No weaker rules for judges: lawyers

A coalition of city lawyers representing kids with learning disabilities is pushing back on a state proposal to let judges without law degrees hear the students’ complaints.

New York City now has fewer than 70 special education judges — called impartial hearing officers — to handle the thousands of complaints that special education students lodge every year against the city school system.

Lawyers blame a backlog of more than 10,000 unresolved cases on a shortage of impartial hearing officers.

State education officials have proposed fixing the problem by allowing judges without law degrees to hear complaints.

But in a letter sent to city and state authorities Friday, a group of special education lawyers argued that was a “totally misplaced” idea that would “not address the underlying causes of the problems in New York City,” and only “cause further injury.”

The use of impartial hearing officers is mandated by federal law. They hear complaints from families of special education students and can require school districts to provide additional services.

The judges are currently required to have a law degree and experience working in special education law.

Critics argued in Friday’s letter that judges must navigate complex disputes involving federal law and decades of case law. The letter noted that New York previously allowed hearing officers without law degrees, and it caused “significant delays” because lawyers filed more appeals.

As an alternative, lawyers suggested sweetening the judges’ pay by paying them by the hour instead of on a per-case basis. That would attract more people with law degrees to the work, the students’ lawyers say.