Opinion ID: 2278481
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Legislative Purpose of the IDEA and its Maryland Counterpart

Text: In enacting the IDEA, Congress intended to open the door of public education to all qualified children and require participating States to educate handicapped children with nonhandicapped children whenever possible. Rowley, 458 U.S. at 192, 202, 102 S.Ct. at 3043, 3049. The IDEA was meant to assist the large number of disabled children who were either totally excluded from schools or sitting idly in regular classrooms awaiting the time when they were old enough to `drop out.' Schaffer v. Weast, 546 U.S. 49, 126 S.Ct. 528, 531, 163 L.Ed.2d 387 (2005) (quoting H.R.Rep. No. 94-332, at 2 (1975)). Accordingly, states must provide an appropriate education designed to meet the specific needs of the handicapped child at no cost to that child's parent. S.Rep. No. 94-168, at 10 (1975), reprinted in 1975 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1425, 1434. The touchstone of the IDEA is the actual provision of a FAPE. Sellers v. Sch. Bd. of Mannassas, 141 F.3d 524, 527 (4th Cir.1998). To advance this goal, Congress, in the IDEA, provided a panoply of procedural rights to parents to ensure their involvement in decisions about their disabled child's education. Id. At the apex of these procedural rights is an impartial due process hearing in which aggrieved parents may air their complaints, with respect to their disabled child's identification, evaluation, placement, and receipt of a FAPE. Id. 2.