For decades in Utah, the information going out to schools and the decisions coming from the Utah State Board of Education contractors were inaccurate and biased in favor of schools. This included 17 years of parent/child losses in Due Process, lack of parent education about how to access dispute resolution processes, and a void of advocates and experts to help parents.
The IEP Student Center has wrestled with the best way to remedy this situation and get children the help they need. Historically, the Utah dispute resolution system has failed parents and students and grossly favored school districts. USBE cites the paltry number of complaints filed each year as evidence that parents are very happy with the services being provided. We believe that a large increase in parent requests for Facilitation, Mediation, State Complaints, and Due Process will reveal abundant violations and failure to serve students with disabilities. Although free for parents, Facilitation, Mediation, State Complaints, and Due Process Hearings are costly for USBE to provide. If more parents ask for these services, the monies allocated will be depleted. Once depleted, the legislature will notice what they notice best: the expenditure of public funds.
PTA, UEA, and school districts must stop thanking the legislature for a 4% increase in WPU and realize it would take a 12% increase for 12 years to get to the national average.
Lack of transparency is another challenge. USBE and school districts routinely deny legitimate GRAMA requests and conceal data that could make real change in Utah.
