Cite as: 526 U. S. 66 (1999)
Thomas, J., dissenting
This case is about whether meaningful access to the public schools will be assured, not the level of education that a school must finance once access is attained. It is undisputed that the services at issue must be provided if Garret is to remain in school. Under the statute, our precedent, and the purposes of the IDEA, the District must fund such "related services" in order to help guarantee that students like Garret are integrated into the public schools.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is accordingly
Affirmed.
Justice Thomas, with whom Justice Kennedy joins, dissenting.
The majority, relying heavily on our decision in Irving Independent School Dist. v. Tatro, 468 U. S. 883 (1984), concludes that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U. S. C. § 1400 et seq., requires a public school district to fund continuous, one-on-one nursing care for disabled children. Because Tatro cannot be squared with the text of IDEA, the Court should not adhere to it in this case. Even assuming that Tatro was correct in the first instance, the majority's extension of it is unwarranted and ignores the constitutionally mandated rules of construction applicable to legislation enacted pursuant to Congress' spending power.
I
As the majority recounts, ante, at 68, IDEA authorizes the provision of federal financial assistance to States that agree to provide, inter alia, "special education and related services" for disabled children. § 1401(a)(18). In Tatro, supra, we held that this provision of IDEA required a school district to provide clean intermittent catheterization to a disabled child several times a day. In so holding, we relied on Department of Education regulations, which we concluded had reasonably interpreted IDEA's definition of "related
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