A Way to Implement the Free Appropriate Public Education for Children with Disabilities under the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Parents of a child with autism brought a lawsuit against a public school where their child had attended from preschool to the fourth grade, seeking reimbursement for tuition at a private school which the child attended for six months during the fifth grade. The parents removed his child from the public school after they rejected the "individualized education program" (IEP) drafted by the public school for the fifth grader, contending that the IEP was not adequate to make the student progress. The lower courts denied the parents' claim. However, the United State Supreme Court in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District (Endrew) vacated the decisions of lower courts. Later, the parents recovered reimbursement. This case shows one of the ways to implement the "free appropriate public education" (FAPE) for children with disabilities under the United States Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The IDEA provides what requirements are needed for an IEP to satisfy the FAPE. This paper overviews the IDEA and its main provisions on the FAPE and the IEP for children with disabilities. It also analyzes the Court in Endrew which requested a substantive approach to implement the FAPE, relied on its thirty-five-year old precedent, Board of Ed. of Hendrick Hudson Central School Dist., Westchester Cty. v. Rowley which addressed the FAPE requirement for the first time and set the guidance on an IEP drafting.