The History of IDEA
(Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)
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The History of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) |
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What we know as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA") was originally enacted by Congress on November 19, 1975, as PL 94-142. At that time, it was called the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. Because there was no mandatory special education law at the federal level prior to 1975, many students with disabilities were provided an inadequate education or none at all: many states allowed schools to exclude children with disabilities from their mandatory laws. If special education was offered, generic special education classes were often provided in which students with all varieties of disabilities were placed in one classroom, or were required to attend segregated programs. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas in which the court established that a separate education is inherently unequal. Essentially a racial segregation case, parents of children with disabilities began to file suit against their education agencies based on the decision, which established in principle that all children should be guaranteed an equal education opportunity. Thus, in 1972, the Supreme Court made it clear in two landmark cases: Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens-PARC v. Pennsylvania and Mills v. Washington, D.C. Board of Education that public education must extend to include children with disabilities. These two landmark cases established the responsibility of states and localities to educate children with disabilities. Thus, the right of every child with a disability to be educated is grounded in the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In 1975 , PL 94-142 was passed and guaranteed a free, appropriate public education to each child in every state and locality across the country. The four purposes of PL 94-142 were:
IDEA-97 includes key principles to guide families and professionals to work together to enhance the educational opportunities for their children. IDEA requires active parent participation throughout the educational process, including the development of the IEP. In addition, schools report progress on children with disabilities as often as they report progress to parents on nondisabled children. There are many more examples of additions to IDEA, including 0-21 and transition at 14 and appropriate behavioral interventions. Whereas PL 94-142 issued a national challenge to ensure access to education for all children with disabilities, IDEA-97 articulated a new challenge to improve results for these children and their families. back to Special Education Services home page
Page Sponsor:
Nancy
Rosenfeld
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