Law Analysis Part II
Law Analysis Part II
Xerdeodra Brown
Liberty University
EDUC 521
Introduction
Landmark Court Case #1: (Oberti v The Board of Education of the Borough of Clementon
School District 1993)
Rafeal Oberti was in kindergarten at Borough of Clementon school district who suffered
from down syndrome. His teacher felt like he did not belong in regular classroom because of
his
behavior problems and because he used to disrupt the class. The teacher felt like he needed
to be
transferred to another school, but the parents did not agree. “Upon this dilemma the two
sides
agreed to let Rafael attend a morning Kindergarten class at his local elementary school that
was
geared towards readiness and getting prepared to enter Kindergarten and a Special
It is tough to raise a child with disabilities. Some parents with children who has
special needs tend to need a lot of help. It takes time and patient when dealing with children with
special needs. Raising children with disabilities can cause the parents stress because sometimes
they are raising them alone. It can also cause stress because the parents feel like no one will help
them. Imagine already being stressed about raising a child with disability then you start to get
complaints from the school about what your child is doing at school. There were laws created to
help children with disabilities such as Individual with Disability Education Act (IDEA) or No
Child Left Behind. Which are laws that state that children with disabilities should be treated like
a regular student. Some parents decided that their child was not being treated equally and
decided to get a lawsuit. Two cases that I chose to talk about were the Oberti v The Board of
Education of the Borough of Clementon School District and Mills v. The Board of Education
District of Columbia.
Landmark Court Case #2: (Mills v. The Board of Education of District of Columbia 1972)
The Mills v. The Board of Education of District of Columbia 1972 was about a Mills
class action suit that was brough on behalf of seven children and other students in similar
situation who attend the same school district. The students in this case were identified of having
behavioral problems or being mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, and hyperactive. These
students were denied educational services because of their disabilities. The parents of these
children filed a lawsuit because their children were denied educational services. The ruling in
this case were “The court reasoned that because the children would have been entitled under the
school code in the District of Columbia to attend free public schools, each child had a right to
such an education. The court explained that the school board’s failure to meet its mandate could
not be excused by its argument that there were insufficient funds available to pay for the services
that the children needed.” (Mead F. Julie) The implications of special education was successful
on this case because of laws that was passed because of this case. The laws that were passed
lawsuit because they felt like the school district were not abiding about the law of Individual
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). “A court ruled
that it is the responsibility of the school district to demonstrate that the child’s disabilities are so
severe that he or she will receive little benefit from inclusion or will be so disruptive as to keep
other classmates from learning.”( Kirk 2015) Implications to special education in this case is that
the teacher quickly jump to conclusions. I feel like they should have tried out another method in
order to see if that work before they decided to transfer him to another school.
Conclusion
Reference
Mead F. Julies (Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, 334 F. Supp 1257 (E.D. Pa. 1971), 343 F. Supp. 279 (E.D. Pa. 1972)
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Education for All Handicapped Children
Act (EAHCA) also know as the Individualized with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
In conclusion, it is already tough raising children with disabilities. We still have to treat
children with disabilities the same way we treat a regular child. Many laws have been passed to
ensure students with disabilities are treated equally. Some of those laws are No Child Left
Behind, Section 504 and Individualized with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Least
Restrictive Environment which requires students with disabilities to be taught in the same
classroom with regular students. They still have a special education teacher to come in and help
the child with disability out whenever he or she needs help. For these reason children with
disabilities should not be judged or not taught because of their disability.
Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_v._Board_of_Education_of_District_of_Columbia
Oberti v. board of education. (2010, June 29).
Retrieved from http://www.kidstogether.org/right-ed_files/oberti.htm
Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., & Coleman, M. (2015). Educating exceptional children (14th ed.).
Stamford, CT: Cengage.
