When Advocacy Isn't Enough: Special Education Due Process Explained (with Attorney Maria McGinley)

No parent sits down at the IEP table hoping for a fight. And no family ever says, "I cannot wait to go to due process." But when advocacy alone is not getting your child what they need, you deserve to understand what comes next.

In this episode of Special Education Boss® with Karen Mayer Cunningham, Karen sits down with special education attorney Maria McGinley for an honest, practical look at special education dispute resolution: mediation, state complaints, and due process. Maria brings a rare perspective to the table. She is a former special education teacher, a practicing attorney, and a parent who has navigated the IEP process for her own child.

Together they unpack what every parent and advocate should understand before a dispute escalates, including:

- Why advocacy always comes first, and due process is the last resort
- What due process actually is, an administrative trial, not Law and Order, and the emotional and financial toll it carries
- Why your paper trail is your evidence, and your memory is not
- How to respond to your IEP and the district's deliberations in writing
- What the Endrew F. decision means for "meaningful progress"
- Burden of proof, and why it matters which state you are in
- Independent Educational Evaluations, recording IEP meetings, and knowing when it is time to bring in an attorney

This is educational training, not legal advice. The goal, as always, is to help you sit at the table prepared.

Have a question for our team? Email advocate@specialeducationacademy.com.
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Guest: Maria McGinley, Esq. — mlgsped.com

When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everyone.