United States
Jim Gerl has a BA from the University of Illinois-Urbana with departmental distinction in political science; a master’s degree in public policy analysis from the University of Illinois-Chicago; and a law degree from the University of San Francisco. He is an IDEA hearing officer for Pennsylvania. He previously served as an IDEA mediator and a hearing officer for West Virginia for twenty nine years, and has been an IDEA hearing officer for Utah, Washington D.C., South Dakota and the U. S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, he has served as a state complaint investigator for New Mexico and Kentucky. Jim has spoken on special education law topics at numerous state, regional and national conferences, and he is a regular faculty member for the conferences of the National Association of Hearing Officials. Jim has attended the Administrative Law: Fair Hearing session at the National Judicial College, and he is a certified Hearing Official.