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Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
ESEA is a new, bipartisan k-12 federal education law, signed by President Obama. It replaces and updates NCLB (2002) by including provisions that will help ensure success for both students and schools. In full effect in the 2017-18 school year, states, instead of the federal government, have more power over their educational accountability plans. -
Brown vs Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka established the precedent that “separate-but-equal” education was not, in fact, equal at all. Thurgood Marshall, an NAACP lawyer, argued to the Supreme Court that racial segregation in public schools by law violates the 14th amendment of the constitution that guarantees rights to all citizens, regardless of color. Ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled in favor and declared segregation unconstitutional. This win sparked the Civil Rights Movement. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
ESEA was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson as part of his War on Poverty campaign. The act’s central goal is to improve educational equity for low-income students via federal funds. ESEA has been reauthorized 8 times since 1965, each time bringing changes. The most recent re-authorization was on December 2015 when it was renamed as Every Student Succeeds Act. -
P.A.R.C vs Common Wealth of Pennsylvania
The first major legal case to provide educational equality to students with disabilities. A Pennsylvania state law allowed schools to exclude children who had not reached a “mental age of 5 years” by the time of first-grade enrollment. Relying on Brown v. Board of Education, Thomas K. Gilhool filed a class-action suit on behalf of 14 children who were denied access to public education. Pennsylvania law violated their rights under the Equal Protection clause plus the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Mills Vs. Board of Education of District of Colombia
District of Columbia (D.C) denied students with alleged mental, behavioral, physical, or emotional disabilities placement into a public educational program. A class-action lawsuit, similar to the P.A.R.C case, was brought on behalf of seven children and other similarly situated students. A federal court in D.C determined that the children’s rights to public school education had been violated, quoting liberally from Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. -
Congressional Investigation of 1972
In the wave of PARC and Mills ruling, Congress launched an investigation to uncover how many children with special education needs were being underserved. The Bureau of Education for the Handicapped estimated that only 3.9 million children with disabilities out of more than 8 million were actually receiving a proper education. -
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 with Section 504
Rehab Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination based upon disability in programs conducted by federal agencies, in programs receiving federal financial assistance, in federal employment, and in employment practices of federal contractors. Section 504 is one of the several sections of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. It requires the needs of students with disabilities to be met as adequately as the needs of those without disabilities, particularly in any program or activity receiving financial assistance -
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974
FERPA is a federal privacy law that gives parents the right to have access to their child’s educational records and request changes under limited circumstances. -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA)
Also referred as Public Law (PL) 94-142. EAHCA guaranteed a free appropriate public education to each child with a disability in every state and locality across the country. It was President Gerald Ford’s response to the Congressional Investigation of 1972 in hopes to make further advances in educating children with disabilities. -
Public Law 99-457 and Handicapped Children's Protection Act (HCPA)
President Reagan signed the bill of Public Law 99-457. Thus, Us Congress expanded academic coverage, under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA), to preschool children (ages three through five) as well as early intervention programs for infants and toddlers (birth to age two). HCPA is a resolution to EAHCA's lack of addressing relief available to parents who successfully contest the special education decision made by the schools. -
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
President George H.W Bush signed this civil rights law (ADA) to provide equality and support for individuals that were physically and mentally impaired. ADA prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. It guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in mainstream American life. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
IDEA 1990: Replaced the Education for all Handicapped Children Act (1975).
IDEA 1997: This revised IDEA shifted its focus to improving teaching and learning. It emphasized an individual educational plan as the primary tool for educational planning which increased the parents’ decision-making role in their child’s education.
IDEA 2004: Key changes impact children with special needs and programs that are more in alignment with the No Child Left Behind Act (2001). -
No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
NCLB is a re-authorization of ESEA (1965). Its major focus is closing the student achievement gaps by providing fair, equal, and significant opportunities for all children, including students with disabilities, to obtain a high-quality education. Thus, states are required to establish state academic standards and a state testing system that meets federal requirements. -
American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (AARA)
AARA or Recovery Act was signed into law by President Obama. It serves as a response to promote economic recovery and growth in hopes of creating or saving millions of jobs. as an effort to reboot our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so the USA can thrive.
