Special Needs Parents V. School Districts

HOUSTON - Even in these hard economic times some area school districts are shelling out thousands in tax dollars to wage legal battles against parents of special needs students.

"We knew what he was able to do here at the house and they were telling us something different that was happening at school," said Bill Steinhoff, whose 5-year-old son is autistic.

Steinhoff and his wife who are both teachers said they asked Clear Creek ISD for documentation to prove the progress teachers claimed their son was making.

When special education administrators refused that request the Steinhoff's hired an attorney to fight the district in a legal hearing.

"We are going to do anything we can to fight for our son," Steinhoff said and so are lots of other Houston area parents.

But when it comes to funding these legal battles over what's best for special needs students, parents have to dip into their own pockets to fight school districts

"The schools have almost a virtually limitless pool of money they can use to battle these parents," Doreen Phillpot said.

Phillpot is an attorney who represents parents of special needs students who decide to wage a legal battle with school districts. That limitless pool of money Phillpot refers to is your tax dollars.

So how much are school districts willing to spend on these legal battles?

According to figures obtained through public information requests, hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Watch the full video story by FOX 26's Randy Wallace in the upper left.