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35%Parent prevailed (104)18%Split decision (52)46%District prevailed (136)0%Dismissed / withdrawn (1)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
After a school disciplinarily moved a student to in-school suspension and then a therapeutic day school, the parent challenged the move in an expedited hearing; the hearing officer found the district violated the stay-put rules (the behavior was a manifestation of his disability) and ordered an agreed summer tutoring plan so he could finish his freshman year.
Behavior/discipline/manifestationPlacement/LREProcedural/parent-participation
A parent sought to have her daughter placed in a private therapeutic day school; the hearing officer denied the request, finding the child could be appropriately educated in a public-school setting (with the multisensory reading instruction the parent wanted), so the current public placement was the least-restrictive environment.
Placement/LREPrivate/residential placement & reimbursementFAPE denial
A parent showed the district ignored years of requests to evaluate her son and never built an adequate program; the hearing officer found a denial of education and ordered an independent evaluation, placement in a therapeutic day school for students with learning disabilities, related services, and compensatory education.
FAPE denialEligibility/evaluation/child findIEP adequacy/implementation
Grandparents wanted their autistic granddaughter placed in a regular classroom with a one-on-one aide instead of a specialized autism program; the hearing officer found the autism instructional program was the appropriate, least-restrictive placement and sided with the district, ordering only minor IEP additions like parent training and a social-skills goal.
FAPE denialPlacement/LREEligibility/evaluation/child find
A parent of a functionally illiterate teen showed the district failed to re-evaluate him, write workable IEPs, provide assistive technology, and hand over records; the hearing officer ordered placement in a private school, related services, paid for the independent evaluations, and granted compensatory education including extra years of schooling.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationEligibility/evaluation/child find
A parent argued the school denied her child an appropriate education by failing to evaluate, write a proper IEP, provide assistive technology, and follow discipline rules; the hearing officer agreed, ordering placement in a private therapeutic day school, compensatory tutoring/therapy, and payment for the parent's independent evaluations.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationEligibility/evaluation/child find
The parent argued the school's IEPs failed to adequately teach her daughter reading, writing, and spelling and that the district tested her without consent, seeking two extra years of schooling as compensation; the hearing officer found the IEPs appropriate, that the student had made progress, and that the contested session was a screening not requiring consent, denying all relief.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationProcedural/parent-participation
The parents claimed the district failed to properly evaluate, program for, and place their child over two years; the hearing officer found a denial of FAPE and ordered district-funded placement at a private school for students with autism, transportation, compensatory tutoring and therapy, new evaluations, and reimbursement of evaluation expenses.
FAPE denialEligibility/evaluation/child findIEP adequacy/implementation
The parents wanted their son kept at the regular neighborhood high school rather than the separate public day school the district recommended, but the hearing officer found the parents had not met their burden and that the more restrictive day-school placement was the appropriate least restrictive environment for his emotional and behavioral needs.
Placement/LREFAPE denialBehavior/discipline/manifestation
The grandmother-guardian argued the district failed to evaluate the child within the legally required 60 days of her request; the hearing officer agreed the district violated its child-find duty and ordered it to complete the evaluation and decide eligibility within 45 days.
Eligibility/evaluation/child findProcedural/parent-participation
The dispute was whether the student should be taught at home or in a school building, and given the student's severe post-concussion symptoms the hearing officer found that only a homebound placement was reasonable and ordered an IEP providing home instruction.
Placement/LREFAPE denial
The parent of an autistic child sought full general-education placement with a one-to-one aide plus ABA therapy and an assistive-technology evaluation; the hearing officer ordered an assistive-technology evaluation and a functional behavior assessment with a behavior plan, but denied the placement change, ABA therapy, and summer services.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationPlacement/LRE
The parents of a hearing-impaired preschooler wanted her kept at a private deaf-and-hard-of-hearing program at district expense instead of the recommended public placement, but the hearing officer found the district's IEP and placement appropriate and denied private placement and reimbursement.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationPlacement/LRE
The parents said the school ignored their requests and an outside ADHD diagnosis and refused to evaluate their son for years; the hearing officer agreed he was denied a timely appropriate education and awarded compensatory one-to-one tutoring for up to two years.
FAPE denialEligibility/evaluation/child findCompensatory education
The parent challenged how the school carried out the IEP and its high-school placement; the hearing officer found most claims minor or in the district's favor but ordered the district to re-evaluate the student in reading and add reading goals, and to amend the student's records.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationPlacement/LRE
The parents argued the school's program was inadequate and sought funding for a residential school, but the hearing officer found the district's IEPs appropriate and the proposed residential placement too restrictive, denying the placement and reimbursement while ordering the district to pay for one independent evaluation.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationPlacement/LRE
The district sought to defend its own evaluation against the family's request for an independent one; the hearing officer found the psychological and social-emotional assessments inadequate and ordered those independent evaluations at public expense, while upholding the district's occupational therapy, speech, and assistive-technology evaluations.
Independent educational evaluation (IEE)Eligibility/evaluation/child find
The parent claimed the district under-evaluated her child, wrongly stopped speech therapy, and refused special transportation; the hearing officer agreed on the evaluation and speech-therapy points (ordering reimbursement, reinstated therapy, and compensatory services) but sided with the district on transportation.
FAPE denialEligibility/evaluation/child findRelated services
Parents who had moved their learning-disabled child to a private school sought tuition reimbursement and a compensatory year, but the hearing officer found the district had provided an appropriate education in the least restrictive setting and denied both requests.
FAPE denialPrivate/residential placement & reimbursementPlacement/LRE
The parents argued the school missed their daughter's learning disability and gave her inadequate services, and the hearing officer found she should have been found eligible years earlier, ordering district-funded independent evaluations, a placement review, adapted PE, and two years of compensatory tutoring and counseling.
FAPE denialEligibility/evaluation/child findIEP adequacy/implementation
The parents claimed the school failed to properly evaluate, program for, and place their child, and the hearing officer agreed, ordering placement at a private therapeutic day school with transportation, two years of compensatory tutoring and therapy, and reimbursement of the parents' expenses.
FAPE denialEligibility/evaluation/child findIEP adequacy/implementation
The district challenged the parents' request for an outside evaluation and the parents counter-claimed the child should have been found eligible; the hearing officer found the child was eligible (fluctuating hearing impairment) and ordered an IEP and a math assessment, but denied all of the parents' requests for reimbursement.
FAPE denialEligibility/evaluation/child findIEP adequacy/implementation
On summary judgment, the hearing officer ruled for the district, holding that a separate day school remained the appropriate placement for the student as set by prior IEPs and decisions, and rejecting the parent's challenge to the enrollment direction.
FAPE denialPlacement/LRETransition/secondary services
The hearing officer found a multi-year denial of an appropriate education and ordered the district to fund a private therapeutic day school, intensive related services, two years of compensatory tutoring and counseling, several independent evaluations, and transportation.
FAPE denialPrivate/residential placement & reimbursementCompensatory education