<p>Hello!</p>
<p>I am an undergraduate student in my senior year at SJSU getting ready to apply to law school, and I am looking for the right school. I want to get a JD and an M.ED in Special Education. I haven't found any programs that are set up for this, though I imagine many schools would allow me to pursue these degrees simultaneously. Does anyone know a school with both a decent special ed program and a decent law school? I expect my reach schools to be in the t14 range, and my safety schools to still be in the top 50 (or at least the top 100!). UC Davis and UC Hastings are looking good, especially considering I'm already in the bay area.</p>
<p>My plan is to go into special education law. I am very close to my sister who has a dual-diagnosis of downsyndrome and autism, and have seen first hand how much work there is to be done in this field. I would also be open to doing a JD with an emphasis in education law in lieu of the joint degree, but I really think the master's in education would serve me well during my career.</p>
<p>Any thoughts on good schools to go to or good ways to get involved in this kind of work would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>-Tim</p>
<p>I’d just go ahead and do them separately. Get the MEd first, then go to law school, probably. Important to get a good sense for your standardized testing ability if you want to go to law school.</p>
<p>Why on earth would you need an M.Ed and a JD? Do you have any idea what kind of debt you would have if you did both degrees? Your student debt would be bigger than my parents’ mortgage. </p>
<p>And on top of that, you can only use 1 degree at a time. A lawyer does NOT need an M.Ed nor does someone working in education need a JD.</p>
<p>I’ve been a school psychologist for about 10 years, which is about the closest you can come to having a joint degree in special education and law. We are typically the only professionals within education that understand special education law, but to a limited degree. </p>
<p>I ran into your post/question while researching graduate programs that offer the joint JD and EdD or PhD in special education. I think it’s an awesome choice, and one that will provide continued job satisfaction as you help families navigate their way through sped law, and/or educate school districts in appropriate and proper procedures in regard to their special education program. Without working in the field of special education, you will not understand the teaching strategies and standardized testing results unless you also pursue a degree in education.</p>
<p>In other words, Homer28 is wrong. And doing pursuing the degrees separately means you will end up paying more - a joint degree means both programs accept some of the credits you need to earn for the other program - so bluedevilmike is also wrong.</p>
<p>I disagree with schoolpsych. You can completely understand teaching strategies and especially standardized testing results without a degree in special ed. Do you want to teach or do you want to be a lawyer? School districts do not usually have their own lawyers but hire someone when a due process is filed or something else comes up. They are much more concerned with the lowest cost way to stay within the law than anything else.</p>
<p>If you want to be a lawyer who helps families find the way through the special ed maze that is a great and wonderful thing but keep in mind very few of those families can pay. Nonprofits and public agencies that provide services like that are so swamped that they have to limit their services. </p>
<p>I agree that getting the special ed degree should come first. You may find that to be enough. You can attend a Pete Wright workshop or do extensive reading of the federal and state regulations regarding special ed and decide you have what you need.</p>
<p>That’s a laudable goal you have, but please be extra-vigilant about the costs; getting the degrees separately, which is the likely course of action as there don’t appear to be any joint programs, will cost a lot of money. So please be careful of the debt.
An idea: it is possible, with a lot of persuasion, to fashion your own joint degree. I went to law school 30 years ago, when there were few joint degrees, and a classmate managed to persuade my law school and the school’s graduate school, to accept each other’s credits. So, if you attend a school with both types of degrees-preferably on the same campus-practice your advocacy skills. What you want to do is unique and commendable, and you may have some luck.
But PLEASE be aware of the potential loan debt.</p>