Most importantly, each student with special needs must be provided an education in their least restrictive environment (LRE) whether institution, private day school, or variety of public school options such as special education classroom or general education classroom. P.L. 94-142 requires each student to have an annual Individual Education Plan (IEP); a way to set goals and monitor …show more content…
94-142 passage and societal view following this landmark legislation. Prior to 1975, children with special needs were mainly educated in separate facilities or not at all. These individuals were not deemed as possible productive members of society and therefore not much thought or effort went into educating them. Additionally, President Ford had opposed the bill publicly and had threatened to veto it because the implied costs of a national special education policy were too high. Until the mid 1970’s, schools could say ‘no’ to educating children whose abilities were different. Students with disabilities were systematically denied access to education for a variety of reasons (e.g., the nature of their disabilities; the prevailing thought that segregation was appropriate), thus spending their days at home or segregated centers run by charities and not-for-profit organizations. On the other hand, students with learning and other ‘invisible’ disabilities, who were at school but were not formally diagnosed, had no access to supplemental services and supports, and were left on their own devices to ‘make it’ or fail. Following the legislative passage, P.L. 94-142 ended the systemic, institutionalized exclusion of children with special needs by giving them an education alongside their peers. Education of children with disabilities—just like any children, including those from