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In Brown v. Board of Education 1954, it was determined that segregation based on race violated equal educational opportunity. The United States Supreme Court found that "separate facilities are inherently unequal." So, Congress regarded Brown as equally important in prohibiting segregation on the basis of disability. -
The act emphasizes equal access to education, aiming to shorten achievement gaps between students by providing federal funding to support schools. This law also brought special education to the forefront of the nation and made a commitment to equal access to quality education.
https://education.laws.com/elementary-and-secondary-education-act#:~:text=The%20Elementary%20and%20Secondary%20Education%20Act%20of%201965%20(ESEA)%20was,establishment%20of%20a%20national%20curriculum. -
The federal court decided that children with mental disabilities would be provided with free and appropriate public education and the first right-to-education suit in the country. These cases brought to attention that students with disabilities should not be excluded and should have equal protection under the law. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOEX1YnkPFg -
The Mills lawsuit was presented to the court on behalf of seven school-age children who had been denied the right to public education due to mental, behavioral, physical, or emotional disabilities. The court found that no child could be denied a public education because of "mental, behavioral, physical, or emotional handicaps or deficiencies." -
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. The Act discontinued the classification of mentally handicapped children as unsuitable for education at school and brought them within the general educational system. -
The first decision in a special education case by the U. S. Supreme Court; defined "free appropriate public education". Rowley is the most significant court case concerning the interpretation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Rowley, the United States Supreme Court held that FAPE requires services that provide students with "some educational benefit." Rowley is the most important and influential case in special education law. -
Formerly known as the Education for Handicapped Children Act, this law makes available a free appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to those children. Students with disabilities are to receive free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment and an IEP to be created by a specialized team based on the student’s needs. -
This Act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, like employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications, and access to state and local government programs and services. The ADA bars employment and educational discrimination against “qualified individuals with disabilities.” -
No Child Left Behind was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002. This law calls for all students to be proficient in math and reading by the year 2014. The law is a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Under the 2002 law, states are required to test students in reading and math in grades 3–8 and once in high school. -
IDEA was revisited in 2004 and established a new requirement calling for a “summary of academic and functional performance” to be given to every student who exits special education—also, adding more procedures for identifying children with specific learning diablities and hiring highly qualified special education teachers within the core subject.