Doreen Cordova is a licensed attorney specializing in education law, school advocacy and fighting for children with special educational needs. Doreen is a graduate of Empire State College, with a degree in Business Management and Economics, and Touro College – Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. She previously served as a member of her local Board of Education and provides special education legal services Island wide.

Cordova is wholly devoted to the cause. She accommodates all clients' needs; she works seven days, "all day long" for her clients; and most importantly, clients have her "for the long run." The school district might want to give up on a child, she says, but she won't.

"These parents have to have an attorney," she warns. "They cannot do it on their own."

"Parents, for the most part, are not knowledgeable in educational law. They have enough to be concerned about. They can't look at an evaluation and say it is fine. They need someone who knows the law."

Cordova is quick to remind parents, schools and school districts alike that these services are not luxuries overly demanding parents expect their child to receive, but rather, are required federal and state services for what the federal government calls an "appropriate education."

Cordova comes by her passion for the needs of children in education naturally. She is the proud mother of two and returned to college and went to law school as an adult. "I know how important education is. Returning to school later in my life makes me appreciate the opportunities education provides".

She honed her skills while working for Long Island Advocates, a private not-for-profit agency dedicated to protecting the legal rights of students and individuals with disabilities.

Unlike some lawyers who will only take on court cases, or some lay advocates, who will only advise a parent prior to a committee on special education (CSE) meeting at the school, Cordova does it all. She attends CSE meetings in an attempt to head off future litigation. She has a simple credo when it comes to dealing with the many school districts she works with: "They know I'm not there for the fight. I'm there for the well-being of the child."

But if it's a fight they want, she'll give it to them.

"I'm not willing to accept a school's justification of their behavior to get in the way of what I know is right for my client's unique needs" says Cordova.

Schools will give all sorts of excuses-lack of budget, not fully understanding a child's disability, poor testing by the school district. But in many cases, Cordova believes that it is a simple case of, "Schools allow failure."

"It's unacceptable," she adds. 

For even the most well-prepared person, CSE meetings can be a dizzying affair, with mounds of papers, specialists and expert testimony and a child's future on the line. Having an advocate there makes it so the parent isn't as personally involved. It allows for an advocate who can hear and respond without emotions interfering with the thought process.

Doreen Cordova is that kind of an advocate.