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Mills v. Board of Education of District of Columbia (1972)
This pivotal lawsuit involved 7 children from the District of Columbia that was identified as having issues of mental retardation, emotionally disturbed and other behavioral problems. The case was about the children being denied educational services due to their disabilities. The argument was that the school board in the District of Columbia was discriminatory in not providing the special needs children a public education. The court ruled the school board violated their right to an education. -
Board of Education vs. Rowley
Case involved a deaf child in a regular classroom who performed better than the normal child with the aid of an hearing aid. Her parents requested the school district provide her with a sign-language interpreter in all her classes who was qualified. The claim is that IDEA guarantes both a free and appropriate public education. The courts ruled that children with disabilities were entitled to “access to an education” while not causing a school district to maximize each disabled child’s potential. -
Timothy W. v. Rochester, New Hampshire, School District
In this case Timothy W had severe disabilities. The school district felt that due to his severe disabilities it deters him from benefiting from any education given. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act states that all handicapped children have public education available to meet their individual needs. The court ruled the act provides for a zero-reject policy and that under the act such severally disabled children are given a high priority and protection under the act itself.