Disabilities Education Act

The way children with special needs are taught today are a result of a law that was passed in 1990 by President Bush. The law is known as The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA was initially established in 1975 but was known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA). Prior to EHA children with severe physical and mental disabilities were placed in state run institutions. These “homes” only provided minimal food, clothing, and shelter. Education was considered to be a waste of resources because these children were thought of as being unable to learn. “In 1970, U.S. schools educated only one in five children with disabilities, and many states had laws excluding certain students from school, including

Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 and started the changes in the way children are taught today. This case argued that the segregation of black children was in direct violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution because the quality of education was unequal to that of white students. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States afforded equal protection of the laws in what is known as the Equal Protection Clause. This clause states that no state can deny any person equal protection of the law. This meant that everyone should be offered the opportunity for equal education, but that proved not to be the case. Children of different races, socioeconomic status, and abilities were not provided with equal education. Segregation of black students was considered acceptable for almost 100 years. The court’s ruling stated that segregation of children based on race deprived minority children of equal educational opportunities and was in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court also ruled that segregation was in direct violation of the Fifth Amendment because it broke the Due Process

The suit was known as Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia. This case argued that seven children were denied placement in public school for an extended period of time because of alleged mental and emotional disorders or behavioral problems. Once again, the plaintiffs argued that they were denied their Constitutional right of Due Process because they were either excluded, expelled, or transferred out of public classes. In addition, they stated that the schools were providing programing for special needs students but the district was not providing the programs with sufficient funding. The Board of Education conceded that they had a legal responsibility to provide an education to every child but argued that they lacked the financial resources. The Court ruled that lack of monies was not an acceptable argument for denial of services to students with disabilities and ordered the school board to equally share the burden among all students not just those with disabilities. Additionally, the court mandated that the schools provide a documented special education plan for every child that was identified as having a disability, written procedures that provided due process for suspensions and expulsions which included a process for parental appeal if they did not agree with the school’s decision, and finally any child suspected of have a disability must be evaluated at the school