Me
Joshua D. Cooper
11/03/08
Lawsuit Report
Education of the Exceptional Child
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, has been the debate of much legislation and litigation. Long before it was even known by the name IDEA, the Congressional Acts that have regulated special education have been drawn into a slew of individual court cases that have been taken clear to the highest court in the land. In 1982, one such case was heard in front of the United States Supreme Court. This case was, The Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley. Before we can form an opinion on the case we must first examine an overview of the case and then look at the position of the parents, the position of the Hendrick Hudson School District, and the decision that the U.S. Supreme Court reached.
Amy Rowley was a student at Furnace Woods School, in Peekskill, New York, who was deaf. Before Amy enrolled in her kindergarten year, her parents and the school administration set up a plan that allowed Amy to attend a regular kindergarten classroom for a trial period, as a glimpse into what services Amy might require in the coming years. Following the trial period, “it was determined that Amy should remain in the kindergarten class, but that she should be provided with an FM Hearing aid which would amplify words spoken into a wireless receiver by the teacher…Amy successfully completed her kindergarten year.”(La Morte, 2005).
Following the first year the Rowley’s and Furnace Woods began to develop an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Amy’s IEP kept her in a regular education classroom, except for an hour of tutoring from a deaf instructor for an hour each day and three hours of speech pathology a week. The IEP also called for the continuance of the FM hearing instrument. The Rowley’s agreed with the terms of the IEP in general, but asked that Amy be afforded a sign language interpreter for all of her classes. This...
View Full Essay
