Today is the day for oral arguments before the Supreme Court in the Schaffer v. Weast case. The case turns on the question of whether, when a dispute about an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goes to administrative hearing, parents or schools are responsible for proving that an IEP is appropriate. Here is the situation as I understand it.
When then-7th-grader Brian Schaffer’s private school was not meeting his unique educational needs, his parents asked the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS; Jerry Weast is superintendent) to provide an IEP. MCPS proposed an IEP in which Brian received support services in general education settings (inclusion). Based on their expert’s opinion that Brian had “central auditory processing disorder” and therefore could not learn successfully in such a situation, the Schaffers disagreed with this IEP, placed him in a private school, and requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).
In the due process hearing, the two sides presented their cases, and the ALJ found that it was a tie. In the case of ties, the outcome depends on which party bears the burden of proof. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) does not specify whether parents or schools bear the burden of proof, so the ALJ chose to put the responsibility for proving the point on the parents. The parents appealed and thus, the Schaffer v. Weast case worked its way through the courts—actaully going up and down— until it got to the Supreme Court.
The legal folks in special education will be watching this one closely, because it could affect many of the thousands of administrative hearings held annually in the US. Furthermore, it could actually influence the development of IEPs!
The Supreme Court will not rule on the merits of the original case, but those merits are interesting to me. I am a bit skeptical about the diagnosis of “central auditory processing disorder,” but I am pretty sure that there are some students with Learning Disabilities whose unique educational needs cannot be met in general education settings. Schools need to recognize this and provide services accordingly.
Links:
- Legal Information Institute’s preview of the case and
- Pete & Pam Wright’s overview article on the case.
Latest Comments