The rights of students with disabilities.

 

I was able to study the decision for Lau v. Nichols.  After the desegregation of students in California in 1971, a few thousand Chinese speaking students were not provided with any support for them to succeed in school.  An attorney, Edward Steinmen, reached out to the parents of Kinney Lau and other Chinese students.  He encouraged them to sue the San Francisco Unified School District, of whom Alan Nichols was president.  They first were denied any provisions by the Northern District Court of California and then again by the Ninth District Court, claiming that they provided equal instruction to all students.  They took their case to the Supreme Court.  In 1974, the Supreme Court decided for the students.  They said that because the students did not understand English that the students were denied "meaningful opportunity to participate in public education".  They also said that not providing support violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

A few yeras ago I worked in the preschool at my local elementary school - Freedom Elementary.  We had a few students who spoke Spanish as their primary language.  Part of my job was to spend time with those students each week in supporting them in their learning, including their letters.  Both of them had an IEP with specific goals and we worked on these each week.  I'm not sure whether they needed an IEP or whether they just needed additional support in the classroom.  But there was something there in place to help them from a very young age with having an equitable education experience.

One of the historical Acts that has affected the school where I do service hours is IDEA.  There is a life skills class, but those students are not just restricted to that classroom.  As appropriate they are able to participate in general education classes with a peer tutor.  This gives them the opportunity for the Least Restrictive Environment and helps both the general education students and the students with learning disabilities.  

• Do you see support for English learners?  
• What landmark decision does that come from?   
• What are you seeing in your service-learning experience that is a result of Brown v. Board, Sputnick, and other historical events?