Pittsburgh's Public Source

PPS has spent nearly $1.4 million over the past five years on settlements and parents’ legal fees in special education disputes, according to data obtained by Public Source through a Right-to-Know Law request. That figure excludes fees paid to the district’s primary legal counsel, Weiss Burkardt Kramer, which said it could not separate settlement-related costs from other billable services. During the same period, PPS spent more than $1.4 million on compensatory education for students with disabilities whose education was disrupted during COVID. Some cases end in resolutions through Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings or state mediations. School districts often settle with parents to provide compensatory education. Few cases go to a formal due process hearing. “Settlements, while they will resolve an individual case, the barriers remain, and without those barriers being addressed, it continues,” said Cindy Duch, parent training and information director at the PEAL Center…