Rather than defer to the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and other federal agency interpretations of laws, as has been customary since 1984, courts will now rely on their own interpretations of the laws in question.
In the few days since the Supreme Court’s 6-3 reversal of the 1984 Chevron v Natural Resources Defense Council ruling, Congress has already put recent USDE moves under a microscope. In particular, lawmakers are looking at the agency’s decision to include LGBTQI+ students in Title IX protections and to make it more challenging for charter schools to access federal funding. This means that Title IX policies could now vary according to federal court jurisdiction.
Noting the complexity of the law, Myrna Mandlawitz, a policy and legislative consultant for the Council of Administrators of Special Education, said the Chevron doctrine gave deference to experts with specific knowledge of special education practices. Now the day-to-day interpretation of IDEA could fall to judges who lack the expertise needed to provide equitable interpretations, she said.
Law and policy experts agree that while overturning the Chevron doctrine complicates the department’s regulatory power, states and school districts are still required to follow federal regulations — unless they are set aside by a court, overturned by Congress, or repealed by the USDE.
Source: K-12 Dive
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