{"id":14149,"date":"2015-11-05T09:00:48","date_gmt":"2015-11-05T13:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=13086"},"modified":"2015-11-05T09:00:48","modified_gmt":"2015-11-05T13:00:48","slug":"enforcing-state-compliance-with-idea-2004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/enforcing-state-compliance-with-idea-2004\/","title":{"rendered":"Enforcing State Compliance with IDEA 2004"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_pop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/gallery\/share-button-gray.png\" style=\"border:0px\" alt=\"Share\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_icon_type = \"labels\";var hupso_background=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_border=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"wrightslaw\";var hupso_url=\"\";var hupso_title=\"Enforcing%20State%20Compliance%20with%20IDEA%202004\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><blockquote><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000; float: right; margin-left: 10px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/images\/istock\/gavel.law.jpg\" alt=\"gavel\" width=\"180\" height=\"185\" \/>IDEA outlines procedural safeguards to protect children and allow their parents to be equal participants.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is <strong>little or no enforcement<\/strong> of the IDEA.\u00a0 This has allowed school district staff to create rules on the fly.<\/p>\n<p>The response from my state Department of Education?\u00a0 &#8220;<em>We know our system is flawed and broken. <strong>But, our hands are tied.&#8221;<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Really? Who tied their hands? Seriously.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is good example of how to use the IDEA, the federal special education law and the implementing regulations &#8230;<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>According to Section 1412 of IDEA, <strong>State Departments of Education are responsible for supervising school districts and ensuring that all children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, you read that right. See page 71 in \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/store\/selaw2.store.html\">Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd ed<\/a>,<\/p>\n<p><strong>20 U.S.C. 1412 \u2013 State Eligibility<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>(a) In General<\/strong>. A State is eligible for assistance \u2026 if the State submits a plan that provides assurances to the Secretary that the State has in effect policies and procedures to ensure that the State meets each of the following conditions:<\/p>\n<p><strong>(1) FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDUCATION<\/strong>.<br \/>\n<strong>(A) In General<\/strong> \u2013 A free appropriate public education is available to all children with disabilities residing in the State between the ages of 3 and 21, inclusive, including children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school.<br \/>\n. . . [20 U.S.C. 1412(a); page 71 in <span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/store\/selaw2.store.html\">Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd ed<\/a><\/span>.]<\/p>\n<p>See also <strong>State Educational Agency Responsible for General Supervision<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>(A) In General<\/strong> &#8211; The State educational agency is responsible for ensuring that\u2013<br \/>\n(i) the requirements of this part are met; and<br \/>\n(ii) all educational programs for children with disabilities in the State, including all such programs administered by any other State or local agency \u2013<br \/>\n(I) are under the general supervision of individuals in the State who are responsible for educational programs for children with disabilities; and<br \/>\n(II) meet the educational standards of the State educational agency . . . [20 U.S.C. 1412(11); page 77 in <span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/store\/selaw2.store.html\">Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd ed<\/a><\/span>.]<\/p>\n<p>The IDEA regulations about enforcement are in Subpart F \u2013 State Monitoring and Enforcement [300.600-602 and begin on page 268 of\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/store\/selaw2.store.html\">Wrightslaw: Special Ed Law<\/a><\/span>]<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Monitoring Compliance<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, compliance problems are not new, nor are they isolated.<\/p>\n<p>IDEA <strong>requires<\/strong> State Departments of Education to monitor school district (LEA) compliance.<\/p>\n<p>When states <strong>fail<\/strong> to ensure compliance,<em> there are no sanctions, funds are not withheld by the feds.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Enforcement &amp; Compliance: <em>Back to School on Civil Rights<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>In 2000, The National Council on Disability (NCD) published \u201cBack to School on Civil Rights,\u201d a report on enforcement and compliance with the IDEA.<\/p>\n<p>Based on its review of the DOE\u2019s monitoring reports of states, NCD found that:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">* <strong>Every state was out of compliance<\/strong> with IDEA requirements to some degree;<br \/>\n* in the sampling of states studied, <strong>noncompliance persisted over many years<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring the 1997 reauthorization of IDEA, the &#8216;battle cry&#8217; of parents was enforcement of the law.<\/p>\n<p>Who is responsible for enforcing the law? Who is on the side of the parents and students?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnforcement of the law is the burden of parents who must invoke formal complaint procedure and due process hearings, including expensive litigation, to obtain the appropriate services and supports their children are entitled under the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NCD recommended that Congress turn over enforcement of IDEA to the Dept of Justice. When Congress reauthorized IDEA in 2004, they did not make this change.<\/p>\n<p>Parents and advocates need to shine a light on this problem when the law is reauthorized next time.<\/p>\n<p>Summary of Findings from the IDEA Compliance Report:<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blogs\/2000\/NCD_IDEA_Report_00_0125.htm\">https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blogs\/2000\/NCD_IDEA_Report_00_0125.htm<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>TOC with links to chapters of the report:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/law\/reports\/IDEA_Compliance_overview.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/law\/reports\/IDEA_Compliance_overview.htm<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IDEA outlines procedural safeguards to protect children and allow their parents to be equal participants. The problem is little or no enforcement of the IDEA.\u00a0 This has allowed school district <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/enforcing-state-compliance-with-idea-2004\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,5,529,1369],"tags":[740,1381],"class_list":["post-14149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fape","category-idea-2004","category-parent-rights-responsibilities","category-state-complaints","tag-back-to-school-on-civil-rights","tag-idea-monitoring-and-compliance"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14149\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}