Adjudication under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Explicitly Plentiful Rights but Inequitably Paltry Remedies

This Article proposes an invigoration in the exercise of the broad equitable authority of hearing officers under the Individuals with Disabilities Act. Providing a higher priority on, and an affirmative presumption for, remedying violations of the Act is in the interest of all parties, extending from the individual child to the child’s parents, the school district, the broader stakeholders, and the systemic improvements that is the statutory purpose. The task is not an easy one, especially given the rather tight timeline for completion of hearing officer proceedings, but it is doable with well-tailored creativity and efficiency. As the contents of the Article also explain and illustrate, the benefits of truly “doing equity” are worth this paradigm shift of prevailing practice.