Updating the FAPE Standard Under IDEA

In its first case under the thenEHA, the Supreme Court interpreted statutory FAPE language to mean that appropriate public education required meaningful access to publicly financed special education, which, in turn, required personalized instruction delivered in conformity with an individualized education program (IEP) designed to meet the child's educational needs. Rather, the Court emphasized the fact that Amy was receiving special education services (instruction from a teacher for the deaf along with speech therapy) and professional consideration from her teachers, and she was easily achieving above average grades in her first-grade classroom.