On June 12, 2025, the United States Supreme Court rejected an increased standard for school-aged children asserting their rights under federal disability rights laws. Disability rights laws, like the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, protect students from discrimination based on disability.
In its June 12 decision, the Supreme Court did not accept the 8th Circuit’s increased standard requiring schoolchildren to show that school officials acted with bad faith or gross misjudgment to prove disability-based discrimination. In the 8th Circuit, this standard differed from that of proving disability discrimination in other contexts. In rejecting the higher standard, the Supreme Court held that children with disabilities and their parents “face daunting challenges on a daily basis,” and that “those challenges do not include having to satisfy a more stringent standard of proof than other plaintiffs to establish discrimination” under the ADA and Section 504.
This is a huge win for children with disabilities! Disability Rights Wisconsin, alongside many other disability rights organizations, applaud this decision, which reinforces the rights of students with disabilities under the ADA and Section 504.
Read the Supreme Court’s decision here: 24-249 A. J. T. v. Osseo Area Schools, Independent School Dist. No. 279 (06/12/2025)