February 23, 2005 -- Supreme Court to Hear Special Ed Case

The United States Supreme Court yesterday agreed to hear a case that may decide whether school districts or parents must provide the necessary proof, when parents claim that the schools failed to provide "free appropriate public education" to a child with disabilities. In the case now before the Supreme Court, parents of a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other learning disabilities have sued in federal courts over the past seven years, charging that the Montgomery County, Maryland, school district failed to provide an adequate program for their child as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Most recently, a federal appeals court held that the "burden of proof" should not be assigned to the school district because in most litigation, burden of proof is allocated to the party initiating the procedure and seeking relief-in this case, the parents. The parents then appealed to the Supreme Court. A number of state associations of boards of education and the National School Boards Association have joined the case, Weast v. Schaffer.