Legal Services of Northern Virginia opposes provisions of the Draft Regulations that restrict, and in some cases remove, parental rights.   When Congress reauthorized the IDEA in 2004, it found that "the education of children with disabilities can be made more effective by...strengthening the role and responsibility of parents and ensuring that families of such children have meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children at school and at home..." (20 U.S.C. 1400(c)(5)(B).   It follows that regulatory changes that diminish parental involvement in the education of their children would hurt those children, not help them. 

LSNV urges the Virginia Department of Education to retain all parental consent rights provided in 8 VAC 20-80-70 of the current regulations, including the requirement that a school division obtain parental consent prior to any change in the identification of a child with a disability and any partial or complete termination of special education and related services.  The current regulations enhance the effectiveness of education for children with disabilities by including their parents in important decision-making about the education of their child.  Removal of the parent from this decision-making would undermine the role and responsibility of parents and would do nothing to help children.   Moreover, removal of parenal consent would increase the need for parents to file due process complaints against school divisions to keep needed services in place. This would severely impact students and parents, especially the vast majority of parents and families who cannot afford the high cost (personal and financial) of litigating against school divisions.