NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana school systems would have to justify their accommodation decisions for students with disabilities under a bill that seeks to shift the burden of proving whether a child’s special education plan is appropriate from parents to districts.
Federal law already mandates that districts give families the right to challenge decisions about their children’s education through hearings. Louisiana House Bill 342 by Rep. Alonzo Knox, D-New Orleans, adds additional provisions requiring that a school system must be the one to make the case during those hearings as to why its decision is the right one and provide enough evidence to convince the hearing officer.
The Louisiana House voted to approve the proposal this week. It next heads to the state Senate.
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“These school districts hold all the power and information,” Knox said during a recent meeting. He added that the bill’s intent “is really to level the playing field” for families.
Advocates say transferring the burden of proof to school districts gives families a needed leg up when navigating the due process system. They say school districts, not parents, are typically the ones with direct access to important student documents and robust legal representation.
But opponents have warned the move could result in more lawsuits and higher costs for districts.
While considering a similar law in 2023, a fiscal and policy note from Maryland’s General Assembly pointed out that, after New Jersey shifted the burden of proof to schools in 2008, the state saw a surge in due process hearings within the first year. (Data from subsequent years showed numbers eventually fell to where they were before the law was passed).
Still, parents say the current process works against them.
In Louisiana, just one out of 43 due process complaints filed during the 2024-25 school year resulted in a family successfully challenging a school system, data from the state education department show.
“Parents without legal training, without resources and already caring for children with significant needs must prove that the government agency failed,” said parent advocate Kathryne Hart, who noted her family received a favorable ruling. “Meanwhile, school districts control the records, the evaluations, the experts and have the benefit of in-house legal counsel.”
In most states, the party who files the due process complaint — typically parents — must prove the school is in the wrong. But if HB 342 is signed into law, Louisiana would join a growing handful that place the onus on districts, including Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Nevada.
Hart and several others said the move would promote accountability, better documentation and better decision making from the outset among the state’s school systems.
“This change is not radical,” Hart said. “It provides transparency to government decision making, and most importantly, it helps ensure that children receive the education they’re entitled to.”
The proposal is the state’s latest effort to improve the educational experience for children with disabilities after a 2024 audit found that Louisiana had failed to protect their rights by making sure schools were following federal law.
Last year, lawmakers passed legislation that placed new restrictions on when and how schools can restrain and seclude students with exceptionalities and mandated districts install cameras in all special education classrooms. The cameras were required to be up and operating in schools across the state as of February.
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