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Join special education attorneys for an in-depth training workshop on utilizing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to develop appropriate services for your child or student. This workshop will provide a comprehensive understanding of your child’s special education program and your rights. The training will be held via Zoom webinar.
Meet our presenters:
Katherine George, Johnston George
Kathy has been in private practice for more than 17 years, focusing on education law and the public’s right to know about government. She has represented appellants and amicus parties in dozens of precedent-setting cases.
In the civil rights arena, she helps parents improve special education for children with disabilities. She also helps news organizations and citizens exercise their right to know under government sunshine laws, including handling the Seattle Times efforts to apply the Public Records Act to the controversial Northwest School of Innovative Learning (NWSOIL).
Before practicing law, Katherine worked for 15 years as a …
Before practicing law, Katherine worked for 15 years as a political reporter and assistant city editor at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where she won the National Press Club Freedom of the Press Award in 1996 as well as various regional awards. She began her law career in 2005 as a law clerk to the Hon. Gerry Alexander, then chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court. Kathy’s legal work has been recognized with the highest possible Avvo rating (10) and designation as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers magazine in 2013 and 2015. She was honored to receive The Arc of King County’s “Living Our Legacy Award” for children’s advocacy in 2017, and the Washington Coalition for Open Government’s James Andersen Award for public service in 2014.
Kathy is known as a passionate advocate both in and out of the courtroom. She was instrumental in the passage of House Bill 1240, the 2015 state law protecting vulnerable children from excessive physical restraint and isolation in public schools. She represented a coalition of children’s advocates in the landmark education funding case, McCleary v. State of Washington, and in more recent cases advocating for full funding of services and facilities for children with disabilities. She served for 8 years as Gov. Jay Inslee’s appointee on the State Sunshine Committee, working to reduce secrecy in state and local government. She co-founded the non-profit Attorneys for Education Rights, which advocates for children with disabilities in the legal and policy arenas.
David Weafer, Weafer Education Law
David Weafer is the lead counsel of a Western Washington special education law firm, and an attorney with over 10 years of experience fighting for the educational and civil rights of people with disabilities. In private practice he has helped clients obtain access to new services, private school placements, and compensatory education. Prior to practice in Washington, he worked for the non-profit advocacy organization Disability Rights California, practicing state level legal representation and advocacy including enforcement of educational rights violations, helping review and draft legislation, and providing training to disability advocacy groups.
David is motivated to defend the right of every family and student…
David is motivated to defend the right of every family and student to access a fair and appropriate education. This work has included oversight and accountability for schools that leave students behind and for government agencies that fail to provide schools with the resources to teach students who qualify for special education. David has helped students who have been left years behind grade level obtain the support needed to access an equal education. This support includes advocacy on behalf of students to change their classroom and environment and, when needed, litigation to force compliance with the law and changes to District policies.
Time spent in the classroom without appropriate support can never be fully made up, and each student deserves to be seen as an individual and given access to the tools they need to succeed in school. Knowing what rights and options are available is crucial for every student and their family, but this must be coupled with the ability to enforce those rights in the face of ignorance, opposition or bureaucratic inertia. Sharing and exercising the tools of justice that protect students’ rights, builds a fairer system for all.
Sydney Arizona Bay, Cedar Law
Sydney’s passion for educational justice stems from her time as a middle school science teacher. She is a proud trial lawyer and advocate who represents students and families in education and civil rights litigation. She is licensed to practice in Washington and is provisionally licensed in Oregon through the SPPE program. Se habla español!
Before joining Cedar Law, Sydney was a Washington Assistant Attorney General practicing juvenile litigation.
Sydney graduated from the University of Washington School of Law with pro bono honors. She was …
Sydney graduated from the University of Washington School of Law with pro bono honors. She was a member of the Children and Youth Advocacy Clinic, where she represented children in the dependency system. As part of the clinic, she volunteered with the CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project in Dilley, Texas, assisting women and children with credible fear interviews at the detention center. She was on the Washington International Law Journal and in 2021 published an article with the journal: Criminalization is Not the Only Way: Guatemala’s Law Against Femicide and Other Forms of Violence Against Women and the Rates of Femicide in Guatemala. During law school, she interned with Northwest Immigrant Rights Project Children and Youth Advocacy Project and the Washington State Attorney General’s Office Civil Rights Division; she also externed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.
Before law school, Sydney spent three years teaching middle school science in Arizona and Washington. She holds a Master’s in Secondary Education from Arizona State University and a Bachelor’s in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Texas at Arlington.
In 2026, Sydney was recognized as a rising star by Washington Super Lawyers.
Sydney teaches American Public School Law at the University of Washington School of Law, training future lawyers the nuances of the legal and constitutional issues that shape public education.
Schedule
9:00 – 9:15 am, Welcome message, and overview of our resources and self-help tools
9:15 -10:15 am, Session I: Drafting and Implementing Effective IEPs: A Results-Driven Approach.
10:15 – 10:30 am, mid-morning break
10:30 – 11:30 am, Session II: Full range of instructional arrangements and related services (Placement: Least Restrictive Environment, Private Schools and Non-Public Agencies)
11:30 am – 12:00 pm, lunch break
12:00 – 1:00 pm, Session III: Student Discipline: Restraint and Isolation, Suspension and Expulsion. Manifestation of disability, Determination Hearings, Functional Behavior Assessments, Positive Behavior Intervention Plans
1:00 – 1:15 pm, afternoon break
1:15 – 2:15 pm, Session IV: Resolving Disputes: Citizen Complaints, Due Process Administrative Hearings, and Community Complaints
2:15 – 2:30 pm, Quality Assurance Survey, concluding remarks
2:30 pm, Adjourn
Accommodations and Interpretation Services
Please notify us of any accommodation requests before the workshop. Interpretation services require 30 days’ notice. Contact us via email: [email protected]
*Participants will receive the Zoom link one day prior to the workshop.
