Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District, Westchester County, et al. v. Rowley, BY Her Parents, Rowley et Ux. (458 U.S. 176)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 28, 1982 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 458 U.S. 176 · 102 S. Ct. 3034
- Decided
- June 28, 1982
- Term
- October Term 1981
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. This case presents a question of statutory interpretation. Petitioners contend that the Court of Appeals and the District Court misconstrued the requirements imposed by Congress upon States which receive federal funds under the Education of the Handicapped Act. We agree and reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals. I The Education of the Handicapped Act (Act), 84 Stat. 175, as amended, 20 U. S. C. § 1401 et seq. (1976 ed. and Supp. IV), provides federal money to assist state and local agencies in educating handicapped children, and conditions such funding upon a State’s compliance with extensive goals and procedures. The Act represents an ambitious federal effort to promote the education of handicapped children, and was passed in response to Congress’ perception that a majority of handicapped children in the United States “were either totally excluded from schools or [were] sitting idly in regular classrooms awaiting the time when they were old enough to ‘drop out.’” H. R. Rep. No. 94-332, p. 2 (1975) (H. R. Rep.). The Act’s .evolution and major provisions shed light on the question of statutory interpretation which is at the heart of this case. Congress first addressed the problem of educating the handicapped in 1966 when it amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a grant program “for…
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