Court Rules Public Must Pay for Private Special Ed

Submitted by G.T.

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Children with disabilities who require special education and related services to access learning in schools found support recently in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, Forest Grove School District v T.A., No. 08-305 (June 22, 2009).

The Court held that when schools do not appropriately identify and provide services to these students, the student may be placed in a private school to meet the special education needs, and the school district may be responsible for reimbursing parents and legal guardians for the tuition to these schools.

The Disability Rights Legal Centre and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, filed an amicus brief (friend of the court) on behalf of the Disability Rights Legal Centre, Learning Rights Law Centre, Public Counsel, Children and Adults with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder and California Association for Parent-Child Advocacy in support of T.A. in the U.S. court. Terri Keville, Hal Gibson, lisa Kohn of DWT LLP, paula Pearlman and Deborah Dorfman of the DRLC co-authored the brief.