Source: https://oconnorlibrary.org/supreme-court/schaffer-v-weast-2005
Timestamp: 2020-08-04 16:31:04
Document Index: 542422101

Matched Legal Cases: ['§1414', '§1414', '§1414', '§1414', '§1415', '§1415', '§1415', '§1415', '§1415', '§1415', '§1415', '§615', '§1415', '§615', '§1415', '§1400']

Schaffer v. Weast - Supreme Court Opinions | Sandra Day O'Connor Institute Digital Library
Supreme Court Opinions > Schaffer v. Weast
BRIAN SCHAFFER,
a minor, by his parents and next friends, Jocelyn and Martin Schaffer, et ux, et al.
Superintendent, Montgomery County Public Schools, et al.
Decided November 14, 2005
Topic: Civil Rights* Court vote: 6–2
Joining O'Connor opinion: Justice KENNEDY Justice SCALIA Justice SOUTER Justice STEVENS Justice THOMAS
Citation: 546 U.S. 49 Docket: 04–698 Audio: Listen to this case's oral arguments at Oyez
The core of the statute, however, is the cooperative process that it establishes between parents and schools. Rowley, supra, at 205–206 (“Congress placed every bit as much emphasis upon compliance with procedures giving parents and guardians a large measure of participation at every stage of the administrative process,... as it did upon the measurement of the resulting IEP against a substantive standard”). The central vehicle for this collaboration is the IEP process. State educational authorities must identify and evaluate disabled children, §§1414(a)–(c), develop an IEP for each one, §1414(d)(2), and review every IEP at least once a year, §1414(d)(4). Each IEP must include an assessment of the child’s current educational performance, must articulate measurable educational goals, and must specify the nature of the special services that the school will provide. §1414(d)(1)(A).
Although state authorities have limited discretion to determine who conducts the hearings, §1415(f)(1)), and responsibility generally for establishing fair hearing procedures, §1415(a), Congress has chosen to legislate the central components of due process hearings. It has imposed minimal pleading standards, requiring parties to file complaints setting forth “a description of the nature of the problem,” §1415(b)(7)(B)(ii), and “a proposed resolution of the problem to the extent known and available... at the time,” §1415(b)(7)(B)(iii). At the hearing, all parties may be accompanied by counsel, and may “present evidence and confront, cross-examine, and compel the attendance of witnesses.” §§1415(h)(1)–(2). After the hearing, any aggrieved party may bring a civil action in state or federal court. §1415(i)(2). Prevailing parents may also recover attorney’s fees. §1415(i)(3)(B). Congress has never explicitly stated, however, which party should bear the burden of proof at IDEA hearings.
Petitioners next contend that we should take instruction from the lower court opinions of Mills v. Board of Education, 348 F. Supp. 866 (D. C. 1972), and Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth, 334 F. Supp. 1257 (ED Pa. 1971) (hereinafter PARC ). IDEA’s drafters were admittedly guided “to a significant extent” by these two landmark cases. Rowley, 458 U. S., at 194. As the court below noted, however, the fact that Congress “took a number of the procedural safeguards from PARC and Mills and wrote them directly into the Act” does not allow us to “conclude... that Congress intended to adopt the ideas that it failed to write into the text of the statute.” 377 F. 3d, at 455.
Petitioners also urge that putting the burden of persuasion on school districts will further IDEA’s purposes because it will help ensure that children receive a free appropriate public education. In truth, however, very few cases will be in evidentiary equipoise. Assigning the burden of persuasion to school districts might encourage schools to put more resources into preparing IEPs and presenting their evidence. But IDEA is silent about whether marginal dollars should be allocated to litigation and administrative expenditures or to educational services. Moreover, there is reason to believe that a great deal is already spent on the administration of the Act. Litigating a due process complaint is an expensive affair, costing schools approximately $8,000-to-$12,000 per hearing. See Department of Education, J. Chambers, J. Harr, & A. Dhanani, What Are We Spending on Procedural Safeguards in Special Education 1999–2000, p. 8 (May 2003) (prepared under contract by American Institute for Research, Special Education Expenditure Project). Congress has also repeatedly amended the Act in order to reduce its administrative and litigation-related costs. For example, in 1997 Congress mandated that States offer mediation for IDEA disputes. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, Pub. L. 105–17, §615(e), 111 Stat. 90, 20 U. S. C. §1415(e). In 2004, Congress added a mandatory “resolution session” prior to any due process hearing. Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108–446, §615(7)(f)(1)(B), 118 Stat. 2720, 20 U. S. C. A. §1415(f)(1)(B) (Supp. 2005). It also made new findings that “[p]arents and schools should be given expanded opportunities to resolve their disagreements in positive and constructive ways,” and that “[t]eachers, schools, local educational agencies, and States should be relieved of irrelevant and unnecessary paperwork burdens that do not lead to improved educational outcomes.” §§1400(c)(8)–(9).