Unique Issues Faced by School Systems in Southern Delaware
by Dennis McAndrews, Esq.
Founder and Managing Partner
McAndrews Law Offices, P.C.
Children with special needs in Southern Delaware face many of the same problems that other children with disabilities encounter in rural areas, and other locations with less concentrated populations. One key to developing an appropriate special education program for every child with disabilities is finding a proper mix of students to allow each child to learn with appropriate role models and to receive instruction at levels consistent with the child’s present educational levels. In less populated areas, creating appropriate learning groups for children with disabilities can often be difficult to accomplish, yet schools fail to individualize instruction in appropriate small groups or one-on-one programming due to shortsighted cost-saving approaches. As a result, children may be placed in learning situations where the content of the material being taught is too advanced or too simplistic for the child’s particular needs, and the child may become unable to maintain attention, lose motivation, and oftentimes behavior issues arise. It must always be remembered that federal and state special education laws require individualized programming for children with disabilities, and that administrative convenience can never be a substitute for the provision of a free appropriate public education in a proper learning environment.
At McAndrews Law Offices, we have obtained appropriate programs with specialized, individualized, research-based instruction for thousands of children with disabilities for nearly 30 years, and have handled more special education cases successfully than virtually any firm in the United States. Our lawyers and staff possess advanced training and degrees in psychology, education, and related topics, and have decades of experience representing families of children with special needs. Our Delaware practice has become well-established through the efforts of Lauren O’Connell Mahler, Esq., in Wilmington, and we have seen positive results for children with disabilities throughout the state and especially in New Castle County. We are privileged to expand our special education training, experience, and skills in Sussex and Kent counties through our new Georgetown office, and look forward to providing free consultations and free legal services to families of children with disabilities in those areas. Questions or to set up your free consultation, call 302-380-4975, or visit www.mcandrewslaw.com.
