Entitlement To FAPE Analysis

As ADA does not have a responsibility for providing FAPE, only Section 504 and IDEA will be compared. Though both Section 504 and IDEA guarantee FAPE to students with disabilities, what qualifies an individual and what services are available to a student differ. Within the general education population, there are students with disabilities that do not have a significant impact on their education. These children need minor changes to their educational programs which can be reasonably implemented in the general education setting with general education support. Other students with more severe disabilities require more extensive services that cannot be reasonably implemented in general education. Assessment of the student’s needs will determine whether they qualify and are eligible for services under Section 504 or under IDEA.

Placement decisions related to students with disabilities is an issue that arises from providing a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) and the least restrictive environment (LRE). While FAPE and LRE are not new requirements, the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA) continues to be open to interpretation and implementation of the mandates (McGovern, 2015). A student’s least restrictive environment is the setting where the student can be integrated with his non-disabled peers. IDEA requires that students with disabilities be educated in the most integrated, least restrictive environment (Carson, 2015); however, this is where the grey area enters. The interpretation of what the least restrictive environment is, depends

Throughout the ages, people with disabilities have been hidden away at homes or institutions and were often not educated. This was common practice and as such, when the education system was designed, children with disabilities were not even considered. Then, starting soon after the civil rights movement in the 50’s, a series of lawsuits was brought against school boards and the federal government took notice. Then the Education for all Handicapped Children Act of 1975 was passed and these children were finally allowed the education they deserved. As time went

1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s, there was change in society’s attitudes toward people with disabilities. In the 1940s, children with learning disabilities were shown to be different from children who were disabled by researchers such as Alfred Strauss. In the Brown vs. Board of education court case in 1954, led the way to a growing understanding that all people, regardless of race, gender, or disability, have a right to public education. In 1960s, Samuel Kirk began to use the term specific learning disabilities to differentiate students with learning disabilities from the much larger group of students who were low achievers or mentally disabled. In 1960s,

FAPE stands for Free Appropriate Public Education, all children in the United States are entitled to under IDEA. Children must be provided with an education appropriate to their unique needs at no cost to the parents/guardians. The law requires that FAPE take place in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

The ultimate goal of IDEA and Section 504 is to make sure that all students in special education programs receive a free and appropriate public education. A Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) means that a disabled child's education meets the standards of a state educational agency. It also means that the disabled child's individual needs are assessed and that he/she is provided with appropriate materials and resources in order to be successful in a mainstream classroom, at no cost to the parents or the student. FAPE goes beyond just ensuring high expectations in the classroom for children with disabilities; it is based on a child's individual needs. It is important that a child's abilities, as well as disabilities are assessed in order to determine exactly what is appropriate or inappropriate in terms of a student's goals, objectives, learning styles, environment, and placement.

There have also been landmark court cases like Brown v Board of Education and Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Pennsylvania (PARC) which as a result set the wheels in motion for special education reform. The Education for Handicapped Children Act of 1975 was amended and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT (IDEA) in 1990, has had the greatest impact on special education in public schools. When the law was originally passed in 1975 it required all school districts that accepted federal funds to provide disabled students, ages 5-21, equal access to an education in the least restrictive (LRE) setting possible. Schools were to also disperse funds equally among all students and provide free of charge, the necessary

Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) mandates that school districts provide access to general education and specialized educational services, as stated in the

The very first to court verdict that advised there was a boundary to the resources that exceptional children can anticipate but they suggested that children with disabilities deserve more than an optimum education. Zirkel (2008) further argued that the court decision such case interpret the meaning of FAPE. He mentioned the initial purpose of the act was to give accessibility to public school and special education specifically, the connotation of FAPE was mainly technical (Zirkel, 2008). The court, however, further held that the substantive standard was that the IEP be fairly calculated to allow the child to obtain educational benefits (Zirkel, 2008); in reaching this substantive standard, the court overruled the higher standards of equal opportunity, self-sufficiency, and maximization. Furthermore, most of the lower courts were instructed to apply this standard with regard to school

In 2004 the case of Deal v. Hamilton County Board of Education was coming to a close after reaching the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Ohio. Within this essay, detailed examination of this case, along with issues that developed the case, disagreement points, parties involved, and final outcome will be explored. This case was initiated in 1999 and reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 2004. The Individuals with Disabilities Act has given parents and caregivers to student’s unparalleled

In the early 1970’s parents of students with disabilities went to federal court when their local school districts did not provide services to meet their children’s educational needs. In Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1971), a Pennsylvania court ruled that all children, regardless of disability, have a basic right to an education under the Fourteenth Amendment. In Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia (1972), a federal court ruled that the District of Columbia schools could not exclude children with disabilities from the public schools. Cases like this focused public attention on the issue of educating children with disabilities. The social and political pressure then resulted in landmark federal legislation to address the educational rights of these children.

Furthermore, advocates of special education used the Brown decision to initiate challenges to the existing segregated educational system in the form of well-known court cases. The rulings from these cases declared that it was unconstitutional to have separate schools for students with disabilities. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 was the first major federal effort to subsidize direct services to selected populations in public elementary and secondary schools, and it remains the primary vehicle for federal support of public schools today (Martin, Martin & Termin, 1996).

People with disabilities have long suffered from discrimination and segregation. In the 1880, people with hearing, visual, physical, mental or emotional impairments were sent to be educated in residential institutions or asylums. ("Issues about Change) Parents and family of those with disabilities put pressure on our government and legislation to develop and provide equal access to education by way of mainstreaming or special education. Section 504 of Public Law 93-112 passed in 1973 had far reaching effect on exclusion and discrimination. (Gollnick and Chinn p. 168) This law did for those with disabilities that Title IX did for females and education; it provided access and participation in regular education and extracurricular

The most important section in the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) is section 1400, which describes the findings and purpose of the law. Even though the purpose of the law is to provide services and protect their rights, this law does not automatically guarantee all children with a disability eligibility for services under the law. There is more than one legal definition and they can still be very vague and confusing. To be eligible a child must have a disability that affects educational performance and needs special education and related services. The child must meet both criteria to be eligible for a free appropriate public education. Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) means special education and related services that are provided at public expense, meet the state standards, are appropriate, and are provided in conformity with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). However, the term “appropriate” education, does not mean the best education, nor an education that maximizes the child’s full potential. It can also differ from one child to the next, because what

Public Law 94-142: The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, now called Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), requires states to provide free, appropriate public education (FAPE) for every child regardless of disability. This federal law was the first to clearly define the rights of disabled children to receive special education services if their disability affects their educational performance. A parent of a special education student also has basic rights under IDEA including the right to have their child evaluated by the school district and to be included when the school district meets about the child or makes decisions about his or her education. If a child is identified as in need of special education