This month, the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled for a Berney & Sang client in a special-education case against the Pennsylvania Department of Education.  The District Court ordered the Department to provide private-school tuition for the client’s two children.  The children, both of whom qualify for special-education services, previously attended a charter school which had a duty under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to pay the tuition, but it failed to do so and then closed down.  The client therefore sued the Department in a special-education due process hearing, arguing that the Department must step in for the charter school.  The client prevailed in the hearing, and the Department appealed to the District Court, which upheld the hearing decision and ruled for the client.

The District Court’s decision is Commonwealth Department of Education v. D.E., No. 17-4433 (Apr. 5, 2019).