Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District and Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools v. Sharron B.H.

The issue on appeal is whether a parent unilaterally may decide to transfer her handicapped child to a private school and then seek tuition reimbursement from the public school district under the federal Education for All Handicapped Children Act, Pub.L. No. 94-142 (codified at 20 U.S.C. § 1401 , et seq.) (hereafter EAHCA). We find that EAHCA does not permit such an action, though arguably an exception exists in extreme circumstances not present here.

Commencing in 1966, the Congress passed a series of acts to assist in the education of handicapped children. See, e.g., Elementary and Secondary Education Amendment of 1966, Pub.L. 89-750. See generally, S.Rep. No. 168, 94th Cong., 1st Sess. 5, reprinted in 1975 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 1425,1429. The enactment of EAHCA in 1975 was intended to enlarge this commitment. The Act both funds and regulates state assistance to handicapped students. To qualify for federal funding, a state must establish a program that systematically and promptly identifies, locates, and treats handicapped youths. The individual rights of handicapped children and their parents are a significant and explicit part of the statutory scheme. See S.Conf.Rep. No.…