Supreme Court Decision Changes Standard Of IDEA-Compliant Special Education Services

On March 22, 2017, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the terms of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mean that schools must provide more than minimum special education services for students with an individualized education program (IEP). With this decision, the case was sent back to the district court for further consideration.

The ruling sets a new legal standard that schools must meet to educate students with disabilities, in that schools must provide “an educational program reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances.” Normally, an educational . . .