Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since July 2006 . (help, talk) |
Free, Appropriate, Public Education (FAPE) is a right of disabled children in the United States.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Three existing federal statutes address the rights of children with disabilities to receive a free and appropriate public education (FAPE): Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Section 504 states: "No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section 705(20) of this title, shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service."
[edit] Definition
What exactly is FAPE?
Free - the student and his or her family are not required to pay for any special education or related services (supportive and adaptive services)
Appropriate - suited to the needs of the child
Public - provided or paid for by the public school system
Education
[edit] Law excerpts
IDEA 2004 20 U.S.C. § 1401. Definitions.
(9) Free Appropriate Public Education. The term ‘free appropriate public education’ means special education and related services that– (A) have been provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge; (B) meet the standards of the State educational agency; (C) include an appropriate preschool, elementary school, or secondary school education in the State involved; and (D) are provided in conformity with the individualized education program required under section 1414(d)of this title.
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by state and local governmental entities, including public school districts.
Public Law 94-142 (IDEA) defines FAPE as special educational and related services at public expense (i.e. without charge), meeting the standards of approximate grade levels of the State education agency within the context of an individualized education program written with parental participation; and due process, including access to judicial review to determine that the State has complied with the Act and that the written individualized educational program is "reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits," e.g. achieving passing marks and grade advancement.
[edit] Questions
The biggest question regarding FAPE would be the definition of appropriate. Essentially PL 94-142 (IDEA) says that an appropriate education would be one that involves an Individualized Education Program (IEP), and under that IEP, the standards of approximate grade levels of the State education agency must be met and that IEP must "enable the child to receive educational benefits."
