In The Politics of Autism, I write about IEPs and FAPE.
Today, in a unanimous decision crafted by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court decided that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires public schools to provide a heightened level of educational benefits for children with disabilities. This new and heightened standard will impact the crafting of individualized education programs (IEPs) for those students.
Although a lower appeals court believed that school districts would satisfy the IDEA if they offered the student an IEP that provides a benefit that is “merely more than de minimis,” the Supreme Court rejected this standard in favor of a “markedly more demanding” standard holding that IDEA “requires an educational program reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances.” The decision is likely to require a rethinking of the benefits to disabled students provided by public school districts across the country, and is expected to lead to increased litigation challenging the provision of disability benefits provided by those schools (Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District).
