B4 Thursday, July 16, 2009
The Region
D.C. SPECIAL EDUCATION
Slower Payment Hinders Advocacy, Lawyers Say
By Michael Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
The District has slowed pay- ments to lawyers who help fami- lies obtain special education ser- vices, which lawyers say is lim- iting the number of students they can assist and city officials say is necessary to rein in costs. The lawyers, whose fees are paid by the city when parents they represent prevail against the school system, say the delays have forced many of them to cur- tail their services. The District counters that a new law that re- moved a cap on the fees the law- yers can be awarded has forced it to review invoices far more close- ly than in the past.
There are nearly 11,000 special
education students in the Dis- trict’s regular and charter public schools. About 20 percent of those students are sent to private schools, at a cost to taxpayers of about $200 million, because the city cannot meet their needs. For the past decade, the District has faced criticism and legal action over delays in provid- ing special education services. About a dozen law firms and or- ganizations handle the bulk of special education cases in the city.
Last week, lawyer Douglas Tyr-
ka sued the city, contending that he is owed more than $570,000 in fees for special education cases, most of which date to last year. Several other lawyers have filed similar suits this year.
“At a certain point, if the Dis- trict makes it exceptionally diffi- cult for parent attorneys, we’ll go out of business,” Tyrka said. Until mid-March, he had five full-time employees to help him on special education cases. Now he’s down to a part-time paralegal, restrict- ing his ability to file complaints, he said.
At the Children’s Law Center, a nonprofit agency that provides le- gal representation in special edu- cation cases, “there has been a slowdown” in payments, said Ex- ecutive Director Judith Sanda- low, although services have not been affected.
District officials said they are reviewing bills more carefully af- ter the elimination of a cap that limited lawyers to $4,000 per
case. The cap, which had been in place intermittently since 1999 as a way to reduce the city’s legal costs, was removed by Congress this spring with the support of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D). When a similar cap was removed at the end of 2001, legal fees paid by the city increased from about $4 million to $11.3 million a year. “There is no intentional delay,” D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles said. “We now have to look at these invoices much more carefully to see if the costs are commensurate with the case.” He said that fees paid in the last year were in the “low millions.” Since December, Nickles has engaged in an aggressive campaign against the lawyers, contending in a series of lawsuits
that many of the special educa- tion complaints are frivolous. The city won one such lawsuit last week, but a judge who ruled against the city in April criticized Nickles for fighting the lawyers. The District is appealing that rul- ing.
One special education advocate said that although there might be some frivolous complaints filed by high-volume law firms, smaller practices could be hurt by the payment delays — and, by exten- sion, so could children.
“When somebody is a solo practitioner,” said D.C. schools watchdog Mary Levy, “that is fair- ly hard, and it is important that you get your money.” Litigation “is the reason that a lot of chil- dren get services at all,” she said.
Complaints filed by parents, which averaged 250 a month from July to October 2008, dropped to an average of 167 a month from November 2008 to May 2009, ac- cording to a court filing. At a hearing last month, Richard Nyankori, the city’s deputy chan- cellor for special education, point- ed to the drop as a sign that the city was being more responsive to requests for services. But some lawyers who repre- sent parents said cases are down because of the payment problems. “There are fewer hearing re- quests because of the financial squeeze that they’re putting on people. They’re starving them,” said Donna Wulkan, a lawyer who was paid only after she filed a law- suit in March.
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The Washington Post
Man Shot Dead Near U.S. Capitol After Chase
CAPITOL, From Page B1
was taken to Washington Hospital Center, where he was declared dead.
The incident happened as the Senate was conducting confirma- tion hearings for Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court. There was no in- dication that the shooting was re- lated to the hearings or any govern- ment business. Schneider said the Capitol was safe throughout the in- cident.
In an e-mail to Senate staff mem-
bers, Terrance W. Gainer, the Sen- ate sergeant at arms, said that after the man crashed into a Capitol Po- lice car, “the offender crawled out of the driver’s side window” while shooting at officers. He cautioned that his message was based on “very preliminary information.” Robert Drumm, a food-service manager from Oklahoma who was visiting Washington with his wife and four children, said he saw the Mercedes crash after taking a cor- ner at high speed with two police cars following close behind. Drumm said he heard a couple of gunshots, followed by a pause, then “a bunch more” shots. He estimat- ed that “at least 10 to 15 shots” were fired. Police blocked off streets around the Capitol after the shooting as nu- merous emergency vehicles con- verged on the area. Victoria Hall, 21, had just gotten off a Metrobus when she said she saw the Mercedes hit a motorcycle officer. She said police then aimed their guns at the man.
“He got out and the police start- ed shooting,” Hall said. “They shot
District Aims To Pay Part of Balance Owed Next Week
SCHOOLS, From Page B1
Congress. Fenty is scheduled to deliver a revised budget to the D.C. Council tomorrow. The budget problems come at a diffi- cult time for charter schools, many of which operate on tight budgets in the best of economic circumstances. Unlike traditional public schools, many charters, es- pecially new ones, do not own their buildings and use part of their District allocations to pay for space in the pricey commer- cial real estate market.
District officials said that when
the $57 million becomes available next week, financially strong schools will receive 50 percent of their quarterly payment. Smaller, less sound schools will receive 75 percent. The remainder will be paid once the budget reaches Congress. But school operators said even a three-quarters pay- ment will pose problems. “We calculate our cash flow
BY MARCUS YAM — THE WASHINGTON POST
Officers chased a Mercedes, which struck a parked vehicle and then came to a stop when it crashed into a police cruiser. A motorcycle officer was injured.
him, and that was it.”
Schneider called the gunfire an isolated incident. The Capitol was never placed on lockdown, al- though some restrictions were placed on those trying to leave, she said.
THE LOTTERIES
July 15
DISTRICT
Mid-Day Lucky Numbers:
Mid-Day D.C. 4:
Lucky Numbers (Tue.): Lucky Numbers (Wed.): D.C. 4 (Tue.): D.C. 4 (Wed.):
9-1-0
6-6-8-6 5-8-9 3-4-0
0-1-9-6 5-0-3-2
Rolling Cash 5 (Tue.): 11-14-25-27-29 Rolling Cash 5 (Wed.): Daily 6 (Tue.): Daily 6 (Wed.):
MARYLAND
Day/Pick-3:
Pick-4:
Night/Pick-3 (Tue.): Pick-3 (Wed.): Pick-4 (Tue.): Pick-4 (Wed.): Match 5 (Tue.): Match 5 (Wed.): Multi-Match:
1-10-19-24-27
3-11-15-17-31-35 *9 5-14-26-30-31-39 *8
2-9-7
3-6-1-5 6-0-9 9-0-5
6-5-1-0 4-0-8-8
1-7-15-26-29 *16 8-10-21-22-37 *7 N/A
VIRGINIA
Day/Pick-3:
Pick-4: Cash-5 (Wed.):
Night/Pick-3 (Tue.): Pick-3 (Wed.): Pick-4 (Tue.): Pick-4 (Wed.): Cash-5 (Tues.): Cash-5 (Wed.): Win for Life:
Powerball:
Power Play: Hot Lotto:
*Bonus Ball
6-1-9 3-2-5-3
2-12-19-21-34 4-8-6 N/A
2-1-5-1 N/A
13-19-21-22-27 N/A N/A
MULTI-STATE GAMES
Mega Millions:
20-29-35-45-53 **41 N/A N/A N/A
**Mega Ball
All winning lottery numbers are official only when validated at a lottery ticket location or a lottery claims office. Because of late drawings, some results do not appear in early editions. For late lottery results, check
www.washingtonpost.com/lottery.
In his e-mail, Gainer acknowl- edged that staff members should have been alerted to the situation more quickly.
“During the first 20-30 minutes of this event, it was more important to us to ensure your safety than to
tell you that you were safe,” he said. “That said, a message should have been sent more quickly. I regret that it was not.”
Schneider said D.C. police will
investigate the incident. Officers in- volved in the shooting have been
down to the day pretty much. We’re counting on that to make payroll,” said John Goldman, chief financial officer at William E. Doar Jr. Public Charter School for the Performing Arts in North- east Washington, which has 735 students and 130 staff members. It was expecting $2.5 million from the District yesterday. As it stands, he said, teachers will not be paid tomorrow.
placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the in- vestigation.
Staff writers William Branigin, Paul Kane and Michael Laris contributed to this report.
Va. Political Foes Join in Fighting Proposed Wal-Mart Site
BATTLEFIELD, From Page B1
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The Wilderness marked the first clash between Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and cul- minated in a savage exchange of fire in a jungle-like inferno of scrub oak and pines. The May 1864 bat- tle killed or wounded 24,000 sol- diers. The National Park Service owns 2,800 acres of the core battle- field, whose larger area extends across almost 7,000 acres. Wal-Mart has proposed a 138,000-square-foot store and parking lot on a site that is consid- ered a gateway to the battlefield. Located on a hilltop overlooking the battlefield, the site had been zoned for commercial development for some time but still has little more than a small shopping plaza opposite a Sheetz gas station. Preliminary plans also called for the discount store to be adjacent to a retail, office and residential com- plex called Wilderness Crossing. Neither the supercenter nor the larger complex would be built on the battlefield. A study commis- sioned by the company said the
Civil War columnist Linda Wheeler reports on conferences, little-known battlefields, the latest books and more at
voices.washingtonpost.com/house-divided.
proposed site lacked historical and archaeological significance. Keith Morris, a Wal-Mart
spokesman, said the company be- lieves the current plan is sensitive to the battlefield’s historic impor- tance. “We wholeheartedly agree this project presents the unique oppor- tunity to bring the interests of bat- tlefield preservation and smart de- velopment effectively into balance, and that is precisely what we have accomplished with our current pro- posal,” he said, noting that the site has been zoned for commercial de- velopment for more than 20 years and serves an area where more than 5,000 homes and compatible commercial development exist. Jim Campi, a spokesman for the
Civil War Preservation Trust who publicized the joint letter yester- day, said a similar proposal to find
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a more suitable location had been floated this year by the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition, an organiza- tion of national, regional and local preservation groups.
“There are a couple options we
looked at,” Campi said in an inter- view. He said the corporation would be more respectful of the na- tion’s history and better off eco- nomically by locating farther west on Route 3, closer to commercial centers on the way to Culpeper. Al- though the site had long been zoned for commercial activity, he said no one thought it might be on Wal-Mart’s scale.
“What’s being proposed here is four times the existing commercial at that site,” Campi said. The two candidates who hope to assume Kaine’s seat — state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath) and for- mer attorney general Robert F. McDonnell (R) — also have pub- licly urged Wal-Mart to move far- ther from the battlefield, Campi said.
Goldman added that charter schools also rely on the predict- ability and stability of the quarter- ly payments to maintain their ability to borrow money. “To mess with this messes with cred- itworthiness of charter schools as a group,” he said. Wuhaun Dansby, executive di- rector of Nia Community Public Charter School, a pre-kindergarten through sixth- grade school in Northeast, said he was anticipating his full $400,000 payment to help make technology upgrades in classrooms for the coming academic year. Some school officials wondered why they weren’t told until the close of business Tuesday — in an e-mail from the charter school board — that the payment was in trouble. They received support yesterday from Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D), who said he favored using contingency funds to provide the entire $103 mil- lion, given that the city would be reimbursed when the budget is sent to Congress.
“I stand prepared to support an approach that minimizes the neg- ative fiscal impact for public char- ter schools,” he said in a letter to Fenty that his office release yes- terday evening. The July 15 charter school pay- ment is becoming problematic for the District. Last summer it was late with money due to seven for- mer Catholic schools that were converting to secular charter schools. The District said that the Center City Public Charter Schools were opened on an un- usually expedited timetable, giv- ing the city less time to plan. The District eventually used $7.5 mil- lion from a special education reserve fund to meet the obliga- tion.
The tardy payments are the lat- est in a series of financial issues charter schools have had with the Fenty administration. Earlier this year, Fenty’s proposed 2010 budg- et included a $26 million, or 26 percent, cut in the facilities al- lowance for charters. Much of the reduction was restored by the council.
LOWRATE FINANCING
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