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Brown v. Board of Education
In 1954, the US Supreme Court issued a landmark civil rights decision in Brown v. Board of Education. In Brown, school children from four states argued that segregated public schools were inherently unequal and deprived them of equal protection of the laws. The Supreme Court found that African American children had the right to equal educational opportunities and that segregated schools “have no place in the field of public education.”
https://www.wrightslaw.com/law/art/history.spec.ed.law.htm -
The Rehabilitation Act
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as Amended (Rehab Act) prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by federal agencies, in programs receiving federal financial assistance, in federal employment and in the employment practices of federal contractors.
https://askearn.org/topics/laws-regulations/rehabilitation-act/ -
Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs and activities, public or private, that receive federal financial assistance. Section 504 does not provide funding for special education or related services, but it does permit the federal government to take funding away from programs that do not comply with the law. https://ncld.org/get-involved/learn-the-law/adaaa-section-504/ -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act required all public schools accepting federal funds to provide equal access to education for children with physical and mental disabilities and to provide one free meal a day. Public schools were required to evaluate children with disabilities and create an educational plan with parent input that would emulate as closely as possible the educational experience of non-disabled students. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/94/s6 -
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The purpose of the law is to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. The ADA is divided into five sections that relate to different areas of public life. https://adata.org/learn-about-ada -
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
The No Child Left Behind Act increased the role of the federal government in guaranteeing the quality of public education for all children in the U.S, with an emphasis on increased funding for poor school districts, higher achievement for poor and minority students, and new measures to hold schools accountable for their students' progress and required that students in grades 3-8 be tested every year in reading and math. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/schools/nochild/nclb.html -
The Assistive Technology Act of 2004
The Improving Access to Assistive Technology for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004, signed into law by President Bush on October 25, 2004, ensures the continued existence of a major source of funding for assistive technology. This is a reauthorization of the Assistive Technology Act that has been on the books since 1998. https://www.afb.org/aw/6/1/14652 -
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA)
IDEA was first passed in 1975. (it was then called the Education for All Handicapped Children Act.) The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a law that 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. IDEA governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services https://sites.ed.gov/idea/about-idea/ -
The dignity for All Students Act (DASA)
New York State’s Dignity for All Students Act (The Dignity Act) seeks to provide the State’s public elementary and secondary school students with a safe and supportive environment free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment, and bullying on school property, a school bus and/or at a school function. This was originally signed September 13, 2010 and took effect on July 1, 2012. Amendments to the act are effective as of July 1, 2013. http://www.p12.nysed.gov/dignityact/ -
Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by President Barack Obama on December 10, 2015. The purpose of this act was to replace and update the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) which was signed into law in 2002. Like NCLB, ESSA reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965. The purpose is to provide all children significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps. http://www.everystudentsucceedsact.org/
