Special Education Law Timeline

Plessy vs Ferguson

May 18, 1896

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=52&page=transcript Upheld the ideal of seperate but equal and the Jim Crow laws. This case legalized segregation in America. Accomodations were allowed to be seperate as long as the seperation provided equality on each side. While considered appropriate by many at the time it is now widely believed (and for good reason) that accomodations were seperate but certainly not equal for those not considered to be white.

Special Education Law

Period: May 18, 1896 to Aug 21, 2015

Founding of the Council for the Education of Exceptional Students

Jul 1, 1922

https://www.cec.sped.org/Policy-and-Advocacy A council formed deticated to the advocacy of children with disabilities.

National Association of Parents and Friends of Mentally Retarded Children Founded

May 1, 1950

http://www.thearc.org/who-we-are/history/segal-account Now known as The Arc, this group was founded to support and help citizens with mental disabilities achieve fairness, equality and the support they deserve.

Brown vs. The Board of Education

May 17, 1954

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/brown-v-board/ A milestone decision in education, Brown vs. The Board of Education deemed school segregation unconstitutional. This case is now widely know as one of the most influencial and most famous cases in the history of American edcuation

JFK Creates Panel on Mental Retardation

Oct 11, 1961

http://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/five/5c/5c_html/ht1.html President John F. Kennedy creates a twenty-six person panel with the task of researching, providing solutions and support for the mentally disabled.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

Apr 11, 1965

http://www.ed.gov/esea President Lyndon B. Johnson introduces the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This act aimed to provide grants for low income students as well as students with disabilities.

Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Oct 8, 1971

This ruling inacted the law that all children with disabilities should be provided an equal education to their peers, also known as the right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE).

Mills vs. The Board of Education

Aug 1, 1972

http://www.fofweb.com/History/HistRefMain.asp?SID=2&iPin=E15098&DatabaseName=American+History+Online&NoSearch=1 In this case a ruling was made that no child who was constitutionally eligiable for a public education be denied that education no matter what their mental or physical disability may be.

The Rehabilitation act of 1973 Section 504

Sep 26, 1973

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html This act makes the discrimination against those with disabilities illegal and states that those with disabilities have equal rights to an education.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

Aug 21, 1974

http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html This law give parents or students of legal age (18) the right to inspect and challenge their records.

Public Law 94-142

Nov 29, 1975

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-89/pdf/STATUTE-89-Pg773.pdf Passed by president Gerald Ford Public Law 94-142 also known as The Education for All Handicapped Children Act stated that all students between the ages of 3 and 21 be provided with the least restrictive learning enviornment.

Hendrick Hudson School District vs. Rowley

Jun 28, 1982

http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/caselaw/ussupct.rowley.htm Amy Rowley a deaf student brought to court a case (by way of her parents who were also deaf) that requested she had an interpreter in class. This brought the term "appropriate" in free and appropriate education. It was ruled that Amy did not need an interpreter as she was already a successful student.

Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act

Jan 1, 1984

https://www.naset.org/perkinsvocational2.0.html This act ensures that those with disabilities can and will be provided with an appropriate vocational education just as any other student who pursues a given vocation. It was reauthorized in 1998 (could not find exact date).

Honig vs Doe

Jan 20, 1988

http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/caselaw/ussupct.honig.doe.htm This case ensures that a student with a disability cannot be suspended for a behavior that is listed in their IEP unless it involves drugs, weapons or severe injury to a party involved.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Jul 26, 1990

http://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm Provides equal opportunites for all citizens with either a physical or mental disability that limites major life activites.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 1990)

Oct 30, 1990

http://www.education.com/reference/article/individuals-disabilities-education-act/ Signed by President George H.W. Bush this act guaranteed that students with disabilities be provided with a free and appropriate public education and be allowed to be educated with with their peers in general education classrooms while also having an IEP for all students with disabilities.

IDEA 1997

Jan 1, 1997

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oii/nonpublic/idea1.html Signed by President William Jefferson Clinton these ammendments focused on identifying disabilities before children reach school age, increased the power of parents in their children's education and ensured that schools were held accountable for the education of students with disabilities (could not find exact date).

No Child Left Behind

Jan 8, 2001

Singed by President George W. Bush created state and nation wide standards that needed to be met by districts around the country. The purpose of this act was to ensure that all students in the United States were being educated appropriately and making yearly progress.

No Child Left Behind 2004

Jan 1, 2004

https://www2.ed.gov/teachers/nclbguide/nclb-teachers-toolkit.pdf The reauthorization of NCLB demanded that all teachers are highly qualified for their positions (unable to find exact date).

IDEA 2004

Dec 3, 2004

http://www.wrightslaw.com/idea/law/idea.regs.sumry.chngs.pdf IDEA was reauthorized by George W. Bush in 2004, while it redifined many aspects of IDEA, it most noteably enacted Response to Intervention (RtI). RtI is a multi-tierd approach to the identification of students with disabilities.

Family Engagement in Education Act of 2015 Introduced

Mar 2, 2015

https://www.pta.org/advocacy/content.cfm?ItemNumber=3921&navItemNumber=3923 While it has not yet been passed the Family Engagement in Education Act of 2015 was introduced on March 2, 2015. It's goal is to improve the amount of influence and engagement that family members and legal guardians can have on their children's education.