School Committee of the Town of Burlington v. Department of Education

The Education of the Handicapped Act (Act), 84 Stat. 175, as amended, 20 U. S. C. §1401 et seq., requires participating state and local educational agencies “to assure that handicapped children and their parents or guardians are guaranteed procedural safeguards with respect to the provision of free appropriate public education” to such handicapped children. § 1415(a). These procedures include the right of the parents to participate in the development of an “individualized education program” (IEP) for the child and to challenge in administrative and court proceedings a proposed IEP with which…