Opening Statement

Opening Statement :


May it please the court, counsel…My name is Zach Keeton and along with my co counsel Chad Miller and Eric Page, we represent Mr. Chris Moss in this case. Your honor this is the case of Chris Moss vs. Dr. Terry Preece and the Edgewood Unified School District. The evidence will show that Chris is part way through 12th grade and in fact he can't even read. Your honor this is very alarming to us because of one simple fact… Chris has never failed one of his reading classes. The evidence will show that there was educational malpractice in this case. We will also show that the Edgewood School district has a set of guide lines which is passed down from the state of Independence. The guide lines are better known as statutes. They state…


1. Each school shall develop proficiency standards which shall include reading comprehension, writing and computation skills in the English language, necessary to success in school and LIFE experiences.


2. The competent educator shall use or promote the use of appropriate diagnostic techniques to analyze the needs and potential of individuals.


3. Each competent administrator shall support the process of learning by providing appropriate and reasonable materials and equipment and by making reasonable assignments and tasks. These are applicable laws that are supposed to meet by all the school district in the state of Independence, including the Edgewood School District.


Through evidence which the court will hear today, we will prove that Dr. Terry Preece , the school superintended made it a point to pass all of the students in his school district whenever possible. On the other hand we will call 3 witnesses to testify during the course of this case. The first witness whom we will call is Chris himself. He will state that he has problems reading a simple restaurant menu. What again alarms us about this fact is that Chris passed his 11th grade reading class with no grade lower than a C. The second witness which we call is Dr. Daniel Stein. She will show that Chris could have learned these skills if in fact he had been properly taught. Our third witness is Mr. Raye Payne. He will say that he feels that Chris can't handle a simple mailroom job at his law firm. The testimony that you will hear today we will show that the Edgewood School District is in fact at fault for Chris's problems. We will show that the school district has a duty to educate people like Chris Moss. The people that are at a disadvantage. Your honor it is easy to educate a student with a natural talent, but the real challenge lies with trying to educate the people like Chris Moss, the people who are average in intelligent, but below average with the basic reading and writing skills.


My client is suing Dr. Terry Preece and the Edgewood unified School district for $20,000 to cover a private tutor and court costs. My client is also asking that the school district develop a program so that students that graduate after him will have basic reading and writing skills. This program will benefit the future students at the Edgewood schools in a way that the students will not have to go through the embarrassment and the suffering that my client is going though.


Opening Statement


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