Inclusion and the Law
The Education for All Handicapped Children’s Act (1975), later amendments entitled The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1990, 1997) and The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) were enacted to ensure accessibility to education and educational growth for all children with disabilities. Specifically. the purpose of IDEA is: “to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living” (IDEA, 1990). In order to qualify for special education services, a student must meet the definition of a child with a disability under IDEA.
"The federal law and the Courts have spoken often and clearly about school inclusion. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (I.D.E.A.) states that schools must establish procedures: 'to assure that, to the maximum extent appropriate, handicapped children, including children in public and private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not handicapped, and that special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of handicapped children from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the handicap is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services can- not be achieved satisfactorily.' (20 U.S.C. S 1412 (5) (B)).
This presumption that inclusion is preferred has been upheld in several federal court cases, most notably in Board of Education, Sacramento City Unified School District v. Holland, 786 F. Supp. 874, 877-78 (E.D. Cal. 1992) and in Oberti v. Board of Education of Clementon, New Jersey (C.A. No. 91- 2818, D.N.J. 8/17/92)" (Biklen, 1995).
For helpful websites regarding the legal aspects of inclusion for students with disabilities see below:
Inclusion and the Law Books
Inclusion and the law goes beyond the boundaries of the classroom, and into the homes and communities of people with disabilities. To read more about the disability rights movement click here: read more...
Inclusion and the Law Articles
To read more about legal arguments for the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms, in addition to landmark case law click here: read more...