Why are school districts
trying to
combat parent
groups?
What kind of administrators
control ACSA? The Region
18 Chair Ed Brand (term
expires July 2009)
Should superintendents like
Ed Brand  direct our SDCOE
lawyers?

He is on the San Diego
County School Legal
Services Council until 2008!
Ed Brand, Mary Anne Weegar
and Sweetwater UHSD
As demonstrated by the Mary
Anne Weegar case, and many
other cases handled by the
SDCOE JPA and legal services,

Ed Brand
contributes to, and
helps enforce, SDCOE's culture
of dishonesty and secrecy.

Should superintendents like Ed
Brand be in a position over
SDCOE lawyers, when they are
the very individuals for whose
wrongdoing SDCOE must pay?

Isn't that putting the fox in
charge of the hen house?  
The taxpayers have to keep
paying and paying, while Ed
Brand violates the law.

Ed Brand directs SDCOE
lawyers to assist him and other
school district leaders in illegal
actions!
Association of
California School
Administrators
(ACSA)   
National School Boards Association (NSBA)
Council of School Attorneys
Attorneys who have helped cover up crimes in schools are in charge of
training both new board members and new school attorneys.
California Council of School Attorneys CCSA/CSA Joint Annual Meeting
November 29, 2007
San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina
Session for New Attorneys and for Those Who Can’t Remember: The Basics
of Personnel/ Student Discipline/ Client Relations

Mark Bresee, Counsel, Orange CDE
1) Mark Bresee
formerly of Parham/Rajcic--now works for Orange County Dept.
Education; as of July 2008 works for San Diego Unified School
District
Who trains new school attorneys?
2) Dan Shinoff trains board members and
employees as well as attorneys
Special Education
One of Daniel Shinoff's
specialties is destroying the
lives of parents who
complain that their kids
aren't getting the right
education.  He clearly
doesn't teach the teachers
to work with parents.

SP ED AFTER
REAUTHORIZATION
Title: GR K-12 SP EDUC
TCHRS
Date: 3/14/2005 8:00AM  

Details:
Daniel Shinoff and
Jack Sleeth will present
vital information
to keep
you up-to-date with the
latest changes and best
practices in the
implementation of IDEA as
reauthorized...agenda topics
include legislative updates;
evaluations, eligibility
determinations & IEPs;
related services & assistive
technology; discipline;
behavioral intervention
procedures; confidentiality
of student records and most
common mistakes.  $205;
Four Points Hotel by
Sheraton, San Diego;
sponsored by MEDS-PDN
Shinoff and Sleeth Present "The Forensics of Special Education Litigation"

Daniel R. Shinoff and Jack M. Sleeth presented at the 2008 Association of
California School Administrators Symposium on January 17, 2008 in
Monterey, California. The presentation addressed pre-litigation strategies
that educational institutions should consider implementing in order to
prevent a variety of civil rights claims, such as violations of the Hughes Act
or discrimination based on disability. Strategies include proper
documentation of all events that may trigger a civil rights claim, and
methods to ensure that negotiations which occur in the context of private
converstation (sic) are not damaging. The seminar also covered issues of
privileged communications, and the interplay of the litigation process in
special education beyond due process procedures.

For more information or to request a workshop, please contact us at
619-232-3122.
from Stutz website
Training new attorneys
Training board members
ACSA's enemies list
Collaborating for whose
benefit?
Fagen, Friedman &
Fulfrost
San Marcos office

Melanie A. Petersen...
served fifteen years as
in-
house counsel for San
Diego Unified School
District...
Ms. Petersen is the chair of
the firm’s Charter School
Practice Group...[She] is a
frequent
presenter at ACSA,
CSBA, NSBA
and several
other professional
organizations.
 She is the
2008-09 President of
the California Council
of School Attorneys.

From FFF website
downloaded 09/01/08
From the Lozano
Smith
website:

"... Our attorneys are
routinely asked to speak
at all of the major
Association of California
School Administrators
(ACSA) labor and
employment conferences,
School Employees
Association (SEA),
California Council of
School Attorneys (CCSA),
the National School
Boards Association
(NSBA), and the California
School Boards
Association (CSBA) as
labor and employment
experts..."

downloaded 09/01/08
From the Stutz
Artiano Shinoff &
Holtz website:

"...Our attorneys are frequent
speakers at local and national
education conferences and
seminars on advisory, special
education and litigation
topics. We develop and
conduct workshops on legal
issues of importance to our
clients in an effort to keep
them current on important
changes in the laws that
affect them. We are also
active members and
participants in many school
related professional
organizations including the

Association of California
School Administrators
(ACSA), California School
Boards Association
(CSBA), the California
Association of School
Business Officials
(CASBO), the
California
Council of
School Attorneys
for which one of
our attorneys
was a founding
member,
the National
School Boards Association
(NSBA)

downloaded 09/01/08
http://www.stutzartiano.com/practic
es/practice.php?practice_id=00000
3
NSBA and Chula Vista
Elementary School District
Teachers must sue for their right to due process [since school attorneys
don't obey the law].
Peter Wright of Wrightslaw  November 9, 2004

Pamella Settlegoode's contract was not renewed in 2000 after she repeatedly
complained about services available to students. She filed suit, contending that the
district violated the Disabilities Act of 1978, her First Amendment rights to free speech
and the Oregon Whistleblower Act.

A jury deliberated nine hours before awarding her $1 million in 2001. A
federal magistrate set aside the verdict, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals restored the judgment earlier this year.

Settlegoode started teaching in the district in the 1998-1999 school year after earning a
doctorate in education from the University of Oregon. She was hired to work with
disabled high school students in physical education. Settlegoode developed her own
curriculum and had students taking part in track, tennis, hiking and self-defense classes.

She complained that some of the equipment was missing or unsafe, and it was tough to
find locations to teach her students.
High court maintains $1 million verdict
against Portland schools
Pamela Settlegood
Link: The Millgram
Experiments
The Millgram experiments
proved that 65% of
ordinary Americans will
follow the directions of a
man in a white coat who
tells them to continue
giving shocks to someone
who gave the wrong
answer on a memory test!

Most people will not stop
even when the victims
pound on the wall and
complain about a heart
condition--if the authority
figure directs them to
continue.

In the experiments, as
wrong answers were given,
the voltage went up and
up--to the highest voltage
available.

Jason Bellows says, "One
might hope that we've
evolved to the point that
we can question authority–
where we can look our
leaders in the face and ask
why."

In San Diego, the SDCOE
JPA contributes to a culture
where teachers follow
orders without asking why.

What happens to the 45%
of people who refuse to
continue the experiment?  
What happens to whistle-
blowers?  

Usually, they get fired, as
happened to Coach Carter
in Escondido, Maura Larkins
in Chula Vista, Mary Anne
Weegar in Sweetwater, etc.
Yes--more often
than you'd think.  
Here's why:
Will school
employees
intimidate
witnesses and lie
under oath if a
lawyer tells them
to do so?
Federal Judge Approves Record $6.7 Million
Settlement  in Porter v. Manhattan Beach Unified
School District, et. al.
State Allowed District to Flout Authority

In his
December 2004 decision, Judge Feess stated, “it seems that the
District has endeavored to use the power it has over [the student’s]
education as a means of retaliating against the Porters for their criticisms
of, and challenges to, the District.”

Judge Feess also took the California Department of
Education to task for its failure to exercise appropriate
oversight over the District:
“...although it is true that the District
repeatedly flouted the State’s authority by failing to comply with two state
agency orders, it was only successful in doing so because of the CDE ’s
inattention.”

As interim relief, in a separate order entered on November 23, 2004, Judge
Feess transferred control over the student’s education from the Manhattan
Beach USD and the CDE to a Special Master, Ivor Weiner, Ph.D. Under the
settlement agreement, Manhattan Beach USD (in Los Angeles County) and
the CDE have been ordered to set aside approximately $1.1 million to pay
for the education of the student at the direction of the Special Master.
School District Used Power to Retaliate
Against Parents
Arthur M. Palkowitz...has
appeared as speaker at
State Controller conference,
California Association
School Business (CASBO)
annual conventions and San
Diego County of Education
lecture series.

Stutz law firm website
downloaded April 14, 2010
National School Boards Association asks federal judges to block
employee free speech: appeal of Johnson v. Poway USD

See also Poway Unified School District in Education Reform Report

Lawyers from the National Council of School Attorneys seem to have talked the
School Boards Association into fighting the First Amendment. These lawyers have
a tendency to badmouth students and employees who sue schools that caused
harm to them, but it's the school lawyers that are the premier practitioners of
lawsuit abuse.

School boards ask federal judges to block employee free speech
July 30, 2010
Corey G. Johnson
California WatchBlog

School boards are trying to reverse a federal court ruling banning administrators from
controlling the free-speech rights of teachers and other school employees.

According to a brief filed yesterday in 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the National School
Boards Association (NSBA) and the California School Boards Association (CSBA) argue that
public K to 12 schools need discretion to regulate their employees’ expressions in the
workplace.

“Public-school officials need authority over what teachers say and do in the classroom,” said
NSBA Executive Director Anne L. Bryant in a press release. “Nearly every teacher posts artwork
and other materials on their walls, and schools have a responsibility to ensure those materials
are appropriate for students.”

The case stems from an incident in Poway Unified School District. According to published
reports, Principal Dawn Kastner of Westview High School asked teacher Bradley Johnson to
remove banners he posted around his classroom with the phrases: "In God we trust," "One
nation under God," "God bless America," "God shed his grace on thee" and "All men are
created equal, they are endowed by their creator."

Johnson claims the school violated his First Amendment free-speech rights and contradicted
an internal policy that allowed teachers to display messages and items in their classrooms
“that reflect the individual teacher’s personality, opinions and values, as well as messages
relating to matters of political, social and religious concerns, so long as these displays do not
materially disrupt school work or cause substantial disorder or interference in the classroom.”

In February, a federal judge agreed with Johnson, saying the district had practiced viewpoint
discrimination...
San Diego Education
Report Blog
SITE MAP
Why This Website

Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz v. Maura
Larkins defamation

SDCOE

CVESD

Castle Park
Elementary School

Law Enforcement

CTA

CVE

Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz

Silence is Golden

Schools and Violence

Office Admin Hearings

Larkins OAH Hearing
HOME
San Diego
Education Report
Howard Fulfrost: member of the School Attorney Advisory
Board

LRP's Special Education School Attorneys Conference

Jan. 29 - 31, 2009
San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter
San Antonio, Texas
School Attorney Advisory Board

MELINDA BAIRD, Law Office of Melinda Baird, Jacksboro, Tenn.
JACK CLARKE, JR., Best, Best & Krieger, Riverside, Calif.
HOWARD FULFROST, Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost LLP, Los Angeles
ZVI GREISMANN, Montgomery County Board of Education, Rockville, Md.
VIOLA LORDI, Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer P.A., Woodbridge, N.J.
KATHLEEN MEHFOUD, Reed Smith LLP, Richmond, Va.
GARY RUESCH, Quarles & Brady LLP, Milwaukee, Wis.
JIM WALSH, Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Schulze & Aldridge, P.C., Austin, Texas
CHARLES WEATHERLY, Weatherly Law Firm, Atlanta, Ga.
JULIE WEATHERLY, Resolutions in Special Education, Mobile, Ala.
GERALD ZELIN, Drummond Woodsum, Portsmouth, N.H.

..."Once again the conference
covered many relevant aspects
of special ed for the school
attorney. It covered the basics,
introduced concepts and
provided practical practice
pointers for all. Whether you’re
a novice to special education
or an experienced practitioner,
this conference will enlighten
you."

Fred Compton    
Roetzel & Andress, Akron, Ohio    


"This is the most worthwhile
conference I've attended. Every
single presenter provided
specific, helpful advice that I
will use in my practice."

Karen Haase    
Harding & Shultz, Lincoln, Neb.


Who Should Attend

"Registration Criteria
"To encourage open dialogue and discussion, participation in this conference is limited.
Registrants
MUST BE ATTORNEYS who do not currently represent parties with
special education interests adverse to school districts."

[Maura Larkins' note:  What exactly is it that participants WOULDN'T SAY if they knew
that someone with opposing interests was present?  Would they keep certain illegal
tricks and tools of the trade secret?]


LPR Publications

Founded in 1977 by Kenneth Kahn, then a practicing employment law attorney, LRP Publications has been
serving business and education professionals for more than three decades. Originally known as Labor
Relations Press, the company first published case reporters for the legal profession. As the company
expanded into other specialty areas, it became known as LRP Publications.

Today, LRP publishes two industry-leading magazines, Human Resource Executive® and Risk &
Insurance®, as well as hundreds of newsletters, books, videos and case reporters in the fields of:

•  human resources         
•  federal employment
•  workers' compensation        
•  public employment law
•  disability
•  bankruptcy   
•  education administration and law

Complementing these suites of resources are dedicated Web sites including Title1admin.com,
EducationDaily.com®, SpecialEdConnection.com®, cyberFeds.com® and HREOnline.com™. For a
complete list of our resources, visit www.shoplrp.com.

LRP Publications also provides top-quality training and professional development in national conferences
and trade shows, plus an ever-growing offering of live audio conferences and Webinars...