More than 600 educators and parents of students with disabilities from throughout California are gathering at the Riverside Convention Center on March 17 and 18 to learn about dispute prevention and resolution from leading experts including the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law and the Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education in Eugene, Oregon. This annual event has returned to the in-person venue for the first time since 2019.
Chief Administrative Officer of the East Valley SELPA and Chair of the SELPA Administrators of California Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee Dr. Patty Metheny shared the theme of this year’s conference - Committing to Action: Building Partnerships to Advance Student Learning. Dr. Metheny indicated special education administrator leaders planned the event saying, “The action we commit to is to prevent and resolve differences and conflicts in special education by making it happen for each child, every day; by resolving to demonstrate empathy and care for one another; by making our partnerships the strongest they can be.” The parent-school partnership is vital for students with disabilities.
Dr. Metheny quoted former President Barak Obama saying, "Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world. It is learning to stand in someone else’s shoes to see through their eyes. We will only succeed in that effort if we can encourage the parties to sit down, to listen to each other, and to understand each other’s hopes and each other’s fears.”
The educators gathered to embrace President Obama’s words, to make his words a reality in special education. Those present in partnership included general and special educators from throughout all of California, from its northernmost to its southernmost points, parents of children with disabilities, and community members supporting the work of educators and parents.
Funding for the event was provided in part from the California legislature via Dispute Prevention and Resolution Funds provided to special education local plan areas and set aside by the Governor for the purpose of supporting member local educational agencies in conducting dispute prevention and voluntary alternative dispute resolution activities to prevent and resolve special education disputes resulting from school disruptions stemming from the COVID-19.
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