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Brown v. Board of Education
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark civil rights decision in Brown v. Board of Education and found that African-American children had the right to equal educational opportunities and that segregated schools “have no place in the field of public education.” -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)
This landmark legislation provided resources to help ensure that disadvantaged students had access to quality education. -
PENNSYLVANIA ASSOCIATION FOR RETARDED CITIZENS (PARC) V. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
The case quickly settled before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pa., resulting in a consent decree in which the state agreed to provide a free public education for children with mental retardation. -
Congressional Investigation (1972)
Congress set out to uncover how many children with special education needs were being underserved. The Bureau of Education for the Handicapped found that there were 8 million children requiring special education services. Of this total, 3.9 million students adequately had their educational needs met, 2.5 million were receiving a substandard education and 1.75 million weren’t in school. -
Mills v. Board of Education of District of Columbia.
The court order included a provision mandating a free public education for each child with a disability, documentation stating the individual special education services that would be necessary for each child who was identified as having a disability, the development of due process procedures when students faced suspensions or expulsions from school, creation of procedures that granted parents the right to challenge the system, etc. -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act, aka Public Law 94-142
This law required all states that accepted money from the federal government were required to provide equal access to education for children with disabilities, in addition to providing them with one free meal per day. -
Public Law 99-457
An amendment to the All Handicapped Children Act, which mandated that individual states provide services to families of children born with disabilities from the time they are born. Previously, these services were not available until a child reached the age of three. -
Handicapped Children’s Protection Act
A law signed by President Reagan that gave parents of children with disabilities more say in the development of their child’s Individual Education Plan, or IEP. -
Public Law 101-476
Traumatic brain injury and autism were added as new disability categories. Additionally, Congress mandated that as a part of a student’s IEP, an individual transition plan, or ITP, must be developed to help the student transition to post-secondary life. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
The Education for all Handicapped Children’s Act became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. President Clinton reauthorized IDEA with several key amendments that emphasized providing all students with access to the same curriculum, additionally, states were given the authority to expand the “developmental delay” definition from birth through five years of age to also include students between the ages of six and nine. -
IDEA Amended
Congress amended IDEA by calling for early intervention for students, greater accountability and improved educational outcomes, and raised the standards for instructors who teach special education classes. School districts were required to shift up to 15 percent of their special education funds toward general education if it were determined that a disproportionate number of students from minority groups were placed in special education for reasons other than disability.
