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NEWS
Federal Appeals Court Decision Big Victory for Yeshiva
Students
by Yad LeTat
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) says
that where a school district's proposed school placement
would not provide a child with a free appropriate public
education, the child's parents may unilaterally place the
child in a private school and the school district would then
be required to reimburse the parents for the cost of the
private school tuition. School districts have contended that
this provision of the IDEA does not apply to a child who had
never previously attended the school district's public
schools, which is the case for most Jewish religious
children.
Now, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit has ruled that the tuition reimbursement provision of
the IDEA is applicable even if the child never attended the
school district's public schools. In its ruling, the Court
noted that the principal purpose of the IDEA is that all
children with disabilities should receive an appropriate
education. This stated policy is applicable even if a child
has always attended private school.
This is an important decision for those parents who place
their disabled child in a yeshiva instead of the public
school, said Aaron Tyk, an attorney who specializes in
special education law. It is the school district's legal
responsibility in the first instance to provide an
appropriate placement for all children with disabilities. If
the school district fails to meet its obligation under the
law and the parent arranges for an appropriate placement in a
yeshiva setting, the parent ought to be reimbursed for the
cost of tuition.
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