IDEA Gives Local Education Agencies No Right of Action Against States, Third Circuit Rules

In Lawrence Township Bd. of Educ. v. New Jersey, in which the Third Circuit issued its opinion yesterday, the plaintiff school district sued the state for reimbursement for the cost of paying for a private residential placement for a student with a disability pursuant to the IDEA. The court held, however, that the statute does not give local school districts a right of action to seek reimbursement from their states: "A budgetary dispute between local and state agencies is simply not among the private actions contemplated by the IDEA, and is traditionally the type of dispute left to state and local authorities."