The Supreme Court has ruled on a very controversial education case that held in the balance the fate of special education students around the country. According to the Los Angeles Times, “the Supreme Court took the side of parents of children with disabilities today, ruling that they can claim reimbursement for the cost of private schooling if the public system failed to offer an appropriate program for their child.” This ruling, although potentially expensive for public schools, will ensure that children eligible for Special Education funding will be given the subsidy they deserve.

The issue at bar was whether parents who unilaterally take their disabled children out of public school to send them to private school can be reimbursed by the public school that didn’t have the facilities necessary to provide special education. This case is more specifically described in an earlier article which can be found at topcolleges.com.
The Supreme Court sided with the parents and maintained that the school district that failed to provide an appropriate learning program for a student would be responsible for the tuition for the alternate institution chosen by parents. The justices said the federal law requires, as a public duty, to provide “free, appropriate” education for all children with disabilities.

According to Justice Stevens, “We conclude that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act authorizes reimbursement for the cost of private special education services when a school district fails to provide a free, appropriate public education . . . regardless of whether the child previously received special education or related services through the public school.”

This case was pregnant with the hopes and dreams of special education students and parents who wanted their federally protected rights to free and available education. This conclusion by the Supreme Court has allowed for an encouraging start for the thousands of disabled students who hope to be the best they can be.