Special Education, Public School Law & Educational Laws and Policies, Dr. William Allan Kritsonis

William Alan Kritsonis, PhD Professor   Public School Law Educational Laws and Policies         FAPE                                                       INTRODUCTION   The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the law that provides your child with the right to a free, appropriate public education (FAPE). The purpose of the IDEA is to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living 20 U.S.C. 1400(d) (Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition, page 20). The Board of Education v. Rowley case is significant because it established the principle that school districts are not required to maximize the potential of a child but provide some educational benefit to the child and how courts would examine future disputes under IDEA (Walsh, Kemerer, and Maniotis, 2005).        Case One   United States Supreme Court   BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE HENDRICK HUDSON CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, WESTCHESTER COUNTY, v. AMY ROWLEY, by her parents, ROWLEY et al. No. 80 – 1002   LITIGANTS   Plaintiffs – Petitioners: Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District, Westchester County, et al.   Defendant – Respondent: Amy Rowley, by her parents, Rowley, et., al.   BACKGROUND   The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (IDEA), provides federal money to assist state and local agencies in educating handicapped children, and federally fund States in compliance with extensive goals and procedures. The Act represents an ambitious federal effort to promote the education of handicapped children, and was passed in response to Congress perception that a majority of handicapped in the United States were either totally excluded from schools or [were] sitting idly in regular classrooms awaiting the time when they were old enough to drop out. The Acts evolution and major provisions shed light on the question of statutory interpretation which is at the heart of this case.                                                                                                 Congress first addressed the problem of education the handicapped in 1966 when it amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a grant program for the purpose of assisting the States in the initiation, expansion, and improvement of programs and projects for the education of handicapped children. That program was repealed in 1970 by the Education for the Handicapped Act, Pub. L. No. 91-230, 84 Star, 175, Part B of which established a grant program similar in purpose to the repealed legislation. Neither the 1966 nor 1970 legislation contained specific guidelines for state use of the grant money; both were aimed primarily at stimulating the States to develop educational resources and to train personnel for educating the handicapped. Dissatisfied with the progress being made under these earlier enactments, and spurred by two district court decisions holding that handicapped children should be given access to a public education, Congress in 1974 greatly increased federal funding for education of the handicapped and for the first time required recipient States to adopt a goal of providing full educational opportunities to all handicapped children. Pub. L. 93-380, 88 Stat. 579, 583 (1974) (the 1974 statue). The 1974 statute was recognized as an interim measure only, adopted in order to give the Congress an additional year in which to study what if any additional Federal assistance [was] required to enable the States to meet the needs of handicapped children. H.R. Rep. No. 94-332, supra, p.4. The ensuing year of study produced the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975.   In order to qualify for federal financial assistance under the Act, a State must demonstrate that it has in effect a policy that assures all handicapped children the right to a free appropriate public education. 20 U.S.C. 1412(1). The free appropriate public education required by the Act is tailored to the unique needs of the handicapped child by means of an individualized educational program (IEP). In addition to the state plan and the IEP already described, the Act imposes extensive procedural requirements upon State receiving federal funds under its provisions. Parents or guardians of handicapped children must be notified of any proposed change in the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the provision of a free appropriate public education to the child, and must be permitted to being a complaint about any matter relating to such evaluation and education. 1415(b)(1)(D) and (E).6 Complaints brought by parents or guardians must be resolved at an impartial due process hearing, and appeal to the State educational agency must be provided if the initial hearing is held at the local or regional leve