Jo Anne Blades earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Akron, School of Law in 1990 and a Bachelors Degree from Texas Tech University in 1974. With 17 years of experience in teaching children, she began practicing law in primarily educational matters. During her practice, she served as a Special Consultant to the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth regarding special education and Section 504 issues. She also served as Attorney Consultant to the legislatively created Education Advisory Panel in Oklahoma. Through her experiences, she has learned the value of resolving disputes at the earliest stage possible.
Ms. Blades has been Program Manager for the Special Education Resolution Center, since its inception in 2005. SERC was created by contract between the Oklahoma State Department of Education and Oklahoma State University. Ms. Blades manages the day to day operations of the programs for due process and mediation in special education for the state of Oklahoma.