IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA, EASTERN DIVISION,
ANTHONY T. LEE, et al.
Plaintiffs,
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Intervenor and Amicus Curiae,
NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, INC.,
Plaintiff-Intervenor,
v.
PHENIX CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION, et al.,
Defendants.
CIVIL ACTION NO. 70-T-854
ORDER APPROVING CONSENT DECREE ON
STATE-WIDE SPECIAL EDUCATION ISSUE
In an order entered on April 21, 1997,this court reaffirmed that
"the parties should now move toward ... the termination of the
litigation." Lee v. Lee County Bd. of Educ., 963 F. Supp. 1122,
1124 (M.D. Ala. 1997) (citation omitted). The reaffirmation was
based on the premise that "local autonomy of school districts is a
vital national tradition." Freeman v. Pitts, 503 U.S. 467, 490, 112
S.Ct. 1430, 1445 (1992) (quoting Dayton Bd. of Educ. v. Brinkman,
433 U.S. 406, 410, 97 S.Ct. 2766, 2770 (1977)). The "court's end
purpose must be to remedy the violation and, in addition, to
restore state and local authorities to the control of a school
system that is operating in compliance with the Constitution." Id.
at 489, 112 S.Ct. at 1445. The parties have submitted to the court
a proposed consent decree that is "fair, adequate, and reasonable,"
Pettway v. American Cast Iron Pipe Co., 576 F.2d 1157, 1169 (5th
Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1115, 99 S.Ct. 1020 (1979), and
is not illegal or against public policy. See United States v. City
of Montgomery Ala., 948 F. Supp. 1533, 1568 (M.D. Ala. 1996). The
proposed consent decree on state-wide special education should move
this litigation swiftly towards termination as to this issue. The
court, therefore, hopes that the State Superintendent of Education
and other state officials will vigorously and fully comply with the
proposed consent decree so that, at the end of the period outlined
in the decree, there will be no doubt whatsoever that the court
should terminate this litigation as to special education and
finally return to the Alabama State Board of Education the full
responsibility of the operation of the state school system as to
this issue.
Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the proposed consent decree on the
special education issue is approved.
SNIPPETS:
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE
Plaintiff-Intervenor and Amicus Curiae,
NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, INC.,
ORDER APPROVING CONSENT DECREE ON
In an order entered on April 21, 1997,this court reaffirmed that "the parties should now move
Lee v. Lee County Bd.
The reaffirmation was based on the premise that "local autonomy of school districts is a
The proposed consent decree on state-wide special education should move this litigation
The court, therefore, hopes that the State Superintendent of Education and other state
LEE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION,
EDUCATION, ALEXANDER CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION,
Civil Action Nos.
special education -- the overrepresentation of African-American students in the mental
The Alabama State Department of Education (herein after sometimes referred to as "DOE")
The DOE specifically agrees to amend, modify, and/or supplement the existing Alabama
Agency At-Risk Plan, which includes an evaluation component, is attached.
A prereferral form that documents severity and duration of academic and behavior problems,
The Code will be revised to require that a prereferral form and a functional assessment will
Provide initial training to general education teachers to assist them in providing
With respect to the evaluation procedures and eligibility criteria, the Alabama State
The predicted achievement model must be applied at initial evaluation for all students
The revised Code will state that: "Total score on an adaptive behavior scale or two
The DOE will report annually to the State Board and the plaintiff parties, in August of each
The Superintendent shall certify in writing that all of the information contained in each
A detailed description of all steps the DOE has taken to implement the terms and conditions
|
