PA. School districts in Pennsylvania lead the state in special education litigation

School districts in Northeast Pennsylvania are involved in more special education litigation than any other area of the state, a Sunday Times analysis has found.

The due process claims arise when a district fails to provide a student with special needs or learning disability the education required by law – and it is costing taxpayers millions. In Scranton alone, more than $3.3 million has been spent on settlements and given to opposing legal teams in the past five years. Those cases are now the subject of an investigation by the state auditor general’s office.

 

Combined, the 20 districts that make up the Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit have a ratio of more cases per special education student than any of the state’s 29 intermediate units. Scranton, with 140 cases over the past five years, is second only to Philadelphia with the number of due process requests.

Area educators are calling for a reform of the legal process and say the cases have become an easy target for lawyers, some who have opened offices in Scranton.

 

“So very often, districts are in a position that in order to protect taxpayer money, they often end up settling cases they would like to go and fight.”

Sometimes, a settlement could be $1,000 for the education trust, and then $10,000 in opposing attorney fees, he said. Since July 1, the district has paid $59,000 to opposing attorneys for this fiscal year, Dr. Mahon said.

“It’s drawing money away from the students, from the special education and regular education students,” he said. While “we respect the parents and the students for their advocacy on their own behalf,” lawyers use the system like a “weapon.”

 

 

 

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