special education

Issues

In prior litigation the Murphys, parents of a disabled youth, were determined to be statutorily entitled to receive compensation from the Arlington Central School District  Board of Education for the youth’s private school tuition for a certain period. The Murphys claimed the compensation should include $29,350 paid as fees to an educational consultant. Arlington objected, claiming that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act only allowed payment of attorneys’ fees and the educational consultant was neither an attorney nor an “expert” within the scope of the statute. The District Court held that the statute does not allow payment of fees to a non-lawyer doing work similar to that of an attorney, but does cover expert consulting services. The Second Circuit affirmed, and Arlington petitioned to the Supreme Court, which will consider the scope of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s fee-shifting provision.

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Issues

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) gives federal funding to state and local school systems to ensure that children with disabilities receive a free, appropriate public education through individualized educational programs. The 1997 Amendments to IDEA provide that parents of disabled children “who previously received special education and related services under the authority of a public agency” are eligible for tuition reimbursement if the school’s special education program is deemed inappropriate for the child’s educational needs. The New York State Education Department awarded Tom F. a tuition reimbursement for his disabled son Gilbert’s private school education, and the Board of Education of the City of New York appealed the decision. The Board argued that because Gilbert had never attended public school, he did not qualify for a tuition reimbursement under the language of the 1997 Amendment. How strictly the Supreme Court reads the language of the IDEA statute will determine if school boards are required to provide reimbursements to the parents of disabled children. The decision will affect the freedom that public schools have to allocate special education resources, as well as the autonomy parents have to direct special education placement.

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Issues

This case will decide what unified standard public schools must provide students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”). IDEA requires schools in receipt of federal funds to provide an Individualized Education Program (“IEP”) for each student with a disability. The IEP must comply with each student’s right to Free Appropriate Public Education (“FAPE”). Should the school district fail to comply, parents are permitted to enroll their child into private school and seek reimbursement from the school district. Endrew F. argued that the Douglas County School District did not provide Endrew, a child with autism, the appropriate level of educational care because Endrew did not make any meaningful progress with his IEP. The Douglas County School District responded that Endrew’s receipt of some educational benefit was sufficient to satisfy the FAPE standard, and thus not a violation of the IDEA. The Supreme Court will likely resolve the Circuit conflict between the “meaningful educational benefit” standard adopted by some courts of appeals and the “merely more than de minimis” educational benefit standard that the Tenth Circuit maintained.

Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties

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