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On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous decision ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Arkansas. Brown v. Board of Education was a major victory for the civil rights movement and became the major underpinning for further civil rights action.
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Although this decision did not involve the education of students with disabilities, the Court set forth the following principle that has had a profound effect on special education: that persons have a right to be free of unnecessary restrictions when the government undertakes actions that have consequences for those individuals, even though the actions are legitimate.
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In 1972 the United States District Court for the District of Columbia held that students with disabilities are entitled to an education, and that education cannot be denied based on the accommodations’ additional cost to the school.
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PARC v. Pennsylvania was one of the first cases that dealt with the issues of intellectual disabilities, developmental disabilities, and education. The case also helped establish principles such as "free appropriate public education," "zero-reject," and "least restrictive environment" that allow for access to education regardless of disability.
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Many students were completely excluded from public schools. In fact, congressional findings in 1974 indicated that more than 1.75 million students with disabilities did not receive educational services. To address these problems, President Gerald Ford signed into law the most significant increase in the role of the federal government in special education.
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It was the only occasion the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on the requirement of public schools to provide an appropriate education to students with disabilities.
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The amendment required participating states to develop and implement statewide interagency programs of early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.
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The Tatros filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The appellate court reversed the district court’s ruling in holding that CIC was a supportive service, not a medical service, and thus had to be provided by the school.
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The parents of a child with disabilities have the right to obtain one IEE of the child at public expense.
On request, schools shall provide to parents' information about where an IEE may be obtained. -
This Act renamed the EAHCA the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The IDEA amendments of 1990 substituted the term disability for the term handicap throughout the law.
The 1990 amendments added two disability categories, autism and traumatic brain injury. The law also added and clarified types of related services, assistive technology, and rehabilitation services. -
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 were passed to reauthorize and make improvements to the IDEA. The changes were seen as the next vital step in providing special education services by ensuring that students with disabilities received a quality public education through emphasizing the improvement of student performance.
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After hearing extensive testimony, Larry Bartlett, the administrative law judge (ALJ), issued a ruling that relied on the bright-line standard, in which he ordered the school district to pay for the services.
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Even though the early decisions tended to rule that compensatory education was not available, most recent decisions have ruled that compensatory educational services are remedies available in the IDEA.
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No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002.
The purpose of NCLB was to increase the achievement of students in America’s public schools. The law required states to establish rigorous systems that hold school districts and schools accountable for measurably improving student achievement. -
The most important of these are changes in the IEPs, discipline, and identification of students with learning disabilities. Additionally, IDEA 2004 requires that all special education teachers must be certified in special education and meet the highly qualified teacher requirements of NCLB.
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In cases in which school district officials refer a student to a private evaluator or facility to conduct an evaluation, the school district has an obligation to ensure that the evaluation is completed at no cost to the parents.
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The new law gave the states discretion in designing accountability systems and addressing the needs of low-performing schools. As was the case under NCLB, students with disabilities will still be required to take statewide assessments, with or without modifications. Students with more severe disabilities may take alternate achievement tests.