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Brown v. Board of Education
The Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for children to be separated in public schools on the basis of race (National Archives). This was a monumental event because it signaled the end of racial segregation in schools and dismissed the "separate, but equal" belief argued in the Plessy v. Ferguson case (National Archives).
Documentary (DapperGaming, 2011) -
PARC v. Pennsylvania
A class action suit was filed on behalf of several children with mental disabilities who were denied FAPE in Pennsylvania (Disability Justice, 2022). The court ruled that Pennsylvania could not deny students access to an appropriate education program up to the age of 21 and a student should be notified if a change to their educational status should need to be made (Disability Justice, 2022).
YouTube (Fichter, 2012) -
Mills v. Board of Education District of Columbia
Mills v. Board of Education ruled that all students, regardless of disability, are entitled to FAPE and should not be denied access regardless of the cost of necessary accommodations (The Embryo Project Encyclopedia). The reason for this case was due to several students being denied public education by the District of Columbia Public School District due to their disabilities/need for accommodations.
Case (Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse) -
Board of Education of Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley
This was the first special education case decided on by the U.S Supreme Court (Lori E. Arons, 2020). The court decided that a child's IEP must be specifically designed for the student, but the school is not required to provide every possible service available to the student. This court hearing occurred because a deaf student, Amy Rowley, was denied access to a sign language interpreter during the development of an IEP.
Rowley (Quimbee, 2022) -
Irving Independent School District v. Amber Tatro
The Tatro family had a daughter with Spina Bifida who required CIC (clean intermittent catheterization) (Lori E. Arons, 2020). Amber’s school agreed to provide her with services, but the IEP did not include the ability for a layperson to provide CIC to Amber. This case argued for CIC to be considered a "related service" on an IEP rather than a "medical service". FAPE needs to be available to all, regardless of disability.
Tatro (Snyder, 2016) -
Honig v. Doe
This case focused on two emotionally disturbed students who were suspended, during the expulsion process, due to inappropriate behaviors related to their disability and resulted in a lawsuit against SFUSD (Steketee). The lawsuit occurred because, per the "stay put" clause within EAHCA, the students should have remained in their educational setting before the decision was made to expel them.
Doe(Rozick, 2014) -
Sacramento City Unified Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Rachel H.
The parents of Rachel H. advocated for their daughter, who had an intellectual disability, to be placed in a general education classroom. When the SCUSD would only place her in a special education classroom, the parents took this case to court. Based on a series of several factors, the judge affirmed that Rachel would benefit from being placed in a Gen-Ed classroom due to the social benefits of inclusion. He believed Rachel should not be considered an "outsider" (DREDF, 2017) -
Doug C. v. Hawaii
Doug C, the father of Spencer C, was invited to attend his child's IEP meeting (Wrightslaw). However, due to the meeting having to be rescheduled several times, the IEP team chose to meet without the parent present. After taking this matter to court, it was found that the school's decision to exclude the parent from the meeting violated a requirement under IDEA . It was stated that a parent must be present at an IEP meeting unless they refuse to attend (Wrightslaw).