Opinion ID: 549752
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Compensatory Education and Sovereign Immunity

Text: 27 The district court dismissed appellant's claim for compensatory education for J.C. on the ground that the claim did not fall within the narrow category of cases in which a court may provide the remedy of compensatory education for individuals over the age of 21, citing Burr by Burr v. Ambach, 863 F.2d 1071 (2d Cir.1988) (Burr I), vacated sub nom. Sobol v. Burr, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 3209, 106 L.Ed.2d 560 (1989), reaff'd, Burr by Burr v. Sobol, 888 F.2d 258 (2d Cir.1989) (Burr II), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 1298, 108 L.Ed.2d 475 (1990). In Burr I, we recognized that a handicapped child does not have a right to demand a public education beyond the age of twenty-one, 863 F.2d at 1078, but found that compensatory education was proper in that case because the EHA regulations were grossly violated, id. at 1075, which resulted in exclusion of the student from school for a substantial period of time. 28 In light of our determination that the Department was required to follow EHA procedures before terminating J.C.'s educational placement, the complaint clearly alleges violations of the EHA that led to J.C.'s exclusion from his educational placement. Moreover, a comparison of appellant's allegations with the violations we found in Burr I shows that compensable education is an appropriate remedy here. The gross violations we found in Burr I consisted of undue delay in an agency hearing and in administrative review thereafter in violation of the EHA and applicable regulations in a situation where the handicapped child was being deprived of the benefit of the stay-put provision of the EHA because his former school had closed. Thus, in Burr I the failure to comply with EHA procedures completely deprived the student of an educational placement until he was 21. Here, appellant alleges that defendants in effect took advantage of J.C.'s mental infirmities in order to evade EHA procedures, resulting in J.C.'s complete exclusion from an educational placement until he was 21, with disastrous results. We believe that the complaint states a claim for compensatory educational relief. 29 Appellees argue that an award of compensatory education would in any event be barred by the Eleventh Amendment, since the award will require state expenditures. It is true that the EHA does not abrogate a state's sovereign immunity. Dellmuth v. Muth, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 2397, 105 L.Ed.2d 181 (1989). However, Congress amended the EHA in 1986 so that the EHA no longer provides the exclusive avenue through which a plaintiff may assert an EHA claim. 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1415(f); see generally Mrs. W. v. Tirozzi, 832 F.2d 748, 754-55 (2d Cir.1987). In particular, Sec. 504 ... may be used as [a remedy] to enforce EHA educational rights, subject to the Act's existing exhaustion requirements. Tirozzi, 832 F.2d at 751. As we held in Burr I and Burr II and hold again today, compensatory education is a proper remedy in an appropriate situation for enforcing EHA educational rights. Since Sec. 504 expressly allows for equitable relief, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000d-7(a)(2), compensatory education is an appropriate remedy when Sec. 504 is used to enforce EHA rights. If the district court were to provide an award of compensatory education as a remedy under Sec. 504, the Eleventh Amendment would pose no bar since there is no state immunity for violations of Sec. 504. 20 U.S.C. Sec. 2000d-7(a)(1). 30 Under well-recognized doctrine, we should not consider a constitutional claim unless it is necessary to do so. See, e.g., Burr I, 863 F.2d at 1075. Accordingly, we do not reach the question whether an award of compensatory education under the EHA on these facts runs afoul of the Eleventh Amendment. See Burr II, 888 F.2d at 259 (affirming such an award subsequent to Muth, in part because the relief was prospective in nature, and any effect on the state treasury would be ancillary to such relief and therefore permissible under the Eleventh Amendment). 31 We reverse the judgment of the district court and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.