In order to clarify the law for our families throughout the country who need these services, but have been denied, Home School Legal Defense Association filed suit on behalf of several families. In New Jersey, the Superior Court Judge ruled in April 2000 that the Fair Lawn Board of Education's exclusion of Gregory Forstrom from IDEA is a violation of his constitutional guarantee of equal protection. The Fair Lawn Board of Education and the New Jersey Department of Education have appealed that decision to the New Jersey Court of Appeals. In the Nevada case, on the other hand, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Clark County School District's decision to exclude home school students from special education. Therefore, under the Ninth Circuit ruling, where states consider home education to be a distinct category from private schools, there is no obligation to provide services.
Special education refers to remedial instruction in academic areas.
Some of our members, however, cannot afford to purchase related services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, or physical therapy and desire to receive those services from the school district. Since we believe it was the intent of Congress and some state legislatures to include home schoolers in these services, and because we believe that to provide these same services to traditional private schoolers, but not to home schoolers, is discrimination, we are fighting for these families. A parent armed with an accurate understanding of the law is one of the best defenses against discrimination. Know the law and be ready to graciously educate officials who do not know it. If the state recognizes home schools as private schools, then children with disabilities in those home schools must be treated in the same way as other private school children with disabilities.