What is NELI hiding? And why am I paying for it?

“A lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns.”
- Mario Puzo

NELI stands for National Educators Law Institute, and they’re having a big fun disco-themed party at a swanky hotel in Austin next month. There’s also going to be a post-conference day on autism. How exciting! After all, autism is one big after-party. Parents will be able to attend and learn all about how to become better advocates for their children which is the advice parents get from groups like Autism Society of Collin County and The ARC. “It’ll all work out if you are a good advocate.” We might finally learn why schools can’t recognize autism in our children when doctors can, and we’ll be able to learn all about the best curriculums for our kids – from lawyers!

But there’s a glitch.

Parents are not permitted to attend.

In fact, the only people permitted to attend are school board members, school district employees and charter school employees. The ISDs will pay for travel, hotel, meals, expenses and registration for employees for the conference – using our tax dollars, of course – but for what? What goes on at this disco party?

They’re our kids. And this is money that is supposed to be going toward their education. Why are we sending district employees to a school law conference where they will learn mysterious, secret information that parents are not allowed to know?

Does anyone think the kids will benefit from this sort of conference? I don’t. In fact, I think many kids will be tremendously harmed by schools attending trainings like this. NELI benefits by receiving a bunch of cash that is supposed to go to the classroom. NELI will teach school employees all sorts of good tricks that will create lots of conflict between parents and schools. And you know what happens when there is conflict – private law firms make money.

Private law firm stew: Stir the pot until it turns to cash.

This is commonly known as crap. And our kids are in that stew pot.

Let’s be clear. This is not a training issue. Parents don’t really want to attend these conferences to learn how to screw disabled kids out of their right to a free and appropriate public education. Parents don’t want to force districts to blow even more money funding even more travel, hotel, expenses and registration AND provide funding for appropriate childcare. Parents want this money going to the classroom, and until that happens, parents need a level playing field.

One way of accomplishing this would be to force schools to match each dollar spent on legal training by putting an equal amount in a children’s legal defense fund. When families are backed into a corner as a crafty, NELI-trained district tries to force them out of public school, they can then access the money in this fund for mediation, due process and federal appeals.

As it stands today, parents fund these trainings with tax dollars, parents fund the school attorneys with tax dollars, if the school cannot or will not provide FAPE the family then must fund home school or private school and their own private attorney in addition to the attorneys their tax dollars provide to the school district. We also fund Advocacy Inc., but that’s another knock knock joke for another day…

Most families cannot afford to do all of this, so they quietly walk away. The schools are silently cleansed. The tax dollars are left behind.

Go ahead and call NELI to register for this conference: (512)732-2988, or email edservices@nelilaw.net. Tell them you are a parent and that you will ask your school district to fund the registration as parent training under the autism supplement. If you’re not a parent, please ask them to explain to you why parents are not permitted to attend. Ask them who made this decision.

When you’re done, please contact your state senator and state representative. If you don’t know who represents you, there is a link on the right side of this blog to help you look up that information. Allen Vaught is interested in proactive solutions that help our public schools, so be sure to tell him about this, as well.