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We have written here a lot about the new Supreme Court decision in Endrew F that clarifies the FAPE standard. One reader expressed some uncertainty about the facts and ruling in Endrew F.  To ensure that we all have a handle this important decision, we will be repeating our previous posts about the new Supreme Court decision. In the meantime, we have stated that the true meaning of Endrew F will be fleshed out by the courts and hearing officers below. Here are some preliminary published circuit decisions interpreting the Endrew F FAPE standard. I believe that the preliminary fig leaf readings indicate that the Circuits may read the supreme court clarification differently. Are you aware of other interpretations? So what do you about the way Endrew F is being applied so far?                          a. Fourth Circuit: ML by Lieman v Montgomery County Board of Education 117 LRP 33077 (4 th Cir 8/14/17) The Fourth Circu...

How will courts and hearing officers interpret Endrew F? #FAPE

The National Center for Educational Statistics of the Institute of Education Sciences  issued a report yesterday. The report  Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools in the United States: Results From the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey.  The "First Look" examines descriptive statistics and basic information from the national survey. it provides a fresh look at public schools in the United States. The report includes a wealth of information about public schools. You can read the entire 46 page report here. Here are some interesting selected findings of the report:  • During the 2015–16 school year, there were an estimated 90,400 K–12 public schools in the United States, including 83,500 traditional public and 6,900 public charter schools. These schools served nearly 49.3 million students, with about 46.2 million in traditional public schools and another 3 million in public charter schools. Between the 2011–12 SASS and the 2015–16 NTP...

How will courts and hearing officers interpret Endrew F? #FAPE

Earlier this year we ran a post asking whether special education was in trouble ? Perhaps this week it would be better to ask- Is America in trouble? White supremacists and nazis marched on Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend. They carried lit torches and screamed at and terrorized local people. They murdered one counter-protester and two state troopers also died as a result of the event.  Nineteen other innocent people suffered injuries as a result of the Alt-right riot. The new and apparently emboldened white supremacists no longer feel that it is necessary to cover their faces with hoods . The accounts are disgusting and difficult to read. Here is one ;  here is another . The television program Vice did a documentary on the organizers and the riot- available here. White supremacists, nazis... really? I  thought that we as a country were past this kind of nonsense. As a country, we fought a war against nazis and white supremacists in World War II. Many of us have fa...

How will courts and hearing officers interpret Endrew F? #FAPE

  This is another in our continuing series on the basics of special education law.    If the parents (or adult student) win a due process hearing, the two most common types of relief are compensatory education and reimbursement for a unilateral placement.  Today we will take a hard look at the former remedy. Compensatory Education Reid ex rel Reid v. District of Columbia  401 F.3d 516, 43 IDELR 32 (D.C. Cir. 3/25/05).  The D.C Circuit developed a  qualitative  standard for awards of compensatory education in order to place disabled students in the same position they would have occupied but for the school district’s violation of IDEA.  The court rejected the hearing officer’s calculation awarding one hour of compensatory education for each day of denial of FAPE.  The court also rejected the parents’ request of one hour of compensatory education for each hour of denial of FAPE.  Instead, the court adopted a mo...

How will courts and hearing officers interpret Endrew F? #FAPE