Discrimination
A Supreme Court case based on school race desegregation. The court declared that education must be made available to all children on equal terms. Later civil rights case law argued that schools may not segregate by race; therefore, schools may not segregate or discriminate by ability or disability. Therefore, this case set the stage for future court decisions regarding discrimination against students with disabilities.
What is Brown v. Board of Education?
The court ruled against a tracking system in which children were placed into either regular or special education classes according to intelligence test scores. Most of the tests were standardized on white middle-class children. Hobson and Hansen involved African-American working-class children. The court ruled that the children were being classified according to environmental and social factors.
What is Hobson v. Hansen?
Seven children had been excluded from public schools in Washington, D.C. because of learning and behavior problems. The school district contended that it did not have enough money to provide special education services. The court ruled that the lack of funds is not an excuse for failing to provide services to exceptional children. If sufficient funds were not available, then all programs should be cut back.
What is Mills v. Board of Education?
The Rowley decision stated that a child with disabilities is entitled to an appropriate, not an optimum education. It was the first court decision that suggested there was a limit to the resources that exceptional children could expect. The Rowley case marked the first time an attorney who was deaf had ever argued a case before the Supreme Court.
What is Board of Education v. Rowley?
In a unanimous decision, the Court reinstated the lawsuit filed by the parents under Title IX, which bars gender discrimination at schools that receive federal funds, and under Section 1983, a broader civil rights law.
What is Fitzgerald v. Barnstable?
On the basis of the results of an intelligence test given in English, a Spanish-speaking student had been placed in a class for students who were mentally disabled. The court ruled the student must be given another evaluation in her native language. This established that children cannot be placed in special education on the basis of culturally biased tests or tests given in languages other than the child's primary language.
What is Diana v. State Board of Education?
This case dealt with the issues of least restrictive environment and free and appropriate education. The parents contended the school districts failure to place Daniel in a class of non-handicapped students was a violation of the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA). The court ruling affirmed that the State Board of Education was providing a free and appropriate education for Daniel with non-handicapped students to the maximum extent appropriate and thus was not a violation of the EHA.
What is Daniel R. R. v. State Board of Education?
A district court ruled that a 13-year-old boy with severe disabilities and quadriplegia was ineligible for education services because he could not benefit from special education. A court of appeals overturned the lower court's decision, ruling that public schools must educate all students with disabilities.
What is Timothy W. v. Rochester School District?
In this case, the plaintiffs brought suit to challenge the constitutionality of a state law requiring all public school students to take and pass a literacy examination before receiving a high school diploma. By presenting substantial evidence, including curriculum guides and survey data, the state convinced the judiciary that the test was instructionally valid in that it covered material taught to Florida students. Also, the state substantiated that racial differences in pass rates were not caused by lingering effects of past school segregation. To the contrary, data showing significant improvement among African-American students during the six years the test had been administered convinced the court that the testing program could help remedy the effects of past discrimination.
What is Debra P. v. Turlington?
This case found the placement of African-American children in special classes inappropriate because of unfair testing. The IQ tests that were used failed to recognize the children's cultural background. When different tests were used, the children were found not to be mentally disabled. The court ordered that IQ tests could not be used as the sole basis for placing children into special education.
What is Larry P. v. Riles?
This is a case where the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed that the IDEA is intended, and must be interpreted, to provide children with disabilities with an individualized education program that is “reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child's circumstances.” Building on the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Court explained how every child must have an opportunity to meet “appropriately ambitious” objectives and it rejected the belief that trivial or “de minimus” educational benefit is enough.
What is Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District?
Court ruled that if a parent was not included in the IEP meeting, that IDEA's procedural process was violated, which therefore invalidated the IEP.
What is Doug C. v. Hawaii?