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35%Parent prevailed (104)18%Split decision (52)46%District prevailed (136)0%Dismissed / withdrawn (1)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
In a renewed dispute over moving the student from an out-of-district autism program to an in-district classroom, the hearing officer this time found the district's proposed program could implement the IEP and provide a free appropriate education, allowing the transfer with a monitored transition plan.
Placement/LREFAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementation
The district defended its reevaluation after the parent sought an independent evaluation at public expense, and the hearing officer found the evaluation appropriate, denied the independent-evaluation request, and deemed it frivolous.
Independent educational evaluation (IEE)Eligibility/evaluation/child findProcedural/parent-participation
After a student was expelled for trading his medication and then found not eligible for special education, the parents claimed the district missed warning signs of a disability, but the hearing officer found the district met its child-find duty and denied the eligibility, independent-evaluation, and compensatory-education requests.
Eligibility/evaluation/child findBehavior/discipline/manifestationIndependent educational evaluation (IEE)
The hearing officer found the district denied a free appropriate education and ordered it to reimburse the parents' independent evaluations, correct the student's eligibility, add speech and occupational-therapy services, and provide two years of compensatory services.
FAPE denialIndependent educational evaluation (IEE)Eligibility/evaluation/child find
The district filed to defend its psychological and social-work re-evaluations after the parent requested independent evaluations at public expense, and the hearing officer found the district's evaluations appropriate and denied the public-expense independent evaluation.
Independent educational evaluation (IEE)Eligibility/evaluation/child find
A parent (self-represented) challenged the district's plan to move the student to a different in-district program, and the hearing officer found the new location could not implement the student's IEP and lacked a transition plan, ordering the student to remain at his current placement.
Placement/LREFAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementation
The hearing officer found the district denied the student a free appropriate education across many areas and ordered it to reimburse the parents' private-school tuition, fund their independent evaluations, and pay for an additional year at the private school as compensatory education.
FAPE denialPrivate/residential placement & reimbursementIndependent educational evaluation (IEE)
The hearing officer found the district improperly conducted the manifestation review, expelled the student for conduct that may have stemmed from his disability, and cut off services during the expulsion, ordering his reinstatement and 30 hours of compensatory one-to-one tutoring.
Behavior/discipline/manifestationFAPE denialCompensatory education
Parents argued their son needed multi-sensory, research-based math instruction to receive a free appropriate education, and the hearing officer agreed that the district's IEP failed to address his math needs and ordered the district to adopt such a program for at least a year.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementation
After the district found a young gifted student no longer eligible for an IEP (moving her to a 504 plan), the hearing officer upheld the district's evaluation as appropriate, denied the parent's request for an independent evaluation at public expense, and rejected all denial-of-education claims.
Eligibility/evaluation/child findIndependent educational evaluation (IEE)FAPE denial
Parents who unilaterally placed their child in a private residential program sought reimbursement and future funding, but the hearing officer found the district had not denied a free appropriate education and denied both the reimbursement and the residential-placement requests.
FAPE denialPrivate/residential placement & reimbursementIEP adequacy/implementation
The hearing officer found the district denied the student a free appropriate education for two years by failing to properly evaluate and write individualized goals, awarding compensatory tutoring and counseling, while ruling for the district on the depression-services and anti-bullying claims.
FAPE denialEligibility/evaluation/child findIEP adequacy/implementation
Parents (representing themselves) challenged the district's evaluation, a finding that their child was no longer eligible for special education, and an IEP-implementation lapse, but the hearing officer ruled for the district on every issue and ordered no relief.
Eligibility/evaluation/child findIEP adequacy/implementationFAPE denial
Parents raised many procedural and substantive IDEA claims; the hearing officer rejected most (finding the IEPs and placement largely appropriate) but ordered the district to pay for an independent evaluation and transition assessments and to hold an IEP meeting to fix some goals.
FAPE denialIEP adequacy/implementationIndependent educational evaluation (IEE)