Even though special education law is covered in most teacher and administrative certification programs, it is an area that is continually evolving. The results of the 2017 U.S. Supreme Court case "Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District" will have a lasting impact on the future of special education guidelines; the outcomes of this…

Two Supreme Court cases have served to frame our legal rights and responsibilities regarding a Free Appropriate Public Education for students in our music classrooms and ensembles. This article serves as record of the two cases and their merits, according to the Supreme Court, as well as the actions recommended based on the court decisions.

A persistent problem in the professional literature in school psychology and related fields, such as special education, is the insufficient treatment of legal issues in terms of not only quantity (e.g., Zaheer & Zirkel, 2014) but also quality (e.g., Zirkel, 2014). The quality dimension is illustrated in the coverage of the Supreme Court's…

This article discusses concerns about how Neil M. Gorsuch, a U.S. Supreme Court nominee, might influence decisions regarding cases involving the appropriate scope of services guaranteed by federal special-education law, government aid to religious institutions providing educational services, and how intellectual property law applies to sports…

This study analyzed the 65 hearing officer decisions in Illinois between 1982 and 2010 that were subject to a court appeal available in the Westlaw or Individuals With Disabilities Education Law Report (IDELR) databases. These 65 cases yielded 86 issue rulings. Based on refined measures of outcomes and deference, or standard of judicial review,…

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a broadly worded statement that addresses discrimination in schools and other settings. Enacted at about the same time as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 has been used sparingly in elementary and secondary schools. Section 504 presents an opportunity to redress…

Since 1996, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), located in Southern California, has been under a federal court consent decree requiring compliance with laws pertaining to the delivery of special education services and the elimination of architectural barriers in schools. In 2003, the consent decree was modified, creating…

The Yearbook of Education Law contains analyses of the previous year's federal and state court decisions that affect private and public elementary and secondary schools and higher education. The Yearbook provides summaries and analyses of relevant state appellate and federal trial and appellate court cases. Contents include: (1) Employees; (2)…

In this discussion of recent key disability-related decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court (1995-2004), we (a) assess whether the Court has supported or undermined certain core concepts of disability policy and (b) examine how the Court balances the comparative rights of those with and those without disabilities. In cases involving employment…

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS) has stated that school districts must continue to provide services to disabled students after expulsion even when behavior is not related to the child's disability. The OSERS opinion cites no legislative or judicial authority and directly contradicts…

Courts in the Ninth Circuit are required to apply a four-factor balancing test when reviewing school districts' least restrictive environment (LRE) placement decisions for children with a disability. Discusses the Ninth Circuit's new LRE test, LRE tests previously announced in other circuits, and the fact that the Supreme Court has not addressed…

Discusses two cases that illustrate the reasoning used by courts to uphold attorneys' fees to parents who prevail in Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA) administrative proceedings. (MLF)

In 1981 the federal courts decided hundreds of cases involving schools relating to civil rights statutes, the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Lawsuits concerning the handicapped involved such issues as the costs of determining what is equal opportunity in education, full-time…

The Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986 authorizes courts to award attorneys' fees to handicapped children. Examines Supreme Court's decisions and the history of the act, then analyzes the innovative features of its attorneys' fees provisions. (MLF)

Discusses two lines of case law regarding whether public schools are required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to provide special education and related services to parent-placed private school students on the private school site when the public schools maintain their own appropriate program. (133 footnotes) (MLF)