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Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was the first US law that gave persons born in the United States citizenship. This gave everyone equal protection by law and it also held anyone accountable, with criminal penalty, that still tried to own slaves and treat them as an unequal (Tokarev, 2012).
*This was huge for Education as a whole. Even though disabilities had yet to be discussed, it still gave everyone the same citizenship and maintained that all were now allowed to be educated. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
At the conclusion of Plessy vs. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled that school could separate students, but they had to be provided equal facilities and opportunities (History.com Editors, 2009).
*At the time this would have been a huge win. Regardless of why students were being separated, they then had to be given equal facilities and opportunities. Environments now had to be the same, thus allowing all students to have a chance the same as any other student. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Following the Supreme Court decision of Brown vs Board of Education, all public schools had to desegregate. The idea of 'separate but equal' was found to be unconstitutional.
*Contrary to the earlier decision 58 years prior, students could now not be segregated. This allowed families to start not feeling different or as if they didn't belong. Students could feel as if they had just as much right as any other. -
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act
This Act started the program Head Start, which lead way to being able to diagnose children at younger ages with disabilities thus allowing more time and resources to go into effect to help them. It also gave free lunches in school systems to those families below poverty levels.
*For me, this was huge. By allowing us an early opportunity to help with any disability only positively affects a student. -
Title IX
Title 9 made it illegal for schools to exclude students from any of their programs based solely on the basis of sex. This meant regardless of sexual nature, any boy or girl had to admitted to any school program and not discriminated against.
*Special Education was and is viewed as a program. This was a great deal that boys or girls would not be the only ones to benefit. -
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Signed by President Nixon, this Act prohibited discrimination in schools or any entity receiving federal funds. It also was the first law put into place that made school systems provide IEPs and keep students in their least restrictive environments (LRE).
*IEPs are now the backbone of any student with a disability. The entire Special Education field revolves around these documents. -
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 ensured all students with disabilities had access to an education, but it's biggest feat was ensuring that special education students, regardless of their disability, was guaranteed due process of law.
*Children could no longer be kept from an education and the law guaranteed that schools could not just kick them out because they could. -
Daniel R.R. vs. State Board of Education
After this Supreme Court ruling, it was determined that schools must decide in a student with a disability, with the right supplementary services, achieve success in a regular classroom instead of a special education room. Schools would need to be able to prove beyond a doubt, before removing any student from the classroom.
*This sparked lots of controversy, however it is too easy to just say a child needs a special education classroom. We must exhaust other options first. -
The Americans with Disabilities Act
This Act would start to define a disability in schools. It would be quoted to say a disability is, "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity." The Act would prohibit any discrimination of a student that fit the definition.
*By defining disability, schools could no longer find ways around having to deal with disabilities or in some cases not deal at all. -
No Child Left Behind
No Child Left Behind was signed by President George W. Bush and made schools more responsible for the progress of their students; specifically those students who were deemed to not be on the same ability as their peers (Klein, 2015). Schools has the option to not comply, but risked losing Title I money for their school.
*This came with positive and negatives. While it was more pressure on teachers, I feel it made them make a better attempt at what they were doing. Students would benefit more. -
IDEA 2004
When IDEA was realigned in 2004, one of the biggest things that was added was that special education teachers needed to be highly educated. Teachers in this setting could no longer be qualified by just holding a content certification, a Special Education certification was now necessary.
*Going from Secondary Education to Special Education myself, I highly agree with this decision. It's totally different entity.