IDEA Dispute Resolution Favors High-Income Families

Although about 7 million children aged 3 through 21 received special education services during school year 2016-2017 under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), not everything goes smoothly for these families. IDEA provides options that parents and school districts may use to address disputes that arise related to the education of a student with a disability. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report in response to congressional requestors found that during that school year, some 35,142 special education disputes were filed nationwide.

However, of interest in the GAO report was that a much greater proportion of very high-income school districts had dispute resolution activity than very low-income districts in five states that GAO reviewed. Further, school districts with a lower percentage of minority students also had higher dispute resolution activity. GAO found that parents mostly used dispute resolution for issues related to school decisions about evaluations, placement, services and support, and discipline of their children.

These findings tend to mirror some of the challenge parents face related to dispute resolution. These challenges include paying for attorneys and expert witnesses at a due process hearing, parents’ reluctance to initiate disputes because they feel disadvantaged by the school district’s knowledge and financial resources, and parents’ lack of time off from work to attend due process hearings. Those parents with higher incomes have a better shot at finding success in the dispute process, particularly because many attorneys will not work on a pro-bono basis to handle IDEA dispute cases for low-income families. “If parents do not prevail at a due process hearing, they may be responsible for the school district’s legal costs in addition to their own, which can be a disincentive to going through a hearing,” GAO added.

While the report did not contain any recommendations, it did note that the Department of Education and state education agencies are providing technical assistance to support parents’ understanding of their rights under IDEA and to facilitate their use of dispute resolution options (i.e., providing informational documents and phone help lines to parents). Hopefully, all families, no matter their income, can receive the assistance they need to successfully resolve their IDEA disputes.

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