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SPED Law Timeline
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Brown v. Board of education
This emblematic court case helped with the end of segregation in schools: the U.S. Supreme Court decided in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case that it was unconstitutional for educational institutions to segregate children by race. This landmark legal ruling would would offer opportunities for special education as well. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson as part of the “War on Poverty.” ESEA not only called for equal access to education for all students, but also federal funding for both primary and secondary education for students disadvantaged by poverty. -
Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC)
In the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ruling, the Court sided in favor of students with intellectual and learning disabilities in state-run institutions. From this moment on, the students with disabilities were placed in publicly funded school settings that met their individual educational needs, based on a proper and thorough evaluation. -
Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia
In this particular court case: the Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia case, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia students classified as “exceptional” – including those with mental and learning disabilities and behavioral issues. This ruling made it unlawful for the D.C. Board of Education to deny these individuals access to publicly funded educational opportunities. -
Congressional Investigation of 1972
In the wave of the PARC and Mills ruling, [AR1] 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. -
Public Law 94-142
President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, otherwise known as 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. States had the responsibility to ensure compliance under the law within all of their public school systems -
IEP
Here we have a breaking point, with the born of the IEP (Individual Education Plan) which is a plan, that each and every special needs student must has. It is also a plan that was created by members of an education board that states the individual needs of the student, and how these needs will be met. This was very important to keep track of progress and to make sure schools truly did work on these students. -
All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 99-457)
Public Law 99-457 was 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
President Reagan signed the Handicapped Children’s Protection Act, a law 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
DEA is a modification of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. This ensures that special needs students receive free public education, including same activities -
Individuals with Disibilities Education Act
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. -
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
The controversial No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is approved by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002. The law, which reauthorizes the ESEA of 1965 and replaces the Bilingual Education Act of 1968, mandates high-stakes student testing, holds schools accountable for student achievement levels, and provides penalties for schools that do not make adequate yearly progress toward meeting the goals of NCLB. -
Congessional amendment of IDEA
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. It also required states to demand that local school districts shift up to 15 % of their special education funds toward general education if it were determined that a disproportionate number of students of minority were placed in special education for reasons other than disability -
America Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
On January 1, 2007, the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) became the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), joining the trend toward use of the term intellectual disability in place of mental retardation. -
Rosa's Law (Pub. L. 111-256)
President Obama signs the Rosa's Law which changes the terms "mental retardation" and "mentally retarded" to "intellectual disability" and "intellectually disabled". -
ESEA Flexibility
resident Obama announced that the U.S. Department of Education invited each State education agency (SEA) to request flexibility regarding specific requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) in exchange for rigorous and comprehensive State-developed plans designed to improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps, increase equity, and improve the quality of instruction. -
M.C. v. Antelope Valley Union School District.
This recent case was between the mother of a child who was rendered blind, and the school would not allow the student to be given what is known as a FAPE, or free appropriate public education. But, since there are now many laws in place fighting for children with special needs, the district was found to have violated some of the safeguards put into place by IDEA.
