Legislation and Litigation Adapted from presentation created by Bob Esposito

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Legislation and LitigationAdapted from
presentation created by Bob Esposito
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A Brief Timeline

• Early 1900s
• Segregated services for individuals with severe
  disabilities
• No services for individuals with mild-moderate
  disabilities
• 1960s
• President Kennedy passed bill to provide for
  research- specifically MR and deafness
• Civil Rights Movement
• Creation of CEC and ARC
• Development of parent advisory groups drove
  changes
• Idea for LRE emerged
• Funding to support leadership training in
  universities

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• 1970s
• Movement of normalization
• Push for individuals with severe MR to be seen as
  normal idea emerged on west coast
• Deinstitutionalization
• Movement to close all institutions
• specifically for those with mental illness and MR
• However, institutions still remained into the 80s

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Key Litigation

• Brown vs. Board of Education
• (Topeka, Kansas) (1954)
• rules against separate but equal schools
• Overturned previous legislation for segregation
• P.A.R.C.(Penn. Assoc.for Retarded Citizens) vs.
  Commonwealth of PA (1971)
• Class action suit
• FAPE must be made available to individuals
  demonstrating need
• Mills vs. D.C. (1972)
• Case determined that lack of funding was not a
  good enough reason to send special education
  students to MD and VA
• D.C. ruled to provide services

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1975 P.L. 94-142

• Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA)
  extends Civil Rights to the Handicapped
• Included a matching funds provision (feds to
  match all state monies)
• States to provide FAPE by Sept. 1978
• Upon signing, President Ford said, one piece of
  legislation we will never be able to comply
  with.
• Early 1980s
• Beginnings of Integration
• Resource Rooms
• Pull-Out Programs
• 1990s
• Inclusion
• Push-In Programs
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
  (IDEA)
• EHA became IDEA
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

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Least Restrictive Environment

• Most Normal Environment
• Requires school districts to offer a continuum of
  placement options
• Must not assign a child to a more restrictive
  placement unless it can be demonstrated that it
  will result in greater gains than a less
  restrictive setting.

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Due Process

• Students and parents rights must be protected at
  all stages of Sp. Ed.
• Parents must be notified in advance of a change
  in placement or evaluation
• Parents have the right to review school records
  and request information be changed
• Parents have right to present complaints
• Parents have the right to an Impartial Hearing
• Mediation is 1st step followed by a due process
  hearing with an disinterested hearing officer.
  Ruling can be appealed to a higher court

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P.L. 99-457

• Passed in 1986 as an amendment to P.L. 94-142
• Established a further priority for children with
  handicaps ages 3 to 5 to be served

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Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1990)

• Replaced P.L. 94-142
• Changed handicap to disability
• Added Autism Traumatic Brain Injury
• Person first terminology
• Emphasis on Transition to promote movement from
  school to work
• Emphasis on Assistive Technology

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I.D.E.A. 1997

• Free appropriate public education
• Nondiscriminatory Evaluation
• must be fairly and accurately evaluated
• Tests must be free of bias
• Tests administered by trained professionals in a
  proven and appropriate manner
• Tests with parental consent
• Zero reject child find required
• PLUS.

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A Few More Key 97 Changes

• IEP Goals Objectives must relate to the K-12
  curriculum
• Progress Reporting must be ongoing and on the
  same frequency as for non-disabled children
• A Regular Education Teacher must be a member of
  the IEP Team

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I.D.E.A. 2004

• Improvements in regulations implementing
  strengthening services for infants, toddlers and
  their families
• Ensure that every child with a disability has
  available a free appropriate public education
• Of high quality
• Designed to meet the high standards reflected in
  No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
• More detailed presentation to follow