Top court sets higher bar for education of disabled students
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously raised the bar for the educational benefits owed to millions of children with disabilities in one of the most significant special-education cases to reach the high court in decades.
The opinion rejected a lower standard set by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and used in a subsequent case by President Donald Trump’s nominee to the high court, Neil Gorsuch, during his tenure on the appeals court.
In its unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court said that a child’s “educational program must be appropriately ambitious in light of his circumstances” and that “every child should have the chance to meet challenging objectives” even if the child is not fully integrated into regular classrooms.
The court stopped short of setting a bright-line rule, deferring to the expertise and judgment of school officials and acknowledging the unique set of circumstances of each child with a disability.
But the justices sent a clear message with their unanimous decision that the 10th Circuit standard was too low.
Any standard, the court said, that is not centered on “student progress would do little to remedy the pervasive and tragic academic stagnation that prompted Congress to act” when it passed the 1975 law that provides federal funds to help states cover the cost of educating students with disabilities.
“When all is said and done, a student offered an educational program providing ‘merely more than de minimis’ progress from year to year can hardly be said to have been offered an education at all,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the 16-page opinion. “For children with disabilities, receiving instruction that aims so low would be tantamount to ‘sitting idly . . . awaiting the time when they were old enough to “drop out.” ’ ”
Lower courts have been split on what level of educational benefit is guaranteed under the federal law known as the Individuals With Disabilities in Education Act, or IDEA. The majority of appeals courts, including the 10th Circuit, say that students are owed “some” benefit, which courts have interpreted to mean just more than trivial. Two appeals courts established a higher bar, calling for a “meaningful” benefit.
The Supreme Court’s decision sets a new uniform nationwide standard for the more than 6 million children with disabilities who qualify for services under IDEA. Advocates said that the ruling would not only affect decisions in the relatively few special-education disputes that go to court but would also more broadly shift the balance of power between families and school officials, pushing schools to set more ambitious goals tailored more carefully to each student’s particular needs.
Gary Mayerson, a board member of the advocacy organization Autism Speaks, said that the timing of the decision “couldn’t be better,” as it comes just before the spring season when many schools draw up individual education plans for students with disabilities.
The National School Boards Association predicted in a December amicus brief that a new and higher standard would result in more litigation and higher costs for districts.