Education Law

Will Supremes answer the question this time?

From NSBA's free weekly Legal Clips e-newsletter BoardBuzz gets word that an Oregon school district is asking the Supreme Court to resolve a special ed issue on which it split 4-4, with Justice Anthony Kennedy recusing himself. Here was our take when that indecision was handed down a year ago.

The Legal Clips item points to a meaty article in the Oregonian and provides links back to the whole history of this issue before various courts, which had split on the question before the Supremes split on it themselves. The question is whether taxpayers are on the hook to pay private school tuition for the special education of a student who has yet to receive services from the school district. The 4-4 result in the Tom F. case left the answer to that question as "Yes for now" in the Second Circuit, where that case arose, but the answer remains "No" in some other places.

The Oregonian quotes the superintendent of the Forest Grove School District, Jack Musser, as saying, ?We are proceeding with this not only for the Forest Grove district but the state and the rest of the nation." That's the kind of leadership we've applauded before. The Oregonian goes on to note that:

The National School Boards Association is preparing an amicus brief supporting the school district, said deputy general counsel Naomi Gittins. Gittins said IDEA?s purpose is to make parents and schools work together to provide individualized services for a student with a disability. ?The 9th Circuit's ruling really goes too far in that school districts are on the hook for something they didn't know they needed to provide for parents,? she said.

So will the Court grant the request to hear the case? No one's sure why Justice Kennedy recused himself last time. If it's something very specific about that case, maybe. But if it's something about the legal issue itself, Forest Grove—and everybody else—is out of luck. The Oregonian ends by quoting Lehigh University education law professor Perry Zirkel as saying, "In my view, it's worth trying."

By the way, if you're not already getting Legal Clips, try it out by self-subscribing. In addition to the special education case, last week you would have been treated to more details about the ADA issue we flagged here, lawsuits over "timeout rooms," the latest on legal challenges to high school exits exams and other high-stakes tests, a dispute over recent federal guidance about diversity efforts in schools, the Arizona lawsuit over funding for English language learners, and yet another church-state tiff, among other things. And hey, the price is right.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on September 23, 2008 (boomark / email).