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Legal Cases
Wrightslaw.com maintains a comprehensive list of court rulings pertaining to special education services and IDEA.
You can read a brief summary of relevant cases directly related to private school students and IDEA at mackinac.org.
Findlaw.com is a wonderful online resources for searching Supreme court cases and state laws.
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Court Cases that Apply to Homeschoolers and IDEA

Forstrom v. Fair Lawn School District

According the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), an appellate court in May 2000 concluded that a "home school is not a "nonpublic school" for state special education benefits, nor a "private school" for federal special education benefits, the denial of speech and language benefits to [the homeschool child] was a violation of equal protection. Because [the homeschool child] was willing to come to the public school to receive the therapy in a group setting, and since the public school was already providing services on public school premises to private school students, there was no rational basis for treating him differently from private schoolers who would receive those same services.

This case originated in Bergen County, NJ.

Read HSLDA's reviews of the case here.


Camdenton R-III School District v. Mr. and Mrs. F

This case involves a family of a special needs child who removed their child from public school due to alleged lack of services. The school has since attempted to force evaluation of the child despite the parent's refusal to agree to testing. In August 2004, a federal district court upheld the school's right to testing for this child. This case is represented by HSLDA and currently being appealed by the parents.

Find out where HSLDA currently stands with this case here.


Hooks v. Clark County School District

In 2000, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled "States have discretion to determine whether home education constitutes an IDEA- qualifying educational environment. We also hold that the school district's policy of limiting IDEA funds to institutional schools does not unconstitutionally offend equal protection principles or infringe on the parents' liberty interest in guiding their child's education."

Read the opinion here.

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