Introduction
Introduction
This book presents a critical analysis of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), originally enacted in 1975 as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act to improve educational equity by providing children with disabilities the right to a free and appropriate public education. Drawing on the author's personal experience in which she embarked on a legal battle to persuade her son's school to accommodate his hearing impairment, the book argues that the IDEA contains flaws that limit its effectiveness for poor and minority children. It examines the skewed special education classification system as well as a system of services that seem to serve African Americans and other racial minorities so poorly. It also discusses Congress's attempts to amend the IDEA over the years and looks at some of the leading Supreme Court cases involving children whose parents filed suits on their behalf after the statute was broadly amended.
Keywords: children with disabilities, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, public education, poor children, minority children, special education classification system, African Americans, racial minorities, Congress, Supreme Court
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