High Court to Weigh Case on Private School Placements Under IDEA

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case under the main federal special education law involving parents who place their children with disabilities in private schools amid disputes with public school authorities over their children’s education plan, then seek reimbursement at public expense.

Such “unilateral placements” were upheld under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by the high court in 1985. The justices held in Burlington School Committee v. Massachusetts Department of Education that parents are entitled to reimbursement when courts later determine that the parents’ private school placement of their child was appropriate and the school district’s placement was inappropriate under the IDEA.

The reimbursements are routinely ordered by lower federal courts under the proper circumstances, often at significant expense...