UPDATE June 10, 2008: District Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan denied Attorney Dowd's motion for a temporary restraining order to block the CDE from renewing a contract with the OAH on April 30th and, on request for reconsideration, again on June 10th. Judge Whelan said that the plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on the merits.
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A Fallbrook, California family has filed a class action suit in U.S. District Court in San Diego which asserts that judges from the California Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) are unqualified, inadequately trained and make decisions concerning special education issues in favor of the school districts significantly more often than parents. The case, C.S. v. California Department of Education (3:08-cv-00226-W-AJB), was filed February 5, 2008. The plaintiff class is represented by Ellen J. Dowd of San Diego.
The litigation challenges the renewal of OAH's contract with the state to provide mediation and administrative hearing services. The current contract expires on June 30th. Prior to 2005, these services were provided by the Special Education Hearing Office (SEHO) at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. (2/19/2008)
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