Due Process Hearings
In this article, you will find:
What standards do hearing officers apply to IEP's?
In most states, the quality of educational programs and services offered in IEPs is governed by the minimal standards set forth in IDEA. The U.S. Supreme Court in Board of Education v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176 (1982), said that federal special education law requires only that a special education program be reasonably calculated to provide a child with a disability some "educational benefit." That benefit is to be provided in the least restrictive environment - the setting closest to the regular mainstream classroom - where the student can make real educational progress.In some states, the minimal federal standard gives way to a higher standard established in the particular state's special education laws. In Massachusetts, for example, a student with special educational needs is entitled to a program that offers him or her the opportunity to progress to the maximum feasible extent consistent with his or her potential. Hearings in Massachusetts are often centered on resolving the constant tension between a student's right to maximum feasible development and his/her right to be educated in the least restrictive appropriate educational setting. (The special education community needs to be vigilant in defense of the higher standard in such states, because some groups look to blame municipal budget problems on the cost of providing extra services to students with special education needs.)