Do I Really Need to Work with an Educational Advocate?
The short answer is, yes. Unfortunately, there is no SparkNotes version of education rights and regulations; anyone new to the system must navigate a tangled web of acronyms and jargon. This can be extremely frustrating for a parent/guardian, especially if your student is struggling in school. There is so much information out there - some of which would work in favor of your student - but it can be overwhelming to sift through with minimal experience in the education realm. An advocate has been trained on how to navigate the complex special education system and will get to know your family and needs to help you get the best possible result for your student.
Let’s say your student would thrive in a private program (such as a learning disability or therapeutic school), but your home district refuses to pay for it so you go through mediation and a hearing. Should there still be disagreement, paying out of pocket for one of these schools is not cheap. Most schools cost over $100,000 per year, or over $500 per day. Tuition plus lawyer fees, transportation, lost time at work in addition to prolonged stress on the family accumulates - and it doesn’t feel good.
Additionally, it is more cost (and time) effective to work with an advocate. For example, if a family and school strongly disagree on what a student needs, sometimes the issue must go to a hearing with the Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA). For this to happen, there will likely be meetings upon meetings, losing guardians’ time at work. There may also be a need for an education lawyer - easily a few hundred dollars an hour. A case going to hearing would likely take hundreds of hours of work for the lawyer, so now the money is adding up. If you work with an experienced advocate that has a well established relationship with a law practice, most of the preliminary work can be done - saving families a significant amount of time and money.
Here at Ask the Advocate, you can start with a consultantion and decide the type of support you need.
of a long-term commitment and enroll in our yearly all-inclusive package.
If you would like more information on our services, please click here to schedule a free 15-minute consultation; we look forward to working with you.
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