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Brown v. Board of Education started as a segregation issue. Families in multiple states argued that segregation led African-American students less access to education and the emotional impact segregration has on children. The decision of the Supreme Court ended segregated schools. Families with students with disabilities stepped up on the basis that their children were segregated from educational opportunities. (Wright, P. W., & Wright, P. D., 2011)
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Through personal experience with his sister, President Kennedy's life was touched with metal disabilities. One of the platforms and priorities of his presidency was intellectual disabilities. He appointed a panel of doctors, scientists, and others to develop a plan on action on how to determine the cause and prevention of intellectual disabilities. (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum)
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The panel spent a year collecting information on mental retardation and the causes and prevention. At the meeting, the president was presented with over 100 recommendations. President Kennedy would later publicize those recommendations he felt most important. (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)
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President Kennedy's recommendations included a focus on maternity and prenatal care, " initiatives for moving away from custodial institutions to community-centered agencies, and plans for construction of research centers." (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)
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President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Although the premise of this bill was to increase educational access for low-income families, it also opened the door for better educational access to students with disabilities. (The Social Welfare History Project, 2014)
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President Nixon signed this act into law in 1973. Section 504 includes a broader definition of disability than IDEA and allows more students to be protected from discrimination based on a disability. (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2016)
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Congress signed the EHA that established that all children "have a right to education" (Wright, P. W., & Wright, P. D., 2011). The law also established accountability to state and local agencies for providing educational opportunities for students with disabilities. (Wright, P. W., & Wright, P. D., 2011)
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This is an amendment to the EHA of 1975. This most recent amendment "increased the focus on accountability and improved outcomes by emphasizing reading, early intervention... requiring that special education teachers be highly qualified" (Wright, P. W., & Wright, P. D., 2011).
