Patchwork Promises: Worth Reading

Monday, January 10, 2011

Worth Reading

Toledo Blade, January 10, 2011
Lucas County families struggle to care for autistic kids
Parents point fingers at county Board of Developmental Disabilities

http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20110110/NEWS16/110119997/-1/RSS10

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Brief History of Special Education in the United States

A Brief History of Special Education in the United States By 1900, "all children" in the United States of America were guaranteed the right to a free, public education. This right, however, did not extend to girls, African-American children, or children with disabilities. Girls and black children gradually gained access to public education, but not necessarily in the same schools or with the same curriculum. (1)
In 1954, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation of black and white children was unconstitutional, children with disabilities were still not permitted by law to attend public school. (2)
When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, making discrimination based on race illegal, public schools could still legally exclude children with disabilities, particularly developmental disabilities.
Not until 1972, as the result of two federal court decisions abrogating discriminatory state laws, did any disabled child in the United States have a legal right to attend public school. (3)

The guarantee of a public school education in an integrated enviornment was not extended to children with disabilities until 1975, with passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. (4)

References

1. A History of Public Education in the United States, Deeptha Thattai http://http//www.servintfree.net/~aidmn-ejournal/publications/2001-11/PublicEducationInTheUnitedStates.html

2. U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education , 1954.

3. U.S. District Court District of Columbia, in Mills v. Board of Education, 1972; Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in PARC v. Pennsylvania 1972.

4. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Pub. Law 94-142), 1975; amended and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 1990.