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Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was the court case that ended segregation. On May 17th, 1954, it was ruled that segregating children went against the 14th amendment, making it unconstitutional. -
Diana v. State Board of Education
This particular court case had a direct impact on class placement for students whose first language is not English. This court case resulted in the requirement of English Language Learners, or ELLs, to be tested both in their primary language as well as English (Gargiulo, Bouck, 2016). This law also prohibits ELLs to be placed in SPED classes using culturally biased IQ tests and verbal tests (Gargiulo, Bouck, 2016). -
P.A.R.C. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
This court case determined that there must be a requirement of the state to place SPED children/children with mental disabilities (ages 6 to 21) in appropriate learning environments that are publicly funded. This case is the basis of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, which is a key component to the IDEA (Arocho, 2012). -
Mills v. Board of Education
Mills v. Board of Education began with seven special education students that were denied the right to be placed in a public education classroom/program. -
Lau v. Nichols
This particular case required that schools offer varied options of education for ELL students, allowing these students to have equal, unbiased education no matter their primary language and cultural background. -
IDEA Law
IDEA, or PL 94-142, was signed into law by President Gerald Ford. IDEA ensures that any disabled child can have "a free appropriate public education which emphasizes special education and related services to meet their unique needs" [Section 601(c)]. IDEA also protects the rights of both special education students and their parents/caretakers. Reauthorizations of this law include 1986 (PL 99-457) and 1997 (PL 105-17) -
Daniel R.R. v. State Board of Education
This court case was initiated when Daniel R., who attended school within the El Paso Independent School District in El Paso, TX, was removed from a half day of Pre-K to a full day of SPED. This court case affected class placement, as it developed a two-prong test that determines appropriate placement based upon a student's LRE (least restrictive environment). This ruling, according to Gargoulo and Bouck (2016), is a benchmark decision for other jurisdictions besides Texas. -
Oberti v. Board of Education of the Borough of Clementon School District
This court case resulted in the requirement that general education classrooms must have access to tools that may assist a student with SPED needs before segregating the student(s) in question--schools must use accommodations and modifications. If a SPED student is placed in a different educational environment, there must be proper documentation and reason. According to Gargiulo and Bouck (2016), "Clear judicial preference for educational integration [is] established." -
Schaffer v. Weast
This court case deals with the issue of whether or not parents provide the burden of proof when dealing with due process hearing in terms of the appropriateness of a child's IEP. According to Gargiulo and Bouck (2016), this case resulted in the requirement of the burden of proof being provided by the party that is bringing the suit.
