Why Families of Color Need to Know About the Endrew F. Case

What Happened in Endrew F.

Endrew was a child with autism. His school kept recycling the same IEP goals year after year, and he wasn’t making progress. His parents pulled him out and demanded more.

The district argued that IDEA only required “some educational benefit” — the lowest possible bar.

In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed. They set a new, higher standard:

An IEP must be “reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances.”

This ruling is binding on every district in the country.