The Idea Remedies Tour PartXXI: More on Compensatory Education


By now you know about my my IDEA Remedies Tour. I spoke in early July at the Seattle U. Academy for IDEA Hearing Officers on the topic of compensatory education.There have been many changes to the remedy of compensatory education. In late July, I presented two sessions at the 16th annual Education Law Conference in Portland, Maine. One of my topics there was the remedy of reimbursement for a unilateral placement. Collectively, I've been having some fun calling these events my IDEA Remedies Tour, and various other tours lamenting the premature demise of my high school rock drummer
aspirations. The recent posts concern the meat, or law, of the presentations as opposed to my preferred parts of the conferences, networking, seeing old friends, schmoozing, etc.

You now know about the trend toward a qualitative standard for compensatory education and the jurisdictions and colleagues that continue to hold the belief that a qualitative calculus is preferable.

Seal of the United States Court of Appeals for...Image via Wikipedia


Another major development in the law of compensatory education concerns the concept of delegation. Notably in

Bd of Educ of Fayette County, KY v LM ex rel TD 478 F.3d 307, 47 IDELR 122 (6th Cir. 3/2/7) the Sixth Circuit held that a hearing officer may not delegate the terms of a compensatory education award to the IEP team. IDEA requires that a due process HO not be an employee of the LEA, and some members of the IEP team are employees. See, Reid ex rel Reid v. District of Columbia 401 F.3d 516, 43 IDELR 32 (D.C. Cir. 3/25/05)(same conclusion re delegation issue). Contrast, LT ex rel BT v. Mansfiled Township Sch Dist 52 IDELR 71 (D. NJ 3/17/9) (Court ordered parties to develop remedial plan including compensatory education); New York City Dept of Educ 48 IDELR 116 (SEA NY 5/30/7) (remand to IEPT); Fulton County Sch Dist 49 IDELR 30 (SEA Ga 7/11/7); Hacienda La Puente Unified Sch Dist 48 IDELR 237 (SEA Calif 7/23/7); Fallbrook Union High Sch Dist 107 LRP 69374 (SEA Calif 11/20/7) (HO remanded matter to IEPT to determine correct placement).