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About Us > Mission > Goals
> Board of Directors
About Us
The Center for Special Education Advocacy (“CSEA”), formerly the
Virginia Coalition for Students with Disabilities Legal Advocacy Center, is
an independent, not-for-profit, §501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.
CSEA was organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia in May 2000
by advocates dedicated to improving educational services and outcomes for students
with disabilities in Virginia. The organization fosters and supports legal services
that will protect and advance the educational rights of students with disabilities.
To this end, CSEA offers basic and advanced special education training programs
to parents, advocates, and attorneys throughout Virginia which discuss current
federal and state special education laws and regulations, as well as case law
affecting the educational rights of students with disabilities. These training
programs provide CSEA with a means for carrying out its goals and accomplish
its mission.
The organization does not provide individual advocacy or legal services to
parents of children with disabilities at this time. However, we do maintain
a list of advocates and attorneys from across Virginia who have expressed an
interest in becoming involved in special education matters.
Mission
The mission of the Center for Special Education Advocacy is to achieve a public
school system in Virginia which consistently provides to all students with disabilities
a free appropriate public education designed to meet their unique needs, to
prepare them for employment and independent living, and to ensure that the rights
of students with disabilities and their parents are protected.
Goals
To accomplish our mission, the Center for Special Education Advocacy has developed
a number of goals to include the following:
- To provide families with information that will allow them to effectively
represent their children's educational rights and interests.
- To provide special education advocates with professional standards of conduct
that will allow them to effectively represent the educational rights and interests
of students with disabilities in Virginia.
- To develop the capacity of the private bar to provide expert legal representation
in educational matters for students with disabilities.
- To support advocacy and legal interventions to ensure that local school
divisions in Virginia provide effective educational services to students with
disabilities.
- To support advocacy and legal interventions to ensure that the Virginia
Department of Education fulfills its obligations under the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (“IDEA”), Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act,
and other federal and Virginia laws and regulations applicable to the education
of students with disabilities.
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Center
for Special Education Advocacy consists of attorneys, advocates, and parents
of children and young adults with disabilities.
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