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14th Amendment of the United States Constitution
The 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution is a legal document that protects citizens from being deprived life, liberty, and/or property by the state or federal governments without due process of law. It also grants citizens equal protection under the law. This amendment led to ligatation that determined that public education is to be defined as a form of property. Therefore, the right to public education cannot be taken from any citizen of the U.S. without due process (Hulett, 2009). -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas
The court case Brown v, Board of Education set the historic precedent of declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstituional and therefore illegal. Its affect on special education was profound. By ruling that separate facalities are inherently unequal, it declared that any type of segregation was enqual. This gave special education advocates the leverage they needed to push for public school admittance for children with special needs (Hulett, 2009). -
PARC v. Pennsylvania
PARC (Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens) v. Pennslyvania was a court case that dealt with the issue of if children with intellectual disabilities had a right to public education. At the time, Pennslyvanian schools were excluding children with intellectual disabilities, claiming that they could not benefit from instruction. The federal district court ultimately ruled that all children with mental disabilities should recieve a public education (Hulett, 2009). -
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a law that grants individuals with disabilities protection from discrimination within public schools, places of employment, and anything that recieves federal funding.The law is vital because it gives greater opportunities to students with disabilities, especially if they were not found eligible for special education services. Section 504 grants that students with special needs recieve accomodations that will assist with learning (Hulett, 2009). -
Public law No. 94-142 is signed into law
Pub. L. No. 94-142 is a law that grants free and appropriate public education (FAPE) to all children with disabilities and it mandates that they be instructed within the least restricted enviroment (LRE). Prior to being signed to law, PL. No. 94-142 recieved a great deal of support from parents across the nation and from the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). This law is important because it fully protects all children with special needs within the public school enviroment (Hulett, 2009). -
Board of Education of HHCS District v. Rowley
Board of Education of Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley was a U.S Supreme Court case that set the precedent that IDEA does not require schools to provide the "optimimal level of services." Instead the court ruled that only a basic level of academic opportunity is mandated under IDEA. This had a major impact on future litigation in regards to FAPE because it determined that parents could not demand that schools provide overly elaborate or involved services (Hulett, 2009). -
Roncker v. Walter
Roncker v. Walter was a case which revolved around a 9 year old boy with mental disablities that had been placed by the district in a school for students with special needs. His parents argued that the school was in violation of LRE and FAPE because only students with disabilities attended the school. The 6th circuit court ruled in favor of the parents and that FAPE and LRE were meant to create an inclusive enviroment for students with disabilities (Hulett, 2009). -
Daniel R.R. v. State Board of Education
Daniel R.R. v. State Board of Education was a court case which ruled that in regard to the least restrictive enviroment (LRE), an "appropriate" enviroment is more important than placement in the general education classroom. Also, that the schools districts must utilize the variety of settings available to provide FAPE and LRE to students. The court developed a two part test to determine if the LRE requirement was being met (Hulett, 2009). -
Americans with Disablitlies Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a piece of civil rights legislation that was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush. ADA is similar to Section 504 and it serves as an expansion of the protections granted by that law. ADA extends the antidiscrimination aspects of Section 504 beyond federal funded entities into the domain of the non-fededrally funded. All new public facilities are also legally required to be accessible to individuals with disabilities (Hulett, 2009). -
NCLB
No Child Left Behind is a law which was designed to "level the playingfield" between the wealthy and the poor within the American Education system. One requirement of NCLB is that schools are required to make "adequete yearly progress" (AYP) in regards to proficency and if AYP is regularly not met, then there are penalties imposed upon those schools. Other aspects of the law are that all teachers be highly qualified and that there be regular assessements of student progress (Hulett, 2009). -
Cited Sources
Hulett, K. E. (2009). Legal aspects of special education. Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education
