BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY SCHOOL
DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK,
v. TOM F., ON BEHALF OF
GILBERT F., A MINOR CHILD
On appeal from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Who was suing who?
New York's School Board was sued by a parent (Tom F.) on behalf of his kid (Gilbert F.)
What was this case about?
The written opinion doesn’t say.
Why did the parent sue?
The written opinion doesn’t say.
What did the Supreme Court think about the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision?
The written opinion doesn’t say.
Who voted to affirm the lower court?
The written opinion doesn’t say.
Who voted to reverse the lower court?
The written opinion doesn’t say.
Well, what did the Court say?
“The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.”
What does that mean?
There are nine Supreme Court Justices so that,when all the Justices vote, there are no tie votes. But all the Justices do not vote in every case. In this case, Justice Kennedy didn’t take part in the decision, and when the Supremes voted, it was a tie: 4-4. Luckily for the parent – he gets the benefit of a Supreme Court tradition. When it comes to a tie, the Supreme Court affirms the lower court. Since New York lost in the second circuit, Tom and Gilbert are remanded to the district court.
Unfortunately for us, the Justices had originally intended to answer an important question:
Does the holding of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, stating that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act permits tuition
reimbursement where a child has not previously received special education from a
public agency, stand in direct contradiction to the plain language of 20 U.S.C. Sec.
1412(a)(10)(C)(ii) which authorizes tuition reimbursement to the parents of a
disabled child who previously received special education and related services
under the authority of a public agency?
Also unfortunately for us – that question makes no sense except to the lawyers who drafted it. Let’s rewrite the question – “Can Gilbert, a disabled kid, get money from New York for his private special education if he has never been to a public school?”
It’s a fair question, given that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act says:
If the parents of a child with a disability, who previously received special education and related services under the authority of a public agency, enroll the child in a private elementary school or secondary school without the consent of or referral by the public agency, a court or a hearing officer may require the agency to reimburse the parents for the cost of that enrollment if the court or hearing officer finds that the agency had not made a free appropriate public education available to the child in a timely manner prior to that enrollment.
Whatever that means. A better question might be – Why does congress write like this? That single quoted sentence is 95 words. It isn’t the fault of courts that lawsuits are brought to ask 77 word questions like the one that the Supreme Court addressed here. With luck, the Supreme Court will find another case to clarify this issue, so that parents like Tom F. will know when they can expect to receive financial assistance to send their children to private schools.
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