In March 2024, parents and guardians of children with disabilities living in the District of Columbia filed a class action lawsuit against the District’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). In Robertson v. District of Columbia, the plaintiffs alleged that OSSE had failed to provide reliable and safe transportation for students with disabilities to and from school, thus denying them equal access to education.
Non-profit organizations The Children’s Law Center, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and the Arc of the United States, along with law firm McDermott Will & Schulte, retained Ben Wolfert on a pro bono basis as the economic expert. Using both publicly available data and non-public data on the on-time status of bus routes used to provide transportation to eligible students, Mr. Wolfert submitted a declaration evaluating the timeliness of OSSE-provided transportation services.
In January 2026, a federal judge approved the formation of a class of District students with disabilities who have needed transportation to school but faced unreliable service from the District, and cited Mr. Wolfert’s analysis multiple times in their ruling. The decision means that more than 4,000 students are part of the named class. Kaitlin Banner, Deputy Legal Director at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee and co-counsel for the families, stated that the decision shows “a pattern and practice that requires a systemic remedy.”
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