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Why the IDEA
Fairness Restoration Act
(H.R. 4188) is Important to Parents
The IDEA
Fairness Restoration Act will override the Supreme Court's decision in
Arlington Central School District v. Murphy (2006) and allow parents
who prevail to be reimbursed for their expert witness fees. H.R. 4188
will help to level the playing field. H.R. 4188 is essential to protect
the rights of 7 million children with disabilities and their parents.
Here are a few reasons why the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act is
so important:
• When
prevailing parents cannot recover expert costs, the playing field is
neither level nor fair, and children are denied a free appropriate
public education and other fundamental IDEA rights.
• Hiring qualified medical and technical expert witnesses can cost
many thousands of dollars. Few parents can afford this high cost,
putting due process out of reach for most parents, who struggle to
afford what their children with disabilities need.
•
School districts use tax dollars to employ and pay for psychologists
and other paid experts at IEP meetings and hearings. Parents have
fewer resources and yet must bear a greater financial burden.
Approximately 36% of children with disabilities live in families
earning less than $25,000 a year; over 2/3 earn less than $50,000 a
year.
•
Congress intended for parents to recover their expert witness fees
in the Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986. H.R. 4188
will restore Congress' original intent.
• If
parents cannot afford due process, the IEP process becomes even more
one-sided and unfair. School personnel control the IEP process and
usually outnumber parents. The right to due process helps ensure
that school districts provide free appropriate public educations to
children with disabilities.
• Most
parents turn to due process and litigation as a last resort. In
2003, the GAO reported that there were 5 due process hearings per
10,000 special education students. When parents are forced to
request due process, they need expert witnesses to prevail.
Why the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act
Matters
A
Pennsylvania public interest organization represented the mother of 8th
grade student with dyslexia and written expression disorders. The child
had struggled to read and write all his life. The school district failed
to provide a scientifically-based reading program so the child was
failing.
His single
mother was forced to request a due process hearing to implement the
recommendations of an independent evaluator and obtain appropriate
special education services for her child. This parent had to borrow
$1,400 to pay the independent evaluator to testify. She also had to pay
for the expert's time while being cross-examined by the school district
for two days. She won her due process case.
Because
this case was decided before the Supreme Court’s decision in Murphy,
the mother was able to recover her expert fees. But - if she had
requested a due process hearing after Murphy, she would not be
allowed to recover her expert witness fees. Without an expert, it would
have been difficult to pursue the case if at all. The IDEA Fairness
Restoration Act will ensure that parents can recover their expert
witness fees.
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