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The decision that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional because separate but equal education is not equal at all. Although the case involved race, the legal reasoning behind it paved the way for future disability rights claims. In declaring that every child has the right to equal education opportunity, Brown later litigation that required the inclusion of students with disabilities in public schools (Warren Supreme Court of the United States, 1954). -
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was one of the first major federal investments in public education and was enacted as the War on Poverty under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Title I was aimed at giving specific resources to schools with low-income children, and many of these children had disabilities. This act preconditioned the following laws by underlining the role of the federal government in providing equity in education. -
This case questioned law that permitted children with intellectual disabilities to be denied education in the state. The court held that it was unconstitutional to exclude persons with disabilities from access to public education. PARC established: disabled children had a right to free public education that met their needs. Being one of the initial legal supports of the rights of special education, it preconditioned the national laws ensuring the education of every disabled student. -
Mills v. Board of Education continued the judicial impetus of PARC and made the claim that all students, irrespective of the kind or the degree of their disabilities, are entitled to education in the state. The court categorically denied the argument of the school district that it could not provide services due to budget limitations. The case strengthened the notion that poverty is not a justification for inequality, and procedural protections for the students and parents were required. -
This outlawed discrimination based on disability in any program that receives federal assistance. It ensured that children with disabilities were not excluded from accessing or receiving educational services. This watershed provision was the basis of subsequent legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and IDEA. Section 504 extended the protection to students who would not be held to the higher standard of special education eligibility but would still require accommodation. -
This legislation required that every child with disabilities get a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). It mandated schools to come up with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for each qualifying child and ensured parental participation in decision-making. This act is now commonly referred to as IDEA, and it has transformed the way schools provide services to students with disabilities in fundamental ways. -
Disability rights activists were frustrated by the slow pace that the government was taking to enforce Section 504 regulations, so they occupied the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) in San Francisco in a 25-day sit-in. It was the longest peaceful occupation of a federal building in the United States. These demonstrations were able to coerce the Carter administration to implement 504 regulations. -
In the first U.S. Supreme Court case involving special education. Rowley set the legal marker of what should be considered an appropriate education under IDEA. It explained the boundaries of special education rights and also affirmed the need for an attainable improvement. This decision has remained influential in the interpretation of FAPE in IEP litigations. -
EAHCA was reauthorized and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). New disability areas such as autism and traumatic brain injury were also introduced, and schools were now mandated to come up with transition plans for their students leaving special education (U.S. Department of Education, 2023). IDEA focused on person-first language and inclusion and changed the national discourse of handicap to individuals with disabilities. -
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous vote, decided that schools have to do more than just give minimal educational improvement to students with disabilities. The court stated that IEPs should be reasonably calculated to allow a child to make progress in light of the circumstances of the child (Roberts, 2017). This ruling increased the bar of educational results under IDEA by overturning the de minimis standard used by some lower courts (Roberts, 2017).