Advocates for Justice and Education (AJE), represented pro bono by DLA Piper, recently filed an Amicus Brief (friend-of-the-court brief) in support of families seeking systemic improvements to special education transportation in Washington, D.C.

The brief supports the court’s decision to allow Robertson v. District of Columbia, to proceed as a class action. As we, and others, have previously shared here, and elsewhere, families have experienced years of unsafe transportation, delayed or canceled buses, and inadequate communication. These ongoing failures have prevented students with disabilities from accessing their education and placed significant emotional and financial burdens on families.

AJE’s brief emphasizes that these are not isolated incidents, but widespread problems requiring systemic solutions. In addition more filing like the Amicus, AJE continues to advocate for safe, reliable, and appropriate transportation for all eligible students with disabilities throughout our work.

In September, our Parent Ambassadors submitted a position statement calling for meaningful improvements to OSSE-DOT services. Families have also consistently raised these concerns through D.C. Council oversight hearings, highlighting how transportation failures result in missed instructional time, lost IEP services, and serious safety concerns. These experiences reinforce the importance of holding DC accountable and ensuring that transportation is treated as an essential part of students’ right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) and argues for a systemic solution to what families know is a systemic problem.

If your child has experienced late or missing buses, unsafe transportation conditions, excessively long rides, or you experience difficulties communicating with OSSE-DOT, we encourage you to share your story. Families’ experiences help demonstrate the ongoing impact of these transportation failures and strengthen collective efforts to advocate for lasting change.

Visit our previous post about the OSSE transportation lawsuit for additional information and resources, and information about where and how to share your transportation experiences with the Children’s Law Center (CLC). CLC’s website also contains information and links related to this ongoing litigation.