Legislation and Litigation Adapted from presentation created by Bob Esposito

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

 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

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

1975 P.L  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  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)

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.

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 1 st step followed by a due process hearing with an disinterested hearing officer. Ruling can be appealed to a higher court

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

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1990)  Replaced P.L  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

I.D.E.A  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….

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

I.D.E.A  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