Jo Anne Blades

Ms. Blades is Program Manager for the Special Education Resolution Center, Oklahoma State University. She graduated form Texas Tech University with the Bachelors of Science degree in Child Development. She later earned teaching certification in Kansas and continued her education by earning her Juris Doctor form the University of Akron. She has been licensed to practice law in Oklahoma since 1990.

She served as a Special Consultant to the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth on Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 issues and as the Attorney Consultant to the Education Advisory Panel formed by the Oklahoma Legislature.

At the Special Education Resolution Center, Ms. Blades has managed , for ten years, the special education due process hearing system and the mediation system required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. SERC also provides training resources to build dispute resolution capacity at the local district level.

SERC was chosen as one of four exemplar programs of dispute resolution by CADRE in 2010. The program, a part of Oklahoma State University, is funded by the Oklahoma State Department of Education.