Breaking news: Supreme Court ruling allows publicly funded private schools for special ed students

June 22, 4:18 PMChicago Special Education ExaminerKindall Nelson

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Important decision on Special Education made by the US Supreme Court today.

In a new Supreme Court ruling today, it was decided that parents who send their special needs children to private schools due to a public school district's inability to fulfill the child's needs will be eligible for reimbursement of the cost of the private school from the public school district that is supposed to serve them.

Federal law has required districts to reimburse families for these education costs since IDEA 1997, but schools have argued that the law says parents must give public school special education programs a chance first. Special education advocates say that the problem with this is that these students, to whom a single wasted day of learning is precious, can be made to languish in sub-par programs that are detrimental to their health and learning until the school district agrees that it can not support that child.

The issue came before the Supreme Court because of a child who had ADHD, severe depression, substance abuse problems, and failing grades. The child was denied access to special education classes by his school district. When his parent's enrolled him in a private school that specializes in children with his needs, the parents sent a bill to the public school district.

That school district argued that since the student in question was never part of their special education program, he wasn't eligible for reimbursement under this law. The Supreme Court disagreed.

Justice John Paul Stevens said, "We conclude that IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) authorizes reimbursement for the cost of special education services when a school district fails to provide a FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education) and the private-school placement is appropriate, regardless of whether the child previously received special education or related services through the public school".

While this is a major victory for under served special needs children, especially those who are poor, it will be a major blow to many school districts across the country. The cost of private special education varies greatly, but for the student in question it came to approximately $5,200 per month.

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