Educational Laws

Education is a right given to all children in the United States regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, or disability. In this country, we have a disproportionate number of students not graduating from high school identified with special needs. Educational laws were created to give guidance to all public and charter schools, and because they all are provided with federal and state funds, they each have to abide by these laws.

Luckily, the Individual’s with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) is a law that ensures a “free and appropriate” public education to all children identified with a disability. Unfortunately, the translation of free and appropriate can be different from state to state, district to district, school to school, and person to person. So we have the government agency called the Department of Education in every state that is supposed to interpret the law and police the districts to make sure all students are educated. We then have the national Department of Education that oversees all of the states and is supposed to police them to make sure all students are educated.

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB): requires that schools teach all children, including children with disabilities, to proficiency in reading, math and science by 2014. All students in grades 3-8 will participate in the annual proficiency testing of reading and math. Annual science assessments are required by 2007.

Section 504: is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Section 504 ensures that the child with a disability has equal access to an education. The child may receive accommodations and modifications. It does not require the school to provide an individualized educational program (IEP) that is designed to meet the child's unique needs and provides the child with educational benefit. Fewer procedural safeguards are available to children with disabilities and their parents than under IDEA.

The success of these entities and laws are open to interpretation.

The Federal Register is the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" law book from the National Department of Education.