Jane West Ph.D.

Vice President

A principal in Washington Partners LLC, Jane West brings over 30 years of education and public policy experience to the firm. A former teacher, educational administrator, PTA officer, researcher and university faculty member, Dr. West is an expert in special education and disability policy.

Prior to her current position, Dr. West served as an independent consultant in Washington, DC. In this capacity, she edited two books on the Americans with Disabilities Act, developed and taught a graduate course in disability law and policy at the University of San Francisco, served as adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University teaching a graduate course in special education law, and published numerous articles on education and disability policy. She also provided consulting services for several special education, higher education and disability related organizations with particular interest in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Higher Education Act. She has worked extensively with government agencies, including the Social Security Administration, to develop employment incentives for people with disabilities and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to promote interagency research efforts. In 2000, under contract to the National Council on Disability, Dr. West led a landmark study on federal monitoring and enforcement of IDEA entitled “Back to School on Civil Rights.”

Dr. West is the former staff director of the Subcommittee on Disability Policy in the US Senate, where she sheparded the reauthorization of several laws, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act and the Developmental Disabilities Act. She is a Board member of the Committee for Education Funding, a national coalition comprised of over 100 organizations, and serves as co-chair of the Education Task Force of the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities, a national coalition of over 60 special education and disability organizations. In addition, West chairs the Partnership Development Board of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund and serves on the Mitsubishi Electric America Advisory Board. Dr. West received her BA from the University of California at Santa Barbara, her MA from Columbia University and her Ph.D. in special education from the University of Maryland.