Opinion ID: 472144
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The EAHCA

Text: 27 As Smith v. Robinson indicates, Congress enacted the EAHCA in order to help remedy the inadequacy of the educational services provided to the nation's handicapped children. See 104 S.Ct. at 3468-69; 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400(b) (1982). The Act provides states with substantial federal funding for use in special education, but conditions receipt of such monies on each state's compliance with numerous specific federal requirements. Foremost among these is the requirement that a state have in effect a policy that assures all handicapped children the right to a free appropriate public education. 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1412 (1982). According to the Act, a free appropriate public education is 28 special education and related services which (A) have been provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge, (B) meet the standards of the State educational agency, (C) include an appropriate preschool, elementary, or secondary school education in the State involved, and (D) are provided in conformity with [an] individualized education program. 29 Id. Sec. 1401(18). 30 As the Supreme Court has stated, the individualized educational program--or IEP--is the EAHCA's modus operandi. Burlington School Committee v. Department of Education, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 1996, 2002, 85 L.Ed.2d 385 (1985). An IEP is a written program of educational goals and services, tailored to meet the child's unique needs, that is developed at an IEP meeting according to the proper procedures. See Board of Education v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 181-82, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 3037-38, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982); 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1401(19); id. Sec. 1415 (1982); 34 C.F.R. Secs. 300.340-.349 (1985). The special education provided the child must comport with his or her IEP, Rowley, 458 U.S. at 203, 102 S.Ct. at 3049, and no such services may be provided until an IEP is in effect. 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.342(b)(1) (1985). 31 In addition to the requirement of an IEP, the EAHCA and its implementing regulations establish a number of procedural safeguards for the benefit of parents. See 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1415 (1982); 34 C.F.R. Secs. 300.501-.589 (1985). These include the right to written notice whenever the agency proposes (or refuses) to initiate change in a child's educational program or placement, see 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1415(b)(1)(C) (1982), the right to present complaints and receive an impartial due process hearing on any matter relating to the provision of a free appropriate public education, see id. Sec. 1415(b)(1)(E)-(b)(2), the right to bring an action in state or federal district court to challenge any final decision of a state educational agency on such a matter, see id. Sec. 1415(e)(2), and the right to insist that their child remain in [his or her] then current educational placement during the pendency of review proceedings, id. Sec. 1415(e)(3). These procedures ensure parental involvement in the administrative process and enable parents to challenge agency action that they regard as inappropriate or inadequate. See Burlington School Committee, 105 S.Ct. at 2002. It is out of the clash between these rights and those traditionally accorded public school officials that this case arises.