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November 16, 2005
Good News from the Supreme Court for School Districts
This Washington Post story reports a ruling from the Supreme Court that seems to promise to cut down on litigation over Special Education, which would be a Good Thing.
A federal law, the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, guarantees disabled students an education tailored to their individual needs -- and gives families a right to a formal hearing before a neutral decision maker if they believe school officials have not come up with a good enough plan.I agree with someone in the story that this won't block parents from disagreeing with IEPs, but it may cut down on the number of disagreements that end up in court. That would be a very good thing.Jocelyn and Martin Schaffer of Potomac felt an education plan for their learning-disabled son Brian was unacceptable and argued that it was up to the Montgomery County public schools to defend it. They sought $17,000 in tuition reimbursement for the year Brian spent in a private middle school after disagreeing about his education plan.
In practice, the vast majority of litigation in special-education cases is initiated by families seeking changes to individualized education programs, known as IEPs, proposed by the schools.
Posted by CrankyProfessor at November 16, 2005 6:53 AM