Brown Vs Board Of Education Essay

In 1954 Brown v. Topeka Board of Education begins the process of ending segregation in schools. This lays the groundwork for congress and begins the momentum for the The Civil Rights Act of 1964. Brown v. The Board of Education opened the door for students with disabilities the legal precedent they needed to get equal education opportunities. If schools could not segregate because of race, they could note discriminate or segregate because of disability. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 was the original name for the No Child Left Behind Act. Although it was not specifically for special education, it was a step in the right direction and was the basis for which early special education legislation was drafted from.

The first case, Diana v. California Board of Education occurred in 1970, which dictated that students must be tested in their native language and set the stage that student differences must be noted (Talley and Schrag, 1999). The 1971 Pennsylvania Association of Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Mills v immediately followed this case. The Board of Education of District of Columbia in 1972 (Talley and Schrag, 1999). It is these last two cases helped finalize the foundation for congress to create the mandate for free and public education for all students with special needs. Under the 1971 PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a court decree outlined that the state must provide full access to free public education to children with mental retardation until the age of twenty-one. It also sets up a level of appropriateness that students are given an education suitable to their learning capability. It also gave parent’s rights; the right to view schools records and the right to be part of the decision student placement process (Martin, Martin, & Terman, 1996). I believe this case was pivotal as it gave special needs students control over their education and where they would be placed and it gave parents