NY PILLOW TALK SCANDAL.

[Guest guest]

Ithaca Press author 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.CuddyBooks.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, ,

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, 's paramour and a high ranking attorney with the

Office of Counsel of the State Education Department, may be

influencing his decisions. 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. and the others involved in what I believe to be a

conspiracy, " Cuddy stated. Sources inside '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 's office is quickly stifled. '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 's agenda. " Multiple attorneys in

that office reported that they left because they felt that

participating in '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 's staff, " Cuddy said.

Because of today's Wall Street Journal report, Cuddy has requested

that New York State Attorney General 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 [] granted full or partial relief to districts in 60 of

their 70 appeals, or 86%, in 2006 and 2007. Cuddy, an Auburn,

N.Y., lawyer who represents parents, says Mr. 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. . Advocates for the disabled have complained

about him to Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Farago, a City University of

New York law professor and a New York hearing officer, says Mr.

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. , he is

required to act independently of it. Mr. Cuddy and other parents'

attorneys say Mr. '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. and Ms. Surgalla live together in an

Albany suburb, voter-registration records show. Mr. 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, 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. 's decisions " a very tortured reasoning to arrive at

a predetermined conclusion. "