In the News
In Case You Missed Them: Notable Stories (March 24–April 7, 2025)
In case you missed them, here are a few notable reads and views from March 24–April 7, 2025. These aren’t the breaking-news stories covered by dozens of other news outlets and organizations. However, they are notable just the same.
Fostering Inclusion: A Virtual Reality Experience to Raise Awareness of Dyslexia-Related Barriers in University Settings
This study presents a virtual reality (VR) experience designed to promote inclusion and empathy for university students who have Dyslexia. The immersive VR approach allows participants who don’t have Dyslexia to directly experience the challenges faced by students who do have Dyslexia—such as distorted text, misleading directions, and lack of support—while navigating a simulated campus. Over 30 university-affiliated participants (mostly professors and students) evaluated the experience. Feedback showed increased awareness and understanding of dyslexic barriers, highlighting VR’s effectiveness as a tool for fostering empathy and inclusion in academic settings.
Perhaps someone will give this a spin in K-12, to encourage empathy, understanding, and universal design.
FOI Advisory Council Opinion: Declaratory Relief & Virginia FOIA
By Josh Stanfield, Virginia Politics Revealed
If you’ve ever filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, you probably know that timely responses are rare. I still have requests with Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that have been pending for over a year. Occasionally, there are outliers—such as Virginia Beach Police FOIA Request Center, which provided a response within 24 hours after I read “Honoring Joshie: A Call for Change in Special Education.” I submitted a request for the police report, hoping it might answer some questions. Unfortunately, the report was so heavily redacted that it offered no answers, but the quick turnaround was notable.
This article looks at what options are available when a FOIA violation happens—like a delayed or vague response—but there's no specific responsive record provided by the public body. The author shares his experience trying to get a record from the Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney and points out how public agencies often get away with FOIA violations because Virginia courts don’t offer clear ways to hold them accountable. He asks a key question:
“Can we seek declaratory relief in FOIA disputes at the state level?”
To find out, he requested an official opinion from the Virginia FOIA Advisory Council on January 1, 2024. The response came more than a year later—on March 19, 2025—even though the law says opinions should be given “expeditiously.”
The article includes a link to that opinion (AO-01-25) and more details for those interested in how FOIA works—or doesn’t work.
Hot mic picks up Massachusetts school board member insulting parent advocating for disabled student
By Caitlin McCormack, New York Post
At a Massachusetts school board meeting, a hot mic caught a board member insulting Gaurav Jashnani, a father advocating for his son who has autism and ADHD, by calling him a “pain in the a–” after his emotional speech. Jashnani had spoken to the Northampton Public Schools board in February, urging expanded services for students who have special education-related needs.
He later discovered a transcript of the meeting containing board members’ private comments, including personal insults, and labeling him as politically motivated. He confronted the board at a subsequent March meeting, reading aloud from the transcript, which also revealed troubling admissions. “One of them… casually admits general and systematic non-compliance with IEPs as a norm in our school district,” Jashnani said.
If the district is aware of systemic noncompliance, the question is, why is it labeling a parent as a pain in the ass, rather than investing time in correcting its noncompliance?
Special needs exemption for school VAT changes ‘too costly’
By Nicola Woolcock, The Times
There’s a bond among parents facing the similar issues around the world, but I wish it wasn’t so. . .
According to court documents, the UK government refused to exempt “special needs children” from VAT on private school fees, to avoid losing revenue. (“Special needs children” phrasing is another article for another day.)
This decision, driven partly by financial concerns, could force around 6,500 children with “special educational needs (SEN)” out of private education and into state schools, according to an expert witness.
Currently, only children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) specifically naming an independent school are exempt from the VAT, which was added to school fees in January. A judicial review, brought by three organizations, claims the tax is discriminatory and violates human rights laws.