Give Maryland parents a greater voice in special education decisions

I am writing in response to the letter to the editor, “Changing burden of proof for special education isn’t helpful” (March 2). I, too, testified at the Maryland House Ways and Means Committee hearing for House Bill 294. I, however, testified in support of the bill, as I have done since 2012.

The author claimed that he felt Del. Vanessa Atterbeary had an antagonistic position by stating parents of kids with disabilities fighting against a school system was like David versus Goliath. I have lost track of the number of parents who have been told by Individualized Education Program teams that “if you don’t like what we are providing, take us to due process and you have the burden of proof.” Instead of parents being treated as experts on their own children, they are often treated like hostile witnesses at the IEP table.

My husband and I spent many years alone — or with the help of a $200-an-hour advocate — at IEP team meetings advocating for our son with Attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to get the accommodations he was entitled to by law but were not provided. When New York shifted the burden of proof to schools, the executive vice president of the state teachers union said “[t]his corrects an injustice. It is unfair to put this burden on parents, especially those who do not have the financial means to hire an attorney and navigate the special education hearing process.”

Maryland parents who went to court without an attorney won exactly zero times in the last five years. New York continues to have the burden of proof assigned to schools, even though they had 650 hearings held in 2021 compared to nine in Maryland. Schools having the burden of proof simply means that they present their case first and must prevail with a preponderance of evidence (that is, there is a greater than 50% chance that their claim is true).

House Bill 294 may be a feel-good gesture for low-income families who can’t afford an attorney because at least the school system will have to present their case that was already prepared. The next hurdle for families is to have judges better trained on disability understanding and the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.