The United States Supreme Court's Watershed Ruling in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District and the Effect on Your Client's Special Education Programming
| Publication year | 2018 |
| Pages | 0028 |
| Citation | Vol. 79 No. 1 Pg. 0028 |
By Shane T. Sears and James D. Sears
The IDEA
In passing the Education of Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA) in 1975, the United States Congress found that:
[d]isability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society. Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.1
The primary purposes of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act were to ensure that children with disabilities received appropriate educational services, in their least restrictive educational environment, and in a public-school program that has adequate financial support.2
Abrogation of State Sovereign Immunity
The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution states: "The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State." The United States Supreme Court in Kimel v. Florida Bd. of Regents3 interpreted the 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution to prohibit lawsuits against a state by its own citizens.
In furthering the purpose of the IDEA, Congress appropriated funds to support special education programming and related activities.4 As a stipulation to the receipt of these funds the receiving states and local education agencies had to conform to the requirements of, inter alia, the abrogation clause of the IDEA. This clause states, "[a] State shall not be immune under the 11th amendment to the Constitution of the United States from suit in Federal court for a violation of this chapter."5 In effect, if a state accepts the federal government's money, the respective state is waiving its right to sovereign immunity and, therefore, consents to be sued for a violation of the IDEA.
State of Alabama
The IDEA provides federal assistance to states that provide a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) to children who have disabilities by offering each eligible student special education and related services an individualized education plan ("IEP").6 By accepting federal funding under the IDEA, each state is required to maintain procedures in accordance with the IDEA.7 Alabama codified its procedures for compliance with the IDEA in the Alabama Administrative Code at section 290-8-9-.00.
State of Alabama local education agencies ("LEAs" or public school systems) are required to locate, evaluate and identify children, from birth to 21 years of age, who are in need of special education services (a process under the IDEA known as "Child Find").8 Child Find also applies to children with disabilities who are home-schooled, attend private schools, including children attending religious schools, migrant children, homeless children and children who are wards of the state.9 The duty of finding these children who need services is imposed upon the LEA and not upon the parents to come forward with their concerns.10
When one thinks of children with "special needs," many of those "special needs" or "disabilities" are addressed under the IDEA. In conforming to federal law, Alabama recognizes 13 disability classifications: autism, deaf/blindness, developmental delay, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disability, orthopedically impaired, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech language impairment, traumatic brain injury and visual impairment.11 However, other disabilities that are not specifically identified are included within the listed eligibility categories, most often under the classification of "other health impairment." The following disabilities are also addressed under other health impairment: attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, epilepsy, asthma, Tourette syndrome, diabetes, sickle cell anemia and tuberculosis.
After a child has been identified as eligible as a student with a disability, the LEA must provide the child with a disability a free, appropriate public education ("FAPE").
FAPE
The IDEA represented "an ambitious federal effort to promote the education of handicapped children and was passed in response to Congress' perception that a majority of handicapped children 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.'"12 The IDEA was enacted by Congress in 1975 to ensure that children with disabilities receive a FAPE.13 FAPE has been defined in the law to be an educational program, including special education and related services, that has been provided to the child with a disability (a) at public expense, (b) under public supervision and direction and, (c) without charge.14
Individual Education Program (IEP)
The most critical element of the child's educational program is the IEP. If the child is eligible for special education services, an IEP must be developed by the school district.15 An IEP is a written individualized education program that specifies the needs of the child including present levels of educational performance, annual measurable educational goals, behavioral goals, special education services and related services like physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech, so that he or she can advance both socially and academically in the school environment.16
The statement of annual measurable goals includes academic and functional goals that are designed to meet the child's needs and to make progress in the general education curriculum.17 Further, the annual goals must meet each of the child's "other educational needs" arising from the child's disability.18 An IEP provides the IEP team a roadmap of educational action to be taken on behalf of the child with a disability and, further, provides a means of objective accountability. Progress reports provided to the child's parents during the school year demonstrate whether the child is making progress toward the annual goals created by the IEP team.
The IDEA encourages the child's parents to be active participants of the IEP team.19 The IDEA further requires that the IEP team includes (a) one general education teacher, (b) one special education teacher, (c) an individual who is capable of interpreting test results and (d) one representative of the local education agency who is qualified and knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the LEA.20
Violations of FAPE
Regrettably, not all children with disabilities receive an educational program that complies with the IDEA. The LEA may be considered to be in violation of the IDEA if it fails to (a) locate an eligible child with a disability, (b) evaluate the child, (c) identify the child as being eligible for special education and related service and/or (d) provide the eligible child a free, appropriate public education. If the child's parents believe that a violation has occurred they may seek a remedy through one of three different strategies available under the IDEA: file a complaint with the Alabama State Department of Education, enter into mediation with the LEA or file a request for an impartial due process hearing.21
Due Process Hearing
The parents of a child with a disability initiate a request for a due process hearing by filing their request with the superintendent of the Alabama State Department of Education.22 He will, in turn, appoint an administrative law judge/hearing officer (ALJ) to conduct the due process hearing.23 Should the parties to the due process hearing not resolve the issues related to the request for due process hearing, the ALJ will conduct a hearing, where the ALJ will receive evidence and hear testimony related to the issues of the request.24 At the completion of the hearing, the ALJ will render a decision "on substantive grounds based on a determination of whether the child received a free appropriate public education."25
If either party disagrees with the outcome of the due process hearing, that party may appeal the decision by filing a lawsuit in state court or in the United States District Court.26 A party to a due process hearing may appeal an unfavorable decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and to the United States Supreme Court.
One such case, Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District,27 was recently decided by the United States Supreme Court...
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