Supreme Court Cases In Special Education

Throughout history, people with disabilities have been victims of discrimination and other injustices. There are numerous laws and acts that have been passed in an attempt to prevent the continuation of discrimination and unequal rights. As time progressed, the laws became more progressive, and have expanded to include more groups of people. A majority of the laws that have been enacted have been built upon foundations that were previously set by preceding laws. The first monumental court case that laid the foundation for future cases concerning special education is the infamous Brown v Board of Education. Brown v Board of Education is a broad term used to reference five separate court cases that were heard by the Supreme Court. While each …show more content…
These cases are Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the Mills v Board of Education of the District of Colombia. Both cases are centered around the issue of education for children with disabilities. However, the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v Commonwealth of Pennsylvania focused solely on educating children with developmental disabilities. Whereas, the Mills v Board of Education for the District of Colombia expanded on PARC to include all school aged children who were denied an education due to supposed mental, behavioral, physical, or emotional disabilities. Both built their case on the grounds that due process was being violated. The Board of Education of the District of Colombia rebutted with the claim that lacked the funding to provide an appropriate education for children with disabilities. The court ruled that insufficient funding is not an excuse to deny a child their right to a public education, “If sufficient funds are not available to finance all of the services and programs that are needed and desirable in the system, then the available funds must be expended equitably in such a manner that no child is entirely excluded from a publicly supported education consistent with his needs and ability to benefit therefrom. The inadequacies of the District of Columbia Public School System, whether occasioned by …show more content…
Bush signed the education reform bill, No Child Left Behind, in 2001. The No Child Left Behind Act is a reformed version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. However, the No Child Left Behind Act greatly increases funding for school districts, demands achievement from all students with a focus on minority and poor students, created new ways to hold school’s accountable, and put greater emphasis on standardized testing. This act is based on the premise that by setting higher goals and standards students would achieve more. The act is controversial as there are many critics as well as many supporters of the No Child Left Behind