Court Rules Public Must Pay for Private Special Ed.
From the Disability Rights Legal Center (6/22/09):
Children with disabilities who require special education and related services to access learning in schools found support today in the U.S. Supreme Court's decision, Forest Grove School District v. T.A., No. 08-305 (June 22, 2009). The Court held that when schools do not appropriately identify and provide services to these students, the student may be placed in a private school to meet the special education needs, and the school district may be responsible for reimbursing parents and legal guardians for the tuition to these schools.
.
The DISABILITY RIGHTS LEGAL CENTER and DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE LLP, filed an amicus brief (friend of the Court) on behalf of the Disability Rights Legal Center, Learning Rights Law Center, Public Counsel, Children And Adults With Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, and California Association For Parent-Child Advocacy in support of T.A. in the U.S. Court. Terri D. Keville, Hal W. Gibson, Lisa J. Kohn of DWT LLP, Paula D. Pearlman and Deborah A. Dorfman of the DRLC co-authored the brief.
.
School districts are required to appropriately identify students with disabilities that may be in need of special education and other services. The young man in question, T.A., had ongoing difficulties in school and was not tested for ADHD despite the parents' multiple requests to the school. When the school failed to identify their child and failed to provide needed services, his parents removed him child from school and placed him in a private school to address his educational needs. The Supreme Court agreed that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) permits tuition reimbursement even when the student had not been previously receiving special education services by the public school because the absence of services by refusing to identify a student is as important as the failure to provide adequate services.
.
The public interest amici were particularly interested in this right because many of our clients do not have the means to pay for private schools for their children. The right to recover tuition through a due process hearing will make private special education schools more available to low income students with disabilities and highlights the importance of appropriate identification of all students with special education needs regardless of their income status.
The DISABILITY RIGHTS LEGAL CENTER and DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE LLP, filed an amicus brief (friend of the Court) on behalf of the Disability Rights Legal Center, Learning Rights Law Center, Public Counsel, Children And Adults With Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, and California Association For Parent-Child Advocacy in support of T.A. in the U.S. Court. Terri D. Keville, Hal W. Gibson, Lisa J. Kohn of DWT LLP, Paula D. Pearlman and Deborah A. Dorfman of the DRLC co-authored the brief.
.
School districts are required to appropriately identify students with disabilities that may be in need of special education and other services. The young man in question, T.A., had ongoing difficulties in school and was not tested for ADHD despite the parents' multiple requests to the school. When the school failed to identify their child and failed to provide needed services, his parents removed him child from school and placed him in a private school to address his educational needs. The Supreme Court agreed that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) permits tuition reimbursement even when the student had not been previously receiving special education services by the public school because the absence of services by refusing to identify a student is as important as the failure to provide adequate services.
.
The public interest amici were particularly interested in this right because many of our clients do not have the means to pay for private schools for their children. The right to recover tuition through a due process hearing will make private special education schools more available to low income students with disabilities and highlights the importance of appropriate identification of all students with special education needs regardless of their income status.
.
"This case eliminates a two-tier special education system, one for students with means and another for low-income students," stated Paula Pearlman, Executive Director of the Disability Rights Legal Center.
.
.