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Landmark Supreme Court case decided on May 17, 1954 where it was ruled that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional, this sparked the civil rights movement in the United States. This case established the belief that separate is NOT equal. This case was extremely significant because it marked a turning point in the history of race relations in the U.S. and build the foundation of equal opportunity in education. -
On August 1st, 1972, the court in District of Columbia ruled that students will disabilities must be given free public education. This case was significant because it established that all children are entitled to free public education and are provided due process procedural safeguards including "labeling, placement, and exclusion of students with disabilities" (Yell, 1998, p. 5). Furthermore, this case challenged the existence of institutions due to free public education. -
A federal civil rights law signed by president Nixon, effective on September 26th, 1973, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability for programs with public funding, including schools and federal employers. This law was first to provide protection against discrimination for those with disabilities provides a definition for the term appropriate education. Section 504 of the law also restricts the exclusion of individuals with disabilities from receiving benefits/services. -
FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records holding all schools that receive funds accountable, signed into law in August, then effective on November 19, 1974. Additionally, FERPA provides parents of students (those under 18 years of age) to request, inspect or review their child's education records. Furthermore, FERPA is significant because it protects the privacy of students receiving special education services, providing them with more rights. -
In 1975, President Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA), also known as Public Law 94-142, stating that all public schools must provide equal access to education for students that meet their needs. This law was an effort to improve how children with disabilities were identified and educated (including LRE), to provide protection for children and their families, and provided incentives to states in order to encourage compliance to the law. -
This law made it a requirement that states offer free and appropriate educational services to students with disabilities starting at birth to 2 years (originally it was ages 3-5 years). This created the handicapped infant and toddlers program to provide support for children experiencing developmental delays. The significance of this amendment is due to the fact that now there is early intervention, which research shows supports stronger outcomes. -
Congress made an amendment to public law 94-142, where the EAHCA was renamed to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), where major changes were made to improve outcomes including a transition program, person first language (to describe individuals with disabilities), and special education was extended to include social work, rehabilitation, and due process in education. -
On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the ADA, which is a civil rights law prohibiting discriminating those with disabilities. This title is an extension of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1773, it amended that state and local governments are to prohibit discrimination based on disability in all services, programs and activities provided by those entities including making public places accessible to those with disabilities, even if they are not federally funded. -
In 1997, President Clinton signed the IDEA amendments of 1997 into action to improve access to free and appropriate public education. Many other changes were made including: individuals with disabilities take assessments, measurable annual goals are produced and progress is gathered, mediation is available to resolve differences among parents and educators, and student discipline/behavior is included on individual IEP's to be proactive, lastly general education teachers are on IEP team. -
President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), into law on 1/8/2002 that provides educational support for poor children in exchange for academic improvements. NCLB was created to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility and choice so that children were provided with equal opportunity to high-quality education. There were guiding principles in NCLB such as early intervention, increased accountability, reading programs, and school choice (failing schools). -
On Dec. 3, 2004, President G.W. Bush signed the reauthorization of IDEA, which established several new provisions, most importantly being more accountability from schools in terms of quality education for children with disabilities (summary of academic/functional performance implemented), intervention to keep students out of special education programs, higher standards for special education teachers, increased funding for early intervention, and use of RTI (response to intervention). -
President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law on Dec. 10, 2015, which was created to provide commitment to equal opportunity for all students. The goal of ESSA was to prepare all students for success, extending to college and their career despite income, disability, or race. In ESSA, there are more protections for disadvantaged and high need students including: higher standards for all, initiatives/outreach for future careers, evidence based practices, and accountability.