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Brown v. Board of Education
In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education extended equal protection under the law to minorities and paved the way for similar gains for those with disabilities. **The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. -
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act
Congress enacted this to address the inequality of educational opportunity for underprivledged children. The act provides federal funding funding to primary and secondary education, with funds authorized for professional development, instructional materials, resources to support educational programs, and parental involvement promotion. -
Bureau for Education of the Handicapped
Was established by Congress under the Title VI of the Elemanrary and Secondary Schools Act (ESEA). -
The Handicapped Children's Early Education Assistance Act
authorized support for, respectively, exemplary early childhood programs and increased Head Start enrollment for young children with disabilities. -
Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens v. Commonwealth
This was a case where the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was sued by the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC), over a law that gave public schools the authority to deny a free education to children who had reached the age of 8, yet had not reached the mental age of 5. -
Public Law 94-142
President Gerald Ford signed into law the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142), or the EHA. The EHA guaranteed a free, appropriate public education, or FAPE, to each child with a disability in every state and locality across the country. -
Public Law 99-457
The 1986 reauthorization addressed early intervention and 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. -
Public Law 110-476
The 1990 reauthorization changed the law’s name from EHA to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. It also added traumatic brain injury and autism as new disability categories.
Additionally, Congress mandated that as a part of a student’s individualized education program (IEP), an individual transition plan (ITP) must be developed to help the student transition to post-secondary life. -
No Child Left Behind Act
Congress reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). It supported standards-based education reform based on the premise that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals could improve individual outcomes in education.
The Act required states to develop assessments in basic skills. This means to receive federal school funding, states had to give these assessments to all students at select grade levels. -
Every Student Succeeds Act
was signed by Barak Obama. It is the federal K–12 education law. It replaced No Child Left Behind, and reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). It requires every state to measure performance in reading, math, and science. Every school must inform parents about their standards and their results. ESSA requires every state to provide parents important information on test performance in reading, math, and science. -
Citation
Peter W.D. Wright, Esq. and P. D. W. (n.d.). The history of special education law in the United States by Peter W.D. Wright, Esq. and Pamela Darr Wright - Wrightslaw. Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy. https://www.wrightslaw.com/law/art/history.spec.ed.law.htm