IDA Applauds Supreme Court Decision in Endrew F vs Douglas County School District

March 23, 2017

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the family in Endrew F. versus Douglas County School District. Having been one of the organizations that signed a friend of the court amicus brief last October, I am delighted that the Supreme Court found that the standard for educational services for students with learning disabilities must exceed de minimis, overturning a lower court ruling.

Merriam Webster defines de minimis as “lacking significance or importance—so minor as to merit disregard.” We communicated in our brief that we believed that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) required that our most vulnerable children be entitled to an education that is something incrementally more than “so minor as to merit disregard.”

In short, our children deserve to read regardless of their learning or reading differences, and the Supreme Court decision requires that IDEA now be defined and held to a higher standard than de minimis.

We applaud that decision.

Rick Smith, CEO