Special Education

Supreme Court to Hear Case on Reimbursement for Special Education Experts

By Mark Walsh — January 09, 2006 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted review of an appeal that will determine whether parents can be reimbursed under the main federal special education law for the fees of experts they hire as part of a challenge to a student’s individualized education program.

The justices agreed on Jan. 6 to add Arlington Central School District v. Murphy (Case No. 05-18) to the docket for their current term. The case will be argued in April, with a decision likely by late June.

It will be the second case interpreting the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to be heard by the court this term. On Nov. 14, the court ruled 6-2 that the burden of proof in IDEA legal disputes rests with the party seeking relief, which is usually the parents.

The new case also has broad implications for school districts and parents of children in special education.

The Bush administration had recommended last month that the court take up the case to resolve a split among the federal appeals courts over whether the IDEA authorizes a court to award fees for experts employed by the parents of a child with a disability who are the victors in a dispute with a school district.

The special education law expressly authorizes the recovery of attorneys’ fees, and the question in the case is whether such fees can be defined to include experts’ fees. A legislative report in Congress in a 1986 reauthorization of the IDEA’s predecessor statute suggested that lawmakers intended for attorneys’ fees to include “reasonable expenses and fees of expert witnesses and the reasonable costs of any test or evaluation which is found to be necessary for the preparation of the case.”

Various federal appeals courts have disagreed about how much deference to give the legislative report.

In the current case, Pearl and Theodore Murphy, the parents of a child with unspecified disabilities, had a long-running dispute with the 10,000-student Arlington, N.Y., district over the placement of their son, Joseph. The parents employed an educational consultant to represent them in special education proceedings. They eventually prevailed in a federal district court and in a March 2005 ruling by a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, in New York City.

Although the school district resisted when the Murphys submitted a bill to the court for $29,350 in expert fees for the consultant’s services, the district court concluded that the parents were entitled to recover part of that sum, or $8,650.

The 2nd Circuit held that Congress had sufficiently indicated in the legislative report that prevailing parties could recover expert fees under the IDEA. The court also found that awarding expert fees was consistent with the law’s purpose of ensuring that all children with disabilities get a free, appropriate public education.

The Bush Administration’s Position

The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 7th, 8th, and District of Columbia Circuits, in Chicago, St. Louis, and Washington, respectively, have ruled the opposite way: that expert fees cannot be recovered under the IDEA.

That was the position taken by the Bush administration in its brief last month urging the Supreme Court to take up the case.

“The text of IDEA unambiguously authorizes only the award of attorneys’ fees—and not expert fees—to parents who prevail in IDEA litigation,” said the brief filed by U.S. Solicitor General Paul D. Clement.

The statute “nowhere mentions ‘expert fees,’ ” the brief goes on. “That omission is particularly telling because Congress knows how to expressly authorize the award of both ‘attorneys’ fees’ and ‘expert fees,’ and has done so in numerous other statutes.”

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Rethinking STEM Assessment: Strategies for Administrators
School and district leaders will explore strategies to enhance STEM assessment practices across their district, within schools and classrooms.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
Federal Webinar Keeping Up with the Trump Administration's Latest K-12 Moves: Subscriber-Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
Artificial Intelligence Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: Math & Technology: Finding the Recipe for Student Success
How should we balance AI & math instruction? Join our discussion on preparing future-ready students.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Special Education How Trump's Policies Are Already Upending Special Education
The special ed. field is watching anxiously as the administration cuts grants and research contracts while threatening further disruption.
11 min read
Inclusive education in action, a boy and girl with Down syndrome participate in classroom activities, working side by side at a table as they complete their individual projects.
Courtney Hale/E+
Special Education Opinion RFK Jr. Is the Last Person Who Should Be in Charge of Special Education
Here’s why President Trump’s recent announcement sent a chill down the spines of autistic individuals like me.
David Rivera
3 min read
Collaged image of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with brightly colored classroom images in the background.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Rod Lamkey, Jr./AP + Getty Images
Special Education Spotlight Spotlight on Neurodiversity in K12: Supporting Every Learner's Success
This Spotlight will help you explore effective strategies for supporting neurodiverse students, fostering inclusive environments, and more.
Special Education Why Trump's Move to Shift Special Ed. to HHS Is Rattling Educators
Current and former staffers are wary of vague plans to move special education out of the Education Department.
9 min read
Professionals stand on an arrow that shifts from one parallel line to another, illustrating the concept of a realignment. One person is dressed as healthcare professional.
mathisworks/DigitalVision Vectors