CURRENT OPEN CASES NYCL/COPAA Lawsuit Challenges Department of Education's Abdication of Responsibility in Processing Civil Rights InvestigationsThe National Center for Youth Law (NCYL)filed a federal lawsuit on 3/15/25 on behalf of students and families across the country that seeks to reverse the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights' (OCR) recent decision to effectively stop investigating civil rights complaints. "Failing to investigate civil rights complaints is a betrayal of students and families across the country, all of whom deserve justice," said Shakti Belway, NCYL’s Executive Director. "To abandon thousands of claims, while our schools are seeing increased bullying, harassment, and discrimination, not only goes against the very mission of the Department of Education, it sends a chilling message that schools don't need to foster an environment in which every student is safe and welcome. This only undermines student safety, while emboldening those who may not have students' best interests at heart." The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., on behalf of two parents who have pending claims with the OCR as well as the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA). It asks the judge to order OCR to continue conducting civil rights investigations, as required by law, and for OCR to provide periodic updates to the court about its efforts to process and investigate civil rights complaints. “Secretary McMahon and the Department must be held accountable for harmful actions taken to obstruct families’ access to OCR’s complaint investigation process when discrimination is alleged on the basis of race, sex and the intersection with disability,” stated COPAA’s legal director and co-counsel, Selene Almazan. “It is intolerable that the Administration has taken actions against a backdrop of unveiled hostility towards students of color, LGBTQI+ students and whose race and gender intersect with disability. These nefarious moves jeopardize student safety and may block their access to education programs in schools where they have a right to learn and thrive. ”The lawsuit details how OCR is perverting its core function of supporting all students who face discrimination and/or harassment by pausing investigations into discrimination on the basis of race and sex and intersectional discrimination; incapacitating OCR by gutting its staff; and obstructing families’ access to OCR’s complaint and investigation process. The suit comes in the same week Secretary McMahon laid off hundreds of OCR staff, and provided no information or apparent plan for how student and family rights will be protected. The combination of these actions affect children and disrupt the entire ecosystem designed to provide the evidence base, technical assistance and enforcement needed to assure every child learns. As explained in the lawsuit, OCR’s actions violate the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause and the federal Administrative Procedure Act. As a result of OCR’s actions, students and families are now denied the basic opportunity to have their discrimination claims heard and investigated. Families with pending complaints have been left in the dark as requests for information or status updates about their cases aren't answered. OCR has barred its employees from communicating with students, families and schools, meaning that all currently scheduled meetings and mediations have been canceled. This is happening at a time when OCR is receiving an unprecedented number of discrimination complaints each year. Students and families rely on OCR when their local schools or districts are unhelpful or are the perpetrators of discrimination. ___________ UPDATE: Multiple parents and students, including COPAA members, joined a federal lawsuit that seeks to restore the functions of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and reverse recent actions that effectively eliminate OCR’s ability to process and investigate civil rights complaints, according to an amended complaint filed. Plaintiffs are represented by the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) and Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA), and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPL) have pending claims with OCR alleging discrimination on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or disability. The amended complaint was filed in federal district court on April 10th in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the four students and five parents now joining the lawsuit, in addition to the original two parent plaintiffs and COPAA (as an organizational plaintiff).
__________ UPDATE: On Friday, May 2. 2025 A group of students and parents, represented by the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA), filed a motion for preliminary injunction Friday in their lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education seeking to block the Department's unlawful rollback of civil rights protections for students experiencing discrimination in schools.
COPAA is among the plaintiffs in a federal class action lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada
In December 2024, COPAA and nine families of children with disabilities who attend public schools within the Clark County School District filed a First Amended Class Action Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief on behalf of the named plaintiffs and all others similarly situated. Among the defendants in the case are the Clark County School District (“CCSD”) and the Nevada Department of Education (“NDE”).
Read the amended complaint.
COPAA and its fellow plaintiffs filed the class action lawsuit due to CCSD’s alleged district-wide policies that systematically deny students with disabilities their right to a free appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) and that discriminate against them in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
The lawsuit alleges that NDE has egregiously failed to ensure that CCSD complies with these federal laws protecting the rights of the more than 40,000 children with disabilities in the district. The Plaintiffs seek injunctive relief including the appointment of a federal monitor to restructure CCSD’s educational system and requiring NDE to provide support and oversight to ensure that the school district meets the needs of disabled students as required by the IDEA, the ADA, and Section 504.
Lori C. Rogich, Jeffrey I. Wasserman, Greg Little, Hillary D. Freeman, Catherine Merino Reisman and Judith A. Gran are the attorneys for Plaintiffs. UPDATE
September 18, 2025 - ruling in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada in C.W. v. Nevada Department of Education. COPAA and twelve students with disabilities and their families are the named plaintiffs in this federal class action lawsuit against the Nevada State Department of Education (“NDE”) and the Clark County School District (“CCSD”), alleging that the school district has systemically failed to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; and that NDE has failed to ensure the district’s compliance with these laws.
Federal Lawsuit: Oregon Failing to Ensure That All Children Can Attend a Full day of School Parents & Advocates Call for Equal Access to Classrooms for Students with Disabilities PORTLAND, OR - The State of Oregon has effectively denied hundreds of children with disabilities the opportunity to attend school for a full day, according to a federal class action lawsuit filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. The lawsuit alleges that public schools throughout Oregon unnecessarily shorten the school day of children whose disabilities lead to challenging classroom behaviors, and that the state violates federal law by failing to take the steps necessary to ensure that these students receive the education to which they are entitled. The lawsuit was filed by parents of children who have been deprived of the opportunity to attend a full day of school and by local and national disability advocates. Children in Oregon as young as five- and six-years-old are routinely excluded from attending a full school day with their peers because of their disability-related behaviors. Their school districts often make these decisions without first adequately considering and developing services or supports that would allow the students to successfully attend school for the full day. According to the lawsuit, some of these children receive as little as one or two hours of instruction a day instead of the six hours their classmates typically receive. Even when they are permitted to attend school, their instruction often takes place in a separate classroom where they have little or no opportunity to interact and learn with their non-disabled peers, despite abundant research and evidence that they are far more likely to enjoy academic and social success when allowed to do so. Read the Oregon Complaint. Wednesday, September 2, 2020 - Resounding Win for Children with Disabilities: Judge Rules Systemic Federal Lawsuit Can Move Forward
The ruling spells out the State's duty to "monitor, investigate, and enforce" a federal law that protects the education rights of children with disabilities. Read the Ruling. UPDATE July 2025 - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a federal class action lawsuit challenging Oregon's failure to ensure students with disabilities receive a full day of education should proceed, reversing a prior dismissal. The appellate court's ruling in J.N. v. Oregon Department of Education (ODE) means the case will return to federal district court for consideration.
The Ninth Circuit rejected the State's argument that policy changes and a new law (SB 819) that imposed additional data-reporting and procedural requirements on school districts are providing equal educational opportunities for students with disabilities.
In its reversal order, the Ninth Circuit stated: "We disagree that either S.B. 819 or ODE's own voluntary changes entirely mooted any of Plaintiffs' claims. We reverse and remand for the district court to address the merits of those claims."
February 2024 - In February 2024, the district court ruled that the lawsuit was rendered moot by the signing of a state bill (SB 819) addressing the issue of shortened school days. Decision here. The Plaintiffs have appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The oral argument was heard on June 6, 2025. You can read the briefs submitted to the Ninth Circuit by the plaintiffs and amici:
Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants by Law Professors Adam M. Samaha, Erwin Chemerinsky, and Helen Hershkoff Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants by Public Counsel, Education Law Center, National Disability Rights Network, National Down Syndrome Congress, and Former United States Department of Education Officials Responsible for Special Education Policy Stephanie Smith Lee, Madeleine Will, Michael Yudin, and Robert Pasternack Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants by the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the East Bay Community Law Center, et al. Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants by the American Civil Liberties Union RESOLVED CASES
COPAA Files Equitable Services Case
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On August 10, 2020 COPAA filed a Complaint to Set Aside a Regulation and for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief against Elisabeth D. Devos, U.S. Department of Education COPAA alleges the interim final rule (IFR), issued July 1, 2020 by Secretary DeVos, illegally diverts emergency education relief funding under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) from economically disadvantaged public schools to less disadvantaged private schools.
On September 3, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) filed a Motion for Summary Judgment in COPAA v DeVos (see: Case 1:20-cv-02310-GLR). COPAA’s motion for summary judgment notes that Congress made billions of dollars
in federal funds available for private schools in other provisions of the CARES Act. And nothing in this lawsuit draws into question the continuing obligation of school districts to pay tuition for students with
disabilities placed in private schools by the school district, or to reimburse parents when a parental placement is found to be appropriate because of the school district’s failure to provide a student FAPE.
Read COPAA’s full statement on the Motion for Summary Judgement.
Read the motion for summary judgement.
Read the lawsuit.
UPDATE: This case was dismissed in December 2020 as moot. The department conceded that they would not appeal the DC case in NAACP v. DeVos on the same issue. So, we dismissed our case.
COPAA Joins Lawsuit to Protect Students From New Title IX Regulations
Thursday, May 14, 2020
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP filed a lawsuit today to block provisions of the U.S. Department
of Education’s new Title IX rule
, which will slash schools’ obligations to respond to reports of sexual harassment and assault. The rule subjects reports of sexual harassment to a different and more skeptical review than reports of harassment based on
race, national origin, or disability — creating a second-class standard for reports of sexual harassment and assault. The department itself anticipates that four-year institutions will now investigate 32 percent fewer reports
of sexual harassment and assault. The suit was filed on behalf of plaintiffs Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Know Your IX, Girls for Gender Equity, and Stop Sexual Assault in Schools - all organizations dedicated to helping students who experience
sexual harassment and assault continue their education.
The plaintiffs are challenging provisions in the DeVos Title IX regulations that:
- Redefine sexual harassment to exclude conduct that until now was included in the department’s definition and that would be recognized as harassment if based on race, national origin, or disability;
- Direct schools to ignore many Title IX reports of sexual harassment and assault that occur off campus or during study abroad, including in student’s homes;
- Require college and university students to report sexual harassment or assault to the “right” official or their complaints do not have to be even investigated; and
- Allow — and, in some cases, require — schools to use a higher standard of proof for reports of sexual harassment and assault than is required for other harassment proceedings.
The U.S. Department of Education released the final rule
on May 6, 2020.
Read the full ACLU press release.
UPDATE - On October 20, 2020 the case was dismissed based on a 4th Circuit ruling in CASA v. Trump which held that the voluntary allocation of resources does not confer organizational standing and none of the organizational plaintiffs had Article II standing. The case was dismissed without prejudice.
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COPAA and others file case against Fairfax County Public Schools’ Use of Restraint and Seclusion
The lawsuit was filed in October 2019 on behalf of six students with disabilities, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), and Communication FIRST. The law firms Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP and Fluet Huber + Hoang, PLLC are representing the plaintiffs.
In their complaint, the plaintiffs allege that students with disabilities, some as young as five years old, experience discrimination, psychological trauma, and physical harm from FCPS’s improper use of physical restraints and seclusion in cell-like rooms. The lawsuit claims that FCPS is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, and FCPS’s own guidelines, by using restraint and seclusion to punish and segregate students with disabilities. Plaintiffs contend such techniques are ineffective, traumatic, and are systematically used on the students without any valid educational or safety reason. The suit points out that physical restraints and seclusion are so inherently dangerous and traumatizing that many states specifically outlaw or limit their use, and the U.S. Department of Education has heavily scrutinized and sought to regulate their application.
Read the Lawsuit
Thursday, July 16, 2020 - Federal Judge Finds ADA Covers Fairfax County Public Schools’ Use of Restraint and Seclusion
Last evening, a federal judge refused to dismiss a civil rights lawsuit against Fairfax County Public Schools alleging the district’s use of restraint and seclusion on students with disabilities violates federal law.
View the Judge’s order
UPDATE: On November 23, 2021, ASAN, COPAA and CommunicationFIRST joined numerous individual families in signing a settlement agreement with Fairfax County, VA about its use of seclusion
and restraint.
We were represented by Brown, Goldstein, & Levy, a law firm in Baltimore with a history of protecting the rights of people with disabilities.We joined the case to support the multiple students who had been harmed by seclusion and restraint
in FCPS schools, including students of color. This settlement protects their rights. The settlement also protects the rights of all students in Fairfax County. And it helps pave the way for more challenges to
seclusion and restraint in other counties.
Importantly, the settlement includes an agreement to stop using seclusion rooms in nearly all of their public schools by January 1, 2022, and in all their public schools by Fall 2022 (next school year). FCPS will also stop using restraints, except in emergency situations where safety is at risk (this doesn’t include damage to property); will not allow restraint or seclusion to be written into an IEP - and will provide in-depth consulting and training to teachers and staff.
Read the press release
COPAA CHALLENGES SECRETARY DEVOS’S DECISION TO DELAY IMPLEMENTATION OF EQUITY IN IDEA REGULATION
Thursday, July 12, 2018 (1 Comments)
WASHINGTON, DC - The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) filed a lawsuit today against the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) for abdicating its responsibility to protect the civil rights of students. The
suit alleges that the Department has taken actions that interfere with USDOE’s obligation under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to ensure children with disabilities get the education services they need in the most appropriate
setting without regard to their race.
COPAA filed the suit against the U.S. Department of Education, Secretary Betsy DeVos and Johnny W. Collett, Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, to challenge the Department’s notice delaying the implementation
of regulations on significant disproportionality, known as the Equity in IDEA regulations. The Department's actions are legally flawed and bad policy that stall much needed reform.
Read More About COPAA Lawsuit Against USDOE for Delaying Regs on Significant Disproportionality.
March 7, 2019 - Unanimous Decision for COPAA - in which a federal judge calledOpens in New Window
the Education Department’s delay of the special education rule illegal and “arbitrary and capricious.”
UPDATE - September 12,2019 - ED Dismisses Appeal, March 7th Decision Stands
Civil Rights Groups Sue Department of Education Over Process of Dismissing Discrimination Claims
Thursday, May 31, 2018 (1 Comments)
COPAA’s national network of 2100+ members works to protect the legal and civil rights of students with disabilities and their families. Our members are at work wherever the voices of families and students need to be heard and
COPAA supports them with resources, training, and information to assist in obtaining the equal opportunity for education those children deserve and are entitled to under federal law. However, in its 20 year history, COPAA itself,
has never before filed litigation on behalf of its members. We have had to take that extraordinary step for the first time because a federal agency has unlawfully abdicated its responsibility to enforce the civil rights of students.
Today COPAA,The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed suit against the U.S. Department of Education, Secretary Betsy DeVos and Candice Jackson, Acting Assistant Secretary
for Civil Rights, to challenge the Department’s changes to its complaint handling process to strip students with disabilities and students of color of their rights.
In March, 2018, the federal Department of Education amended the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Case Processing Manual unilaterally and without public notice and comment. The changes include new provisions to mandatorily dismiss certain complaints
and the elimination of complainants’ right to appeal OCR decisions. It is the legal responsibility and stated mission of OCR to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence through vigorous enforcement
of civil rights in our nation’s schools. As part of that mission, OCR is supposed to investigate complaints made under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 concerning individual or systemic claims of discrimination. By opting out of that mission and abdicating its responsibility, OCR is pushing the responsibility for civil rights enforcement onto the shoulders
of students and their families and advocates – onto COPAA’s members – who do not have the resources of the federal government at their disposal.
Read More About the Lawsuit Filed by COPAA, NFB, and NAACP against OCR.
Update:
Changes to OCR Manual Demonstrate Legal Pressure is Working
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – In response to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Right's (OCR) announcement of new updates to the Case Processing Manual,
Denise Marshall, executive director for the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates made the following statement:
"Today's announcement by OCR shows that recent legal action taken against them is working. While we are still reviewing the reported updates to the manual, we remain steadfast in our commitment to assuring that the needed changes are substantive
and put the rights of students and their families first. OCR's mission is 'to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence through vigorous enforcement of civil rights in our nation’s schools.' It's COPAA's right
to use every available strategy to ensure they take steps to fulfill that mission rather than make decisions that run counter to it."
UPDATE - The matter of NFB, NAACA, COPAA v. US DOE, DeVos, Jackson
Case number: 1:18 CV 01568 TDC was settled on February 6, 2020. The settlement agreement stipulates that without the need for further litigation, and without any admission of liability, the OCR has agreed to [in summary]:
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Resolve website accessibility complaints and reissue letters of findings to complainants;
· Offer the opportunity to appeal to complainants whose complaints were dismissed; and,
· Resolve a certain number of [relevant] open investigations in accordance with the law.
