Discrimination Case: Brown V. Board Of Education

In the 1954 landmark school desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (347 U.S. 483), the U.S. Supreme Court settled that it was unlawful to discriminate against a group of people for arbitrary reasons. The Court determined that education was defined as a important part of government that should be given to all citizens equally. The Brown decision by the U.S. Supreme Court set a example that was used by parents and advocates to secure equal educational opportunities for children with disabilities. Two court decisions in 1972, Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Mills v. Board of Education, District of Columbia started a bustle of litigation pertaining to the education of children with disabilities. The litigation, along with vocal and the combined efforts of parents and politically powerful advocacy groups, led to federal legislation in 1975 for students with disabilities. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142) was signed into law on November 29, 1975 by President Gerald Ford. They call this legislation is the “Bill of Rights” for children with disabilities and their families. The legislation integrated six major components that have forever changed thepicture of education across the United States. The Civil Rights

the Board of Education was a major starting point for the special education laws. The right to equal educational opportunity and access has come a long way since 1954 for the groups of persons who have historically been denied that access. Unfortunately we still have to go as a society to reach the point where exclusion, discrimination, and the denial of meaningful educational benefit, be it on the basis of race, disability, or poverty, no longer exists in our schools. Only when we eliminate discrimination in schools and ensure truly equal access to a meaningful education will society as a whole move towards greater inclusion of all