These laws are important tools for advocates working to ensure that children with disabilities receive appropriate services and supports, a free appropriate public education, and adequate protection from criminal charges filed by school personnel. The 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act offer children with disabilities greater opportunities to participate in a mainstream education curriculum. Substantive requirements such as the individualized education program, as well as procedural protections, are available for holding states and school districts accountable for improving educational outcomes for students with disabilities. Gwendelyn A. Daniels Advocates can tap information on the educational rights of children with disabilities from Web sites maintained by organizations and agencies concerned with the education of children with disabilities. The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois is setting precedent by contending for the plaintiffs in Lewis E. v. Spagnolo that the state's schoolchildren have a right to a minimally adequate education.
Homeless children face overwhelming obstacles in securing a free, appropriate public education.
Advocates' successful struggle to improve educational access for homeless children and youth in Chicago's huge and bureaucratic school system is likely to inspire similar efforts elsewhere in the country. This article reviews the barriers to preschool education that homeless children face, the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Act's education requirements, along with the strategies used to enforce the rights of homeless children. Rather, the Oberti opinions reflect the courts' continuing insistence that school districts try a variety of less restrictive alternatives before they place children in specialized settings. This article reports on the most significant recent court decisions regarding the right of all students to participate as valued and respected equals in public education. The current rights of students with disabilities to a free appropriate education and the law regarding school discipline of students with disabilities are discussed in this article.