[Nfbnet-members-list] National Federation of the Blind Comments on US Supreme Court Decision Regarding Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

[National Federation of the Blind]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org


National Federation of the Blind Comments on 
United States Supreme Court Decision Regarding 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Baltimore (March 23, 2017): The National 
Federation of the Blind today applauded the 
unanimous decision of the United States Supreme 
Court in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District, (Docket No. 15–827).

Mark A. Riccobono, President of the National 
Federation of the Blind, said: “While we would 
have preferred an even stronger ruling, this 
decision clearly represents a shift from the 
paradigm of low expectations that has led to 
frustration and failure for so many blind 
students and their families. I know the 
frustration with this paradigm all too well 
myself, as both a blind person and a parent of 
blind children. The National Federation of the 
Blind knows that one of the biggest hurdles that 
students with disabilities confront is the low 
expectations too often set for them by 
well-meaning but misguided professionals in the 
education field. The Supreme Court of the United 
States has now affirmed that the blind and other 
students with disabilities can, and should, be 
expected to meet challenges and advance 
academically. The National Federation of the 
Blind stands ready to collaborate with 
educational administrators, teachers and parents 
of blind students to ensure that all blind 
students receive the kind of free appropriate 
public education that the IDEA and the Supreme 
Court's new interpretation of it require. At the 
same time, we will continue to hold school 
systems accountable when they fail to meet these requirements.”

In delivering the unanimous opinion of the High 
Court, United States Chief Justice John G. 
Roberts Jr. wrote in part: “The goals may differ, 
but every child should have the chance to meet 
challenging objectives. This standard is more 
demanding than the ‘merely more than de minimis’ 
test applied by the Tenth Circuit. 
 When all is 
said and done, a student offered an educational 
program providing 'merely more than de minimis' 
progress from year to year can hardly be said to 
have been offered an education at all."

###

About the National Federation of the Blind

The National Federation of the Blind knows that 
blindness is not the characteristic that defines 
you or your future. Every day we raise the 
expectations of blind people, because low 
expectations create obstacles between blind 
people and our dreams. You can live the life you 
want; blindness is not what holds you back.







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