ABSTRACT
Individual education programs (IEPs) are at the core of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA), 20 U.S.C.§1400 et seq., the purpose of which is to make a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) available to every child in special education. The responsibility to make FAPE available rests with the public school district in which the child resides and ultimately with the state. If a district fails to make FAPE available and the parents then obtain appropriate services such as a private school placement, the district may be required to reimburse the parents’ expenses. In some circumstances, compensatory education may also be awarded. When a dispute arises, the determination of whether a program provides FAPE is fi rst made by a hearing offi cer (HO) or an administrative law judge (ALJ) in a due process hearing. That decision may be appealed to a state review offi cer or panel (in two tier states) or to a federal district court (or state appellate court) and then to a federal circuit court and possibly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
