PDED 505 Special Education Legislation

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PDED 505Special Education Legislation
Litigation

• HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION

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The Early Days

• The U.S. Constitution makes no mention of
  education in fact, it is not considered part of
  our "constitutional rights" to get an education
• State Constitutions mention education, but
  typically not for students with disabilities
  (only a few states address this)

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The Early Days

• All states required a "common school" education,
  which basically refers to students receiving the
  "3Rs"
• Students with physical/mental disabilities were
  excluded by state law, though many did receive an
  education through devoted parents and teachers

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The Early Days

• Some examples of court rulings pertaining to the
  education of children with disabilities
• refuse to serve "children physically or mentally
  incapacitated for schoolwork"
• children with bodily or mental conditions
  rendering attendance inadvisable
• if a childs presence was not in the best
  interest of the school, the school board had an
  "obligation" to exclude students

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The Early Days

• The judicial system upheld these exclusionary
  practices and rulings when contested
• Examples
• "teaching a child of school age with diminished
  mental capacity to eat, use toilet facilities,
  wash, dress, and avoid dangers in her immediate
  surroundingsis not educating such child within
  the meaning of the Education Code"
• he "produces a depressing nauseating effect
  upon the teachers and school childrenHe takes
  up an undue portion of the teachers time and
  attention, distracts attention of other pupils,
  and interferes generally with the discipline and
  progress of the school"
• too "weak minded" to profit from instruction

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The Early Days

• Other legislation was passed to
• Allow school authorities to judge whether the
  child could benefit from education or had "habits
  or bodily conditions detrimental to the school"
• Prohibit attendance of any student "incapable of
  benefiting from a public school education"
• Allow "certification" of incapability (to avoid
  prosecution of compulsory school attendance laws)
  
• Prohibit parents to "persist in forcingthe
  attendance" of an excluded student with
  disabilities

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The Early Days

• In the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
  special schools and classes for students with
  visual impairments, hearing impairments, physical
  impairments, or mental retardation emerged,
  largely ue to the efforts of special interest
  groups, advocates, and dedicated parents.  These
  "services" were segregated and provided by
  insufficiently trained personnel.  Also, the
  services were limited because many communities
  had no facilities or services available.

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Effect of the Civil Rights Movement

• During this period of time, professional
  knowledge was improving and expanding, there were
  many social advancements, and several legal
  mandates were initiated by concerned parents,
  educators, and citizens.
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
• This is a landmark case involving school
  desegregation that went before the U.S. Supreme
  court.   African-American children were denied
  admission to schools attended by White children
  under laws permitting racial segregation. 

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Effect of the Civil Rights Movement

• Brown v. Board of Education (1954) (continued)
• The main question asked in this case was "does
  segregation of children in public schools solely
  on the basis of racedeprive the children of the
  minority group equal educational
  opportunities?"...The answer is YES!
• The U.S. Supreme Court determined that separate
  educational facilities are inherently unequal

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Effect of the Civil Rights Movement

• Brown v. Board of Education (1954) (continued)
• Chief Justice Warren stated the following 
  "Today, education is perhaps the most important
  function of state and local governments.
  Compulsory school attendance laws and the great
  expenditures for education both demonstrate our
  recognition of the importance of education to our
  democratic society. It is required in the
  performance of our most basic responsibilities
  In these days, it is doubtful that any child may
  reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he
  is denied the opportunity of an education. Such
  an opportunity,is a right which must be
  available to all on equal terms". (emphasis
  added)

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Effect of the Civil Rights Movement

• Brown v. Board of Education (1954) (continued)
• Despite the Brown decision, the U.S. Supreme
  Court was reluctant to interfere with similar
  educational issues, because the court felt the
  following  1) they had a "lack of expert
  knowledge" in the area of education, 2)
  educational issues should be left to the
  discretion of school authorities and state law,
  and 3) there were no constitutional implications.
  
• All of this began to change with the Civil Rights
  Movement...

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Equal Educational Opportunity Movement

• This involved a movement to procure equal
  educational opportunities
• Discriminatory Tracking
• Hobson v. Hansen (1967)
• In this case, students were placed in tracks
  based on an ability assessment, and once placed
  in a track, they remained there.  The assessments
  that these children received were normed on
  white, middle-class students.  The court stated
  that the school district lacked the ability to
  accurately determine the learning abilities of
  many students, therefore their placement in
  tracks was not justified.  In addition, the
  students placed in lower tracks received a
  limited curriculum, therefore certain groups of
  students were denied an equal educational
  opportunity.

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Equal Educational Opportunity Movement

• Culturally Biased Testing
• Diana v. State Board of Education (1970)
• This is the case of a student who spoke Spanish,
  and received ability and achievement testing in
  English.  Not surprisingly, she tested poorly and
  was consequently placed in a class for students
  with mental retardation. 

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Equal Educational Opportunity Movement

• Language Minorities
• Lau v. Nichols (1974)
• In this case, a school failed to provide remedial
  English instruction to non-English speaking
  students.  The court determined that this
  violated the Civil Rights Act of 1974 because 1)
  the students were denied the opportunity to
  participate in public education, and 2) the
  school failed to rectify the students' language
  deficiencies.

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Equal Educational Opportunity Movement

• Equal Expenditure of Funds
• San Antonio v. Rodriguez (1974)
• In this case, individuals in a district who were
  poor claimed discrimination because the quality
  of education was based on the wealth of a
  district (they were a poor district and the
  quality of education in the district was poor). 
  The U.S. Supreme Court stated that disparity did
  not violate the constitution, as the constitution
  does not require absolute equality where wealth
  is concerned. 

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A New Era!!!

• Wolf v. Legislature of the State of Utah
• This case involved the parents of two children
  with mental retardation who filed suit because
  their children were denied an education.  The
  State of Utah had indicated that ALL children
  should be provide with a free education, and the
  parents of these children felt that their
  children had a right to these provisions as well.
  This decision upheld the Brown decision.

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A New Era!!!

• Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children
  (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1972)
• This is another landmark case...a class action
  suit was filed on behalf of all individuals with
  mental retardation, 6-21 years of age, who were
  excluded from public school
• state law denied a public school education to
  children "unable to profit from public school
  attendance"

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A New Era!!!

• Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children
  (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1972)
  (continued)
• In segregation cases, courts would rule if it was
  "rational" or "necessary" to deny an education. 
  PARC claimed that it was neither rational nor
  necessary to assume that students with mental
  retardation were uneducable or untrainable, as
  education cannot be defined solely in terms of
  academic gains.  The State could not prove that
  these children were uneducable nor untrainable,
  therefore, they were also entitled to a free,
  public education!

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A New Era!!!

• Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children
  (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1972)
  (continued)
• this case revised the definition of equal
  opportunity
• it also determined that educational services
  should be provided based on individualized need

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A New Era!!!

• Mills v. Board of Education (1972)
• In another landmark case, 7 students with
  learning and behavior problems were excluded from
  school because of a lack of funds in the
  district.
• The court determined that the district must
  expend funds equitably to all students so they
  would receive a publicly funded education, and
  that financial problems cannot have greater
  impact on one class (group) of students
• In this case, the court also outlined the due
  process procedures which were later included in
  federal mandates. 

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Federal Legislation

• Progress in this area was slow and uneven, in
  part due to lack of resources and enforcement
  procedures.  However, two major laws in effect
  have had a major impact on the education of
  students with disabilities.  We will be
  discussing each of these in much greater detail. 

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Federal Legislation

• Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504)
• This law extends civil rights to people with
  disabilities.  Its compliance is monitored by the
  Office of Civil Rights.  
• This law ensures program accessibility, a free,
  appropriate education, and general employment
  provisions. 
• The law applies to colleges other
  post-secondary institutions, and health, welfare,
  social services agencies. 

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Federal Legislation

• Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975)
  (P.L. 94-142) (renamed IDEA)
• This law IS special education!!!  It determines
  who receives special education services, who
  provides them, and how they are provided.  It is
  the most significant law in the history of
  educating people with disabilities.  This law has
  6 major principles
• Zero Reject  NO child with a disability may be
  excluded from receiving a "FREE, APPROPRIATE,
  PUBLIC EDUCATION (FAPE)"
• Nondiscriminatory Testing  any tests used for
  diagnostic purposes must be non-biased and
  administered in the child's native language a
  single test score cannot be used as a basis for
  diagnosis of a disability and placement

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Federal Legislation

• Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975)
  (P.L. 94-142) (renamed IDEA) (continued)
• Appropriate Education  an individualized
  educational program (IEP) must be designed to
  meet the unique needs of each student
• Least Restrictive Environment  students with
  disabilities must be educated with students
  without disabilities to the maximum extent
  appropriate
• Due Process  refers to a legal technique that
  seeks to achieve fair treatment, accountability,
  and equal balance of power students and their
  parents have a right to due process
• Parental Participation  the law requires
  collaboration with parents in the design and
  implementation of the IEP