Great Education Law Conference

The 15th annual Education Law Conference just wrapped up in Portland, Maine. I caught up with some friends, including regular reader of this blog, professor Mark Weber. I met a whole bunch of new people who are interested in education law. I also got to work with eighteen terrific hearing officers and seven great due process coordinators from the North Eastern region at the Hearing Officer Academy offered at the conference this year.

One surprise was that I was asked to present on Monday because many of the scheduled speakers failed to navigate the suddenly unfriendly skies when the weather took a bad turn on Sunday. It was a challenge to give a presentation without any preparation. (I find that the key to a good presentation lies is the preparation.) But the participants were informed that I had been "drafted," and they were very charitable. I also was given a couple of excellent copresenters from SEAs in the region who helped me answer the questions from the participants. It was, overall, an exhilarating experience.

I also learned a lot about education law which, indeed, includes a lot more than special education.