Supreme Court likely to boost public schools’ responsibilities to children with disabilities
By David G. Savage
Supreme Court justices appeared ready Wednesday to clarify and strengthen the rights of the nation’s 6.7 million children with disabilities, perhaps by requiring public schools to offer a special education program that will ensure they can make significant progress.
The case of a Colorado boy with autism, Endrew F. vs. Douglas County School District, could have a far-reaching impact on millions of children and their parents as well as the budgets of school districts nationwide.
At issue is a long-standing federal law that says children with disabilities have a right to a “free appropriate public education.” Schools, courts and parents have been divided over what this promise means in practice.
Does it mean, for example, that a school must merely offer a minimal special program that may offer “some educational benefit” to the child, as a federal appeals court in Denver ruled? Or instead, do these children have a right to “make significant educational progress,” as lawyers for the outgoing Obama administration contend?
During Wednesday’s argument, the justices struggled with the lawyers and among themselves to find the right legal standard. At one point, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. drew knowing smiles from his colleagues when he complained of the “blizzard of words” being tossed around, most of which had no clear meaning.
However, most of the justices appeared to favor setting a slightly higher standard, one that should lead the child to make measured progress on academics or behavior. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said it would not be sufficient for schools to provide an expert for five minutes a day and claim they were providing the child “some benefit.”
But the chief justice and others said they were wary of setting an unrealistically strict standard that would require students to meet certain goals. They also voiced worries about costs and an explosion of lawsuits.
Parents who are dissatisfied with special educational programs may remove their children from public schools, enroll them in private schools and then sue to have the costs paid by the school districts. But to win a reimbursement, the parents must show that the public schools failed to provide the “appropriate” education promised by the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.
A coalition of big-city school districts, including the Los Angeles Unified School District, warned the high court of the growing cost of private programs, which on average are more than four times as expensive as a public program. Los Angeles school officials said they spend $93 million a year on these private placements.
In the case before the court, the parents of Endrew F., an autistic child from Douglas County, Colo., enrolled him in public school through fourth grade. They worked with teachers to devise a special education program for him, but by fourth grade, his behavior was getting worse. He had repeated outbursts in class, banged his head on the floor and twice ran away from the school.
His parents moved him to a private school where he was “thriving,” according to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Nonetheless, the judges ruled the public school system need not reimburse the parents because it had provided their child with a minimally “adequate” educational program. “It is not the [school] district’s burden to pay for his placement [in the private school] when Drew was making some progress under its tutelage. That is all that is required,” wrote Judge Timothy Tymkovich, one of the 21 judges named as possible Supreme Court nominees by President-elect Donald Trump.
Stanford law professor Jeffrey Fisher, representing the parents, said the Supreme Court should reject the minimally adequate standard set by the 10th Circuit and instead say that children with disabilities have a right to make significant progress at school.
Lawyers from the U.S. solicitor general’s office joined in support of the parents. Irv Gornstein, a counselor in the office, said the law requires schools to provide a learning program “aimed at significant progress in light of the child’s circumstances.”
While this is not a guarantee of progress, they said, it is an approach that will require schools to aim high.
david.savage@latimes.com
Twitter: DavidGSavage
The aging of the population with Down syndrome is a positive sign
![](https://www.statnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/111816volunteerBen-645x645.jpg)
Working with Gert de Graaf of the Dutch Down Syndrome Foundation and Frank Buckley of Down Syndrome Education International/USA, we stitched together expansive databases spanning six decades to create what we believe are more accurate estimates of the number of people living with Down syndrome. Read more…
College To Career (C2C) Night at Santa Rosa Junior College
Join us to learn about the C2C program and apply for the Fall 2017 semester.
The C2C program serves students with disabilities.
Support providers are encouraged to attend.
For more information:
(707) 522.2807
sarciero@santarosa.edu
drd.santarosa.edu/c2c
Webinar: Mental Health Services in Schools For Students with Intellectual / Developmental Disabilities
Webinar: Mental Health Services in Schools For Students with Intellectual / Developmental Disabilities
Thursday, January 26, 2017
10:00 am Pacific Time
These webinars are part of the 2015-2017 series: Issues in Developmental Disabilities.
For more information and registration information, please use the INFORMATION FLYER.
The USC UCEDD at CHLA is hosting monthly webinars to educate and explore current issues affecting people with developmental disabilities and their families. This series is designed for people with developmental disabilities, family members and advocates. Each webinar includes a presentation from an expert in the field and a questions & answers session. Registration is free of charge. Attendees need a computer with internet access to view the presentation and a phone or computer speakers to access the webinar audio. After each webinar, the slides and video recording are available on the Event Archive page.
For suggestions, comments or questions call 323-361-4617 or email
mrojassoto@chla.usc.edu
A special child may require a special parent – Napa Valley Register
![Candice Chia](http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/napavalleyregister.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/44/644b8187-f952-5c73-a4ec-3ad244998326/5866e190e98f9.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C800)
Candice Chia started a Facebook group about two years ago for Napa Valley parents with children on the autism spectrum after her son Charlie was diagnosed with autism.
She began the Napa Families of ASD page about two years ago after her son Charlie was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Charlie, age 5, is a smart, smiling child who finds it easier to read a book than to interact with other children.
Chia and her husband, Jim Leiken, began to learn about special education and other resources through the local group ParentsCAN. She talked with another parent facing the same situation who had done more research than her and Charlie’s diagnosis began to seem less daunting.
“Then it became clear to me parents really had a lot of knowledge and passion and we all felt really isolated and alone,” Chia said.
Napa Families of ASD is a closed Facebook site where members can make connections. One recent post from a parent concerned haircuts.
Chia can relate, given Charlie can’t deal with going to a barber and having a flurry of scissor strokes sending shorn locks raining on his shoulders. She gives Charlie haircuts herself using electric scissors and a lot of patience. Another local parent cuts only a few locks of hair off her child each day.
Another post informs families of a “Sensitive Santa” event. This Santa avoids the loud “ho-ho-hos” and animated moves that might disconcert special needs children.
Another is from a mother with a child recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
“She was kind of shell-shocked and looking for guidance – ‘What should I think about this, what should I do?’ ” Chia said.
Children with autism spectrum disorder face a range of challenges, depending where they are on the spectrum. That leaves no one-size-fits-all handbook for parents.
“There’s a saying, ‘If you’ve met one kid on the spectrum, you’ve met one kid on the spectrum,’ ” Chia said.
American Canyon resident Teresa Silvagni is among those who use the Napa Families with ASD website and leaves posts there. She has a 6-year-old with autism spectrum disorder.
“We didn’t know who to contact, who to talk to,” she said. “It was a really nice resource to have.”
Chia has gone beyond starting the web page. She approached the Napa County Library about starting a “sensory friendly story time” for special-needs children.
Readers at the regular story times can grow too animated for Charlie and other special-needs children. The large library room allows them to wander off. The sensory friendly story time held the fourth Saturday of every month takes another approach.
“It’s a calmer story time,” Chia said.
Library Head of Children Services Ann Davis said Chia and another mother were proactive about the library starting the sensory-friendly story times.
“Candice is a mover and shaker and she’s very respectful,” Davis said. “She planted the seed and let us do it within our own time frame. Now it’s up-and-running and it will be a year in January.”