The shortage can severely impact students with disabilities, who may have reduced access to speech-language therapy, or no access at all, even if their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) requires it. This can cause delayed or missed therapies, thus hindering developmental milestones in communication, social skills, and academics. 

Missed interventions mean slower progress in speech, language, social skills, and cognitive growth, especially for children with autism, learning disabilities, and communication disorders. With needs going unmet, children are at academic and social risk. 

The bottom line is that the shortage threatens children’s potential to thrive in school and life. If you or your child’s needs are going unmet, the skilled attorneys at Kennedy Hunt P.C. may be able to help. Our firm exclusively represents the students in disability discrimination cases. The Education law cases brought by our office ensure children receive the education they are entitled to under state and federal laws. Our attorneys represent families throughout Illinois and Missouri who are accusing school districts of disability discrimination and not meeting their children’s needs as required by law.  

If you or someone you know has had their rights violated, the skilled attorneys at Kennedy Hunt, P.C. may be able to help you. Fill out a questionnaire so we can understand your claim. 

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The White House had previously threatened to withhold billions of dollars in funding for education in states that refused to sign a pledge to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in their schools or colleges. 

In August, Judge Stephanie Gallagher of the Federal District Court in Maryland halted the White House’s efforts, writing in a ruling that the administration had “initiated a sea change in how the Department of Education regulates educational practices and classroom conduct, causing millions of educators to reasonably fear that their lawful, and even beneficial, speech might cause them or their schools to be punished.”

At the time, the government appealed the judge’s decision. But now, the White House has withdrawn its case.

The president of the American Federation of Teachers wrote in a statement, “In this case, with the stroke of a pen, the administration tried to take a hatchet to 60 years of civil rights laws that were meant to create educational opportunity for all kids. They attempted to rewrite and redefine opportunity to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion, and threatened schools and districts with penalties if they failed to comply.” 

This one victory for civil rights protections in schools and colleges comes as the Trump administration is also pursuing many other avenues to upend diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Many of those efforts are being challenged in courts across the country. 

The attorneys at Kennedy Hunt PC are champions for students and experts in education law. 

You can read a select number of education law cases we take on here. If your education rights have been violated, we can help. Please complete a questionnaire so we can understand your claim. 

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According to the lawsuit, our client’s mother enrolled her daughter in the McLean County Unit School District in January 2024. She alleges that she worked with the school district to ensure the school would be a supportive environment for her transgender child. 

The lawsuit states that in January 2024, our client formally signed a document to amend her gender identity, name, and pronouns at a meeting with the school district. According to the lawsuit, the school district assured our client that her gender marker, name, and pronouns would be updated across all district records before her first day of school. 

The next day, according to the lawsuit, our client went to her first day of school and found that her gender marker, name, and pronouns were not updated across all district records as promised. The lawsuit claims that the school district assigned our client a student e-mail address that included her former name (“dead name”).

The lawsuit also alleges that on her first day: 

[Our client’s] teacher asked [her] for her e-mail address so he could add her to his Google Classroom. [Our client], though embarrassed, provided her school-issued e-mail address. [Our client’s] teacher then asked [our client], “Who is [dead name]?” in front of the class. Before class ended, one student told another, “Watch me bully them until they transfer.” After being dead-named in the presence of other students, [Our client’s] classmates started harassing her because of her sex and gender identity. The bullying included verbal harassment, derogatory comments about her gender identity, deliberate misgendering, social exclusion, and threats of physical harm.

According to the lawsuit, although the school district assured our client that her previous gender information would stay private, our client’s teachers repeatedly questioned her and other District staff about our client’s gender identity. 

The lawsuit alleges that our client’s mother then complained to the school district’s Director of Equity and Inclusion about the bullying, threats, and dead-naming incident. The director told our client’s mother that she’d “look into it.” Our client’s mother was allegedly later told by school district leaders, “Middle school girls are mean.” 

Our client’s mother then allegedly learned about a TikTok account in which her daughter’s classmates allegedly used the account to threaten and bully her. The lawsuit states that our client’s mother emailed the school district a screenshot of the TikTok account, but the district allegedly did not take any meaningful action. 

According to the lawsuit, our client’s mother repeatedly told the school district about instances in which our client’s classmates threatened our client. Our client’s mother and her partner then told the school district that our client was afraid to leave her home, ride the school bus, or attend school due to the escalating harassment. But, according to the lawsuit, the district did not take any meaningful action. 

The lawsuit continues:

On March 7, 2024, [our client] was attacked at school by another student (“Student R”). Student R approached [our client] from behind, pulled her hair, and forcefully and repeatedly slammed her head to the ground until [she] lost consciousness. Student R then punched [our client] in the face until someone pulled her off. After this attack, no one, including [school district’s] teachers or staff, helped [our client] or inquired about her well-being. Later, after [our client] began to have trouble seeing, she went to the nurse’s office, where the nurse and [the school’s principal] called [our client’s mother] and informed her that [our client] had been involved in “a fight” and had “hit” her head. [Our client’s mother] did not understand that [our client] had been attacked, rather than involved in a mutual fight, and that [our client’s] head had been forcibly slammed into the ground, rather than merely “hit” – until she requested and reviewed the video footage of the incident.

According to the lawsuit, our client was later diagnosed with a concussion, a potential traumatic brain injury (TBI), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The lawsuit alleges the trauma has left our client feeling unsafe, severely disrupting her education and overall well-being. 

The lawsuit states that she left traditional school and enrolled in homebound services from April 2024 to October 2025. 

According to the lawsuit:

Prior to the attack and harassment, [our client] had been enrolled in gifted programming since kindergarten and consistently tested in the top one percent of students nationally for her age. As a result of the concussion, potential traumatic brain injury, and PTSD caused by [the school district’s] conduct, [our client] now struggles with academic tasks that were previously well within her abilities. 

The lawsuit alleges that our client has suffered economic damage, pain and suffering, inconvenience, emotional distress, and impairment of her quality of life. According to the lawsuit, the school district’s actions and failures to act show a deliberate indifference and/or malice toward our client’s rights.

This case is ongoing. 

For more information, contact attorney Sarah Jane Hunt at sarahjane@kennedyhuntlaw.com. If you or someone you know has been a victim of discrimination, our skilled attorneys at Kennedy Hunt, P.C. may be able to help you. Fill out a questionnaire so we can understand your claim. 

The post Kennedy Hunt P.C. Files Discrimination Complaint against McLean County Unit No. 5 School District Board of Education appeared first on Kennedy Hunt, P.C..

The lawsuit alleges the Alton Community Unit School District discriminated against and retaliated against our client – a former Special Education Supervisor in the district – because she reported instances in which the school district violated the ADA, the IHRA, and thus failed to provide students with the reasonable accommodations they are entitled to by law. 

The lawsuit claims that on one or more occasions, our client reported the ongoing violations to her superiors in the school district, but they failed to act. 

Per the lawsuit: 

On or about October 28, 2024, Plaintiff discovered that [the Special Education Director] had bypassed her and unilaterally altered a student’s schedule—placing the student entirely in a special-education setting—without modifying the student’s IEP. On or about October 29, 2024, following the unlawful placement change, the student attacked a teacher, who subsequently pressed criminal charges. 

The lawsuit alleges the School District’s failure to address the ongoing violations took a significant toll on our client’s mental and physical health. According to the lawsuit, on or about November 4, 2024, as a result of our client’s deteriorating mental and physical health, our client submitted a letter of resignation to the School District, with a proposed termination date of December 31, 2024. 

On November 8, 2024, the School District superintendent allegedly informed our client that the Board of Education would not accept her resignation and threatened to report our client to the Illinois State Board of Education for disciplinary action if she resigned. 

Following this, our client took two weeks off from work due to alleged emotional distress. During that time, our client allegedly discovered that the School District failed to pay her for the month of November.

The lawsuit continues: 

On or about November 24, 2024, [our client] emailed the School District about the deleted Red Rover entries and stated that she viewed the deletion as evidence that the School District had effectively terminated her employment. The School District did not reply to [our client’s] email.

The lawsuit further alleges that the School District retaliated against our client by submitting a false report to the Illinois State Board of Education, falsely claiming that our client had accepted a new teaching position and abandoned her job mid-year. 

The lawsuit continues: 

ISBE rejected the School District’s complaint because [our client] was not working in a teaching position for the District and had not accepted any new teaching position. Had ISBE accepted the School District’s false claim, [our client] could have lost her teaching license, and it would have diminished her ability to get a job with any new school. 

The lawsuit claims that around the same time, the School District made a similar threat to request that the ISBE revoke the license of another teacher as well. This teacher allegedly reported similar ADA violations to those of our client. She also resigned because of the impact the situation had on her well-being. 

According to the lawsuit: 

The School District’s actions—including refusing to correct violations, issuing threats, withholding wages, deleting time entries, and submitting retaliatory complaints to ISBE—made [our client’s] continued employment intolerable. 

The lawsuit states that our client was discharged from her role in late November 2024. According to the lawsuit, at the end of her employment, the School District failed to pay our client for all of her paid time off. 

Our client has suffered lost wages, emotional distress, and mental anguish. The lawsuit seeks judgment for our client’s unpaid salary for November 2024, paid time off for the unused paid time off at the end of her employment, damages for our client and costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees.

This case is ongoing. For more information, contact attorney Michelle Faron at michelle@kennedyhuntlaw.com. If you or someone you know has been a victim of discrimination, our skilled attorneys at Kennedy Hunt, P.C. may be able to help you. Fill out a questionnaire so we can understand your claim.

The post Kennedy Hunt P.C. Files Lawsuit Against Alton Community Unit School District appeared first on Kennedy Hunt, P.C..

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services within the Department of Education is keeping only a handful of top officials and other staff, NPR reports. The OSERS is responsible for ensuring states’ compliance with the landmark Individuals with Disabilities Act and offering guidance to families of children with disabilities. 

The impact of these layoffs on the 7.5 million children with disabilities remains to be seen. The IDEA ensures children with disabilities the right to a free and appropriate education. According to NPR, states must prove to OSERS that they are complying with IDEA law. Without OSERS, students with disabilities will lose a safeguard in ensuring their rights are being met. 

The layoffs come after the White House previously announced plans to dismantle the Department of Education altogether. 

The attorneys at Kennedy Hunt P.C. are experts in education law and champions for students with disabilities. Our attorneys exclusively represent students and families in disability discrimination cases in Missouri and Illinois. If you or someone you know has been a victim of disability discrimination, our skilled attorneys at Kennedy Hunt, P.C. may be able to help you. Fill out a questionnaire so we can understand your claim.

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