Oliver Lauredo is one of 70,219 disabled students in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and one of a growing number whose parents are fighting school officials over how they should be educated in public schools.

In Miami-Dade County, the number of administrative claims filed by parents jumped 120 percent over two years, to 64 in 2006. Such claims are aired in due-process hearings by administrative law judges.

Broward's claims spiked from three in 2002 to 59 in 2003; they have averaged 38 a year since then.

School leaders say most of the claims are resolved through mediation before they reach trial -- but that doesn't mean they aren't costly. Miami-Dade's cases cost about $250,000 in court reporters' and judges' fees over the last four years, invoices show. That's not counting the costs of the district's experts and other witnesses.

Nowhere in the district do we run that accounting," said Laura Pincus, a senior school board attorney.

In Broward, numbers are even harder to come by. Broward school board attorney Ed Marko was unable to provide documents showing administrative costs. But he said the district has paid out four settlements to families since 2001, three worth about $30,000 each and one for $20,000.

In Miami-Dade, one family was given $28,000 for a home-based education program in the only financial settlement since 2005.

Pincus said Miami-Dade leaders hope to cut the number of cases next year by taking a more proactive approach to mediation and case management. But some observers say a U.S. Supreme Court decision last month, which held that parents can represent themselves in such lawsuits without having to hire lawyers, could lead to even more legal action.

   -- PETER BAILEY