Illinois · special-education accountability
Due-process decisions, decoded
What is a due-process hearing — and why would a parent need one?
When a parent and a school district can't resolve a disagreement about a child's special education — whether the IEP is appropriate, where the child is placed, or what services or evaluations are owed — either side can file for a due-process hearing: a formal, court-like proceeding before a neutral state hearing officer. It is the strongest enforcement tool a parent has under federal law (the IDEA), and usually a last resort after other steps fail. Below is every Illinois decision on record (316, FY 2008–2026) — read and classified so you can see what families actually fight over and how often they win.
Why this is statewide, not per-district. ISBE anonymizes both the district and the student in every decision ("Student … v. District"), so these can't be tied to a specific district — but as a body they show the system clearly. ISBE source
What these 293 decisions were about — and how they came out
We read every decision on file and classified each by the issue in dispute and who prevailed. (Some early decisions could not be machine-read.)
Who prevailed
35%Parent prevailed (104)18%Split decision (52)46%District prevailed (136)0%Dismissed / withdrawn (1)
Parents prevailed outright in about 35% of decided cases — a reminder that these hearings are hard-fought and far from a sure thing, which is why most disputes are resolved long before this stage.
Most common issues in dispute
FAPE denial245
IEP adequacy/implementation156
Placement/LRE156
Eligibility/evaluation/child find135
Compensatory education109
Private/residential placement & reimbursement103
Related services92
Independent educational evaluation (IEE)88
Procedural/parent-participation81
Behavior/discipline/manifestation66
Disabilities most often involved
Specific Learning Disability 57Autism 50Emotional Disability 39Other Health Impairment 33Intellectual Disability 20Speech/Language 8Hearing Impairment 4Developmental Delay 3
A mother representing herself argued the district's IEP denied her son a free appropriate education and sought home-based instruction plus compensatory relief; the hearing officer decided all liability issues in favor of the district, so no relief was awarded.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationPlacement/LRE
A parent challenged the district's move to a more restrictive cooperative program at a non-neighborhood school and demanded a program at the home school; the hearing officer found the district had failed to properly implement the student's IEP and awarded compensatory tutoring or GED-program tuition, but ruled the district was not required to create a program at the neighborhood school.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationPlacement/LRE
Parents claimed the district failed to implement and properly design their son's IEP and disciplined him for disability-related behavior, seeking compensatory tutoring; the hearing officer found the district provided an appropriate education and that the proposed IEP/behavior plan was adequate, ordering no further action.
IEP adequacy/implementationBehavior/discipline/manifestationRelated services
In cross-complaints, a Spanish-speaking parent who kept her son out of school claimed the district failed to provide accommodations and an appropriate program; the hearing officer found the current placement and services provided a free appropriate education and allowed the district to proceed with its three-year reevaluation including an occupational-therapy assessment.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationRelated services
A parent alleged the district mishandled her evaluation requests and timelines and sought reimbursement for an outside evaluation; the hearing officer found the district properly identified the student's needs and provided an appropriate education, denying all of the parent's requests for relief.
Eligibility/evaluation/child findProcedural/parent-participationIndependent educational evaluation (IEE)
A parent claimed the district denied a free appropriate education through inadequate assessments, services, and IEPs; the hearing officer found the district failed to provide adequate speech/language and assistive-technology services and reading instruction, and ordered added related services, compensatory tutoring, and a revised IEP, while denying a private therapeutic day school and evaluation reimbursement.
FAPE denialRelated servicesIEP adequacy/implementation
Parents of a hearing-impaired student sought a residential school placement and claimed the district denied a free appropriate education; the hearing officer found the district largely provided an appropriate education and denied residential placement, awarding only limited compensatory service for two weeks of missed summer programming.
FAPE denialPrivate/residential placement & reimbursementRelated services
A parent claimed the district wrongly found her child ineligible for special education and failed its child-find and evaluation duties; the hearing officer ruled the parent had not proven the child was eligible and upheld the district's not-eligible determination.
Eligibility/evaluation/child findFAPE denialIndependent educational evaluation (IEE)
Parents of a student with trauma-related anxiety and depression sought private-school tuition plus therapeutic and compensatory services; the hearing officer denied the private-tuition request but found the existing IEP inadequate and ordered a new IEP with homebound therapeutic instruction, extended-year services, and compensatory tutoring.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationPrivate/residential placement & reimbursement
A parent challenged the district's plan to move her son from a self-contained class in a regular high school to a separate public day school for students with emotional disorders; the hearing officer found the student could not benefit from his current setting and ordered the IEP implemented at the separate day school.
FAPE denialPlacement/LRE
A parent argued her son's self-contained emotional-disability classroom denied him a free appropriate education and wanted him moved to a regular 4th-grade class; the hearing officer found the self-contained placement was appropriate and only ordered a transfer to an equivalent self-contained class at another school.
FAPE denialPlacement/LRE
The district asked to teach a transferred student in a self-contained learning-disabilities program at a regional cooperative rather than her neighborhood school; the hearing officer agreed the cooperative placement was appropriate and in the least restrictive environment, and ordered it implemented.
Placement/LREIEP adequacy/implementation
A student who still could not read and whose behavior was escalating was found to have been denied a free appropriate education for years; the hearing officer ordered a funded residential placement through 2011, revised IEP and evaluations, and reimbursement for the parent's independent evaluations.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationEligibility/evaluation/child find
Parents sought reimbursement for placing their son with multiple disabilities in a private residential school, but the hearing officer found the district's proposed program offered an appropriate education in the least restrictive environment and that the residential placement was chosen mainly for social reasons, so no reimbursement was ordered.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationPlacement/LRE
The hearing officer found the district had failed to properly identify the child's disabilities and denied him a free appropriate education, ordering reimbursement for the parent's private placement, tutoring and testing, future funding of the private school, and two extra years of summer services.
FAPE denialEligibility/evaluation/child findPrivate/residential placement & reimbursement
Parents wanted their son returned to a regular classroom and reimbursement for a private parochial placement, but the hearing officer found the district's IEPs and therapeutic day-school placement provided a free appropriate education and denied reimbursement.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationPlacement/LRE
A parent claimed bullying made her daughter's school so hostile that she should be transferred to another district, but the hearing officer found the bullying claim unproven and ordered the student into the district's special-education classroom rather than a transfer.
FAPE denialPlacement/LREBullying/harassment
An older student with a learning disability was found to have been denied a free appropriate public education through inadequate evaluation and programming; the district was ordered to provide assistive technology, speech services, a vocational assessment, and placement until age 22, but reimbursement for private evaluations and other requests were denied.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationEligibility/evaluation/child find
A mother challenged her son's transportation, IEPs, and the evaluation process; the hearing officer ordered door-to-door bus service with an aide going forward but otherwise found the IEPs appropriate and denied her other claims, including transportation reimbursement.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationRelated services
A young child with a severe reading and language disability had been denied appropriate instruction for two years, so the hearing officer ordered the district to fund a private day school, transportation, summer services, and tutoring, though it denied reimbursement for the parents' private evaluations.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationPrivate/residential placement & reimbursement
A parent wanted her son returned to his neighborhood school in regular classes, but the hearing officer found the district's small self-contained behavior-disorder program was the appropriate least-restrictive setting and was benefiting him.
FAPE denialPlacement/LRE