Advocates for Justice and Education have been working on three Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests and a Request for an Advisory Opinion from the DC Office of Open Government in order to make educational information more accessible to parents.
A FOIA request is where an individual or an organization, like AJE, can request documents or records from government agencies. There are both federal and local FOIA laws. We have used DC’s local FOIA law in the past to obtain information for families, see here and here. You can learn more about DC’s FOIA law from this great local non-profit, the DC Open Government Coalition, who has recorded trainings and resources for families who might be interested in filing a FOIA request.
An Advisory Opinion is where a govenment agency or office issues an opinion or advice about an issue or question where they are experts or have jurisdiction. In our case, we will be asking for an opinion about whether a review panel that advises OSSE about hiring Hearing Officers should be covered by the Open Meetings Act. Here is a post about an Advisory Opinion that the DC Office of Open Government issued a few years ago involving Letter of Determinations in State Complaints issued by OSSE.
These FOIA requests are going to allow AJE access to documents about DCPS policies around grade placement, and handling of parent and student grievances brought to DCPS’ CARE team and Labor Employee Management Relations team in DCPS. We are also asking for more information about the Juvenile Investigative Response unit from MPD. In addition, our request for an Advisory Opinion is asking that the meetings where Special Education Hearing Officers are recommended become open to the public. Together, we are using these requests to support our organization’s mission to provide accurate information and quality direct services to families, children, youth, and particularly those who have disabilities, special health care needs, or are facing school exclusion.
We have submitted these requests to the FOIA officers in both the District of Columbia Public Schools and the Metropolitan Police Department. The Advisory Opinion was sent out to the Director of Open Government. Families who are interested in learning more about FOIA might be interested in reviewing the materials available at the DC Open Government Coalition.
If you have any questions about these requests, you can call Advocates for Justice and Education at 202-678-8060 or email Maria Blaeuer at maria.blaeuer@aje-dc.org (Advisory Opinion) or Nadiya.Pope@aje–dc.org (FOIA Requests).
We have attached these requests for your reference below:
Leave a Reply