and
the individuals responsible. Cuddy concluded his letter to
Cuomo, "As long as this situation is allowed to exist, no parent of a
disabled child is being afforded due process in New York. The safety
and the futures of disabled children are being put at risk. I urge
your office to take immediate action to hold individuals accountable."
Many of parents of disabled children in New York have gone through
our life savings (and some of us have filed for bankruptcy) to pay
for medical and legal fees in trying to get appropriate educational
services for our children. We’ve had to uproot our families and
move to other districts or states. Some of us have been fired from
jobs because of our obsession with our child’s education. Countless
marriages have dissolved under the weight of advocating for a special
education child. We've suffered enough. We don't need additional
suffering heaped upon us by the State of New York.


A little more info... (4.00 / 3)
Thanks for the prominent placement of my diary. Special education
gets so little play in the regional media and right now�"and for
many reasons�"it is critical that the concerns of the parents of
children with disabilities are addressed.
I must note that many of the most concerned are the parents of
children on the Autistic spectrum. And I'll concede that the school
districts and the State Education Department were caught off guard
when we started to organize, forming our own "netroots" if you will
to defend the civil rights of our children.
Still, the denial of appropriate services for our children is
unthinkable and shameful. The quality of society or a state is
measured in the way it treats its weakest and most vulnerable
members.
Here's some snippets from the actual WSJ article published on July
24, entitled "Schools Beat Back Demands for Special-Ed Services." The
article is behind a pay wall and I respect the Journal's copyright,
so I am only grabbing a few lines, what's legal under fair use
doctrine:

A study by Pamela Steen, a Patchogue, N.Y., lawyer for parents, found
that [Kelly] granted full or partial relief to districts in 60 of
their 70 appeals, or 86%, in 2006 and 2007. Andrew Cuddy, an Auburn,
N.Y., lawyer who represents parents, says Mr. Kelly is "being
dictated to" by the state education department to save money.


Last week, about 20 lawyers for parents met to discuss possible legal
action against Mr. Kelly. Advocates for the disabled have complained
about him to Gov. Eliot Spitzer. John Farago, a City University of
New York law professor and a New York hearing officer, says Mr. Kelly
is "rewriting the rule book" to challenge precedents that enabled
parents to put children in private schools at public expense.


Although the state education department employs Mr. Kelly, he is
required to act independently of it. Mr. Cuddy and other parents'
attorneys say Mr. Kelly's independence is compromised by his
relationship with Kathleen Surgalla, an assistant counsel for the
state education department. Ms. Surgalla has trained the part-time
officers who conduct the initial hearings and handled other special-
education matters. Mr. Kelly and Ms. Surgalla live together in an
Albany suburb, voter-registration records show. Mr. Kelly and Ms.
Surgalla declined to comment through a department spokesman.



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by: cliffweathers @ Tue Aug 14, 2007 at 10:22:32 AM CDT
[ Reply ]



Sorry to dominate the comments on my own post... (4.00 / 3)
...but here's more background information from a New York Sun
article:
http://www.nysun.com...
At least seven of the 10 attorneys on staff have quit the State
Review office in the last three years, including several who left
because they were concerned about violations of law, sources familiar
with the office said.
One former staff member said nine attorneys had left the office.

An analysis by a special education lawyer, Jeffrey Marcus, found that
recent decisions have almost unanimously favored the districts:
Between 2006 and March of this year, five of 43 cases where parents
originally prevailed were upheld after school districts' appeals, and
37 of 39 successive cases favored the district completely.
A hearing officer who judges New York City cases, Lynn Almeleh,
called Mr. Kelly's decisions "a very tortured reasoning to arrive at
a predetermined conclusion."