Legal Responsibility for Special Education in Cyber Charter Schools

• In Event: Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: Charter School Management: Cyber Schools and Performance

Abstract

This research examines the legal responsibility for providing special education to students with disabilities who attend cyber charter schools. It investigates the legal difficulties that have arisen in this context by analyzing the state statutes authorizing cyber charter schools, federal and state statutes governing special education, and court decisions involving cyber charter schools. It concludes that cyber charter schools hold the same responsibility for educating students with disabilities as other public schools yet their legal and physical structures bring additional challenges in obtaining funding, developing partnerships with regional educational service providers, and working with their students’ districts of residence to offer the needed education and services.

Authors

• Regina R. Umpstead, Central Michigan University

• Robert Andersen, Cooley Law School

• Bruce Wells Umpstead, BrightBytes