Here is an interesting job opportunity. The Washington DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education has advertised the position of Chief Hearing Officer. The job involves management and supervision of the special education hearing officers in DC as well as other specified duties. The position is contractual but it pays very well at $225,000. You can read the request for quotation here.
This is part of an encouraging trend that due process hearing officers are being paid better. IDEA'04 imposed more stringent qualifications and training requirements upon the persons who become special ed hearing officers. Given the concern of Congress, as reflected in the amendments it made to the law, it seems only fair that the increased experience and training requirements should be paired with better pay.
I freely admit that I have multiple biases here. I am a hearing officer for a growing number of states and I train hearing officers from many other states. I also advise states on hearing and other dispute resolution systems. OK so I have a conflict, but the pay question is related to my previous posts about the need for a higher level of respect for special ed hearing officers. I suspect that part of the reason for lower pay for hearing officers in some places is a lack of respect, if not outright contempt, for these important folks.
On an unrelated matter, there was an unfortunate typo in my most recent blog post. It was unintentional and I apologize for it. It has since been corrected, but not before many of you read it. Thanks to those who reported it to me so that I could fix it. I'll try to proofread more carefully. Again, sorry.
I freely admit that I have multiple biases here. I am a hearing officer for a growing number of states and I train hearing officers from many other states. I also advise states on hearing and other dispute resolution systems. OK so I have a conflict, but the pay question is related to my previous posts about the need for a higher level of respect for special ed hearing officers. I suspect that part of the reason for lower pay for hearing officers in some places is a lack of respect, if not outright contempt, for these important folks.
On an unrelated matter, there was an unfortunate typo in my most recent blog post. It was unintentional and I apologize for it. It has since been corrected, but not before many of you read it. Thanks to those who reported it to me so that I could fix it. I'll try to proofread more carefully. Again, sorry.
