Abstract
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) states that students with disabilities are to be provided with a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. Despite this requirement, children with disabilities continue to face segregation in the education system across the country. Although there have been several lawsuits regarding proper placement of children with disabilities, the United States Supreme Court refuses to establish a uniform standard for lower courts to adopt. As a result, there are currently four different approaches—employed across ten different circuits—on how to determine whether a child has been placed in the least restrictive environment. Because of this disagreement, a child with a disability could be placed in the least restrictive environment in one part of the country and the most restrictive environment in a different part of the country. This paper discusses what is required of school districts under the IDEA and how those requirements continue to be ignored throughout the United States. Additionally, this paper analyzes the current tests that each district court employs and provides suggestions on how both the judicial system and Congress can eliminate the arbitrary segregation of students with disabilities.
Recommended Citation
Alexis Cherry,
A Good “IDEA” With No Clear Plan: The Lack of Uniformity in Evaluating Compliance with the IDEA’s Least Restrictive Environment Provision Has Led to Arbitrary Segregation of Children with Disabilities Across the United States,
35 Hastings Women's L.J.
(2024).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hwlj/vol35/iss1/3