Landmark Cases

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

• IDEA was put in place in 1990 for all children with disabilities.
• This act ensures that children with disabilities receive the same educational opportunities as those with a disability.
• There are 4 parts to IDEA- A, B, C, and D.
• Part A outlines the foundation of the Act. It defines the terms used within the Act.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

• Part B is the educational guidelines for schools. It is includes 6 main principles that districts must comply with in order to receive funding; such as FAPE, IEP, and a“typical” educational setting.
• Part C sets guidelines concerning the funding and services. It also lists the services which families are entitled to.
• Part D is national activities to improve education of children with disabilities. Funding for educational and transportation services, programs, activities, and projects.

Title IX and Sex Discrimination

• Revised in August of 1998.
• The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Enforces Title IX
• The principal enforcement is the investigation and resolution of complaints filed by people alleging sex discrimination. OCR is able to identify and remedy sex discrimination which may not be addressed through complaint investigations.

Educational Amendments of 1972

• Protects people against discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities which receive Federal financial assistance.
• Programs Covered: 16,000 local school districts, 3,200 colleges/ universities, 5,000 for-profit schools, libraries, and museums.
• Activities Covered: admissions, recruitment, financial aid, academic programs, student treatment and services, counseling and guidance, discipline, classroom assignment, grading, vocational education, recreation, physical education, athletics, housing and employment.

Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act

• Originally passed by Congress in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to support the development of talent in U.S. schools.
• Does NOT fund local gifted education programs. Must be funded each year by the Congress. Javits Act received $5 million for fiscal year 2014, largely in part to Senate Appropriations Committee chair Barbara Mikulksi (MD.) This is the first time since FY2011 that the program has received any funding.

Javits Program

• The purpose is to orchestrate a coordinated program of scientifically based research, demonstration projects, innovative strategies, and similar activities that meet the special educational needs of gifted and talented students.
• Consists 3 Primary Components. These are based on the competitive demonstration grants in state and local institutions.

Title 1

• Is part of the Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.)
• Impacts the academics of children in state standards and assessments

SEC. 1001. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE includes

• Teacher preparation and training, curriculum, and instructional materials
• the educational needs of low-achieving children; closing the achievement gap
• improving and strengthening accountability, teaching, and learning
• offering parents opportunities to participate in the education of their children.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 & 1974

• federal law designed to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education
• School district is required to provide a "free appropriate public education" (FAPE) to each qualified student with a disability who is in the school district's jurisdiction, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability.
• The Section 504 regulatory provision is not as comprehensive as the Amendments Act
• 3 ways to determine if a student is qualified. Student has a physical or mental impairment, or have a record of such an impairment, or be regarded as having such an impairment

Section 504: physical or mental impairment

• any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more body system
• regulatory provision does not include an exhaustive list of specific diseases and conditions because of the difficulty of ensuring the comprehensiveness of such a list.
• Includes eating, sleeping, standing, lifting, bending, reading, concentrating, thinking, and communicating

Lau v. Nichols

• 1974
• Is for children that arrive in school with little or no English-speaking ability.
• Case of non-English-speaking Chinese students (Lau) against officials responsible for the operation of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) or Nichols.
• Non-English-speaking Chinese students seeked relief against the unequal educational opportunities which are alleged to violate the Fourteenth Amendment .
• On October 22, 1976, the parties entered into a Consent Decree.

Lau v. Nichols: Consent Decree

• Master Plan that requires bilingual- bi-cultural education for the English Language Learner (ELL) students.
• Requires the provision of other special programs and English as a Second Language (ESL) for ELL students of other language groups.

Lau v. Nichols: Consent Decree

• August 24, 2006: the Court issued an order requiring the parties to show cause why the Court should not relieve the SFUSD of responsibility for reporting under the extant Consent Decree.
• May 1, 2007: parties continued their school visits and worked collaboratively on developing an updated Master Plan. The United States' consultant and members of the BCC completed visits to twenty-four schools on May 18, 2007.
• September 11, 2008: the Court approved the new Master Plan and entered an order modifying the 1976 Consent Decree.

Lau v. Nichols- teachers

• Provides why ELL or ESL students are placed in "typical" classroom settings.
• Personally have such students in my classroom now. Did not understand why they were not placed in self-contained room.
• Bigger understanding as to why being in my classroom helps them more than hurts them; even though it is part of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Why these cases are important to Teachers

• All of these cases and legislations provide an outline for teachers to adhere to. They let us know what is expected of us.
• Each case or legislation could be incountered within our classrooms or districts. Knowing what our students, parents, or ourselves, are protected by is extremely important.

Why these cases are important to Teachers

• Thanks to these, I now have a better understanding of why certain students receive special differentiation.
• It is important to know why students have IEPs and/or 504s, which I thought was "just because" we had to have the paper work.
• I never fully understood why or how students where in GT (I just filled out a survey.) I never realized the testing and recommendation for it.

Why these cases are important to Teachers

• Something that teachers, schools, and districts work on is to make sure that parents are informed about what is going.
• Allowing parents to participate in school activities is another way of keeping parents "in the loop."