The history of special education: From exclusion to IDEA

If your child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), you’ve probably sat in a meeting where teachers and administrators discussed your child’s academic goals, services, and accommodations. You have a legal right to that meeting under special education law. But that right is newer than you might think.

In 1970, U.S. schools educated only one in five kids with disabilities.opens in a new tab Many states had laws that openly kept out kids who were deaf or blind, or who had intellectual disabilities. Today, about 7.5 million students — roughly 15 percent of all public school studentsopens in a new tab — receive services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

That change didn’t happen overnight. It took decades of parents suing, students and advocates testifying, and Congress enacting laws and then revising them.

“I hope seeing the evolution of disability rights gives caregivers hope that change is possible and that we’ve come a very long way,” says Janet Decker, PhD, JD, an associate professor of education policy and law at Indiana University. “Federal disability law initially opened the door so that students with disabilities were provided access to an education. However, today, we have moved beyond access to a focus on the quality of the education.”

Here’s a timeline of key moments in the history of special education — court cases, laws, and milestones. Let’s dive into where it began, what’s happened along the way, and where things stand today. 

In Beattie v. Board of Educationopens in a new tab (1919), the Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds a district’s decision to exclude a student with a paralytic condition affecting his face, speech, and body. The school board argues that his uncontrolled drooling and facial contortions distracted teachers and classmates. The court agrees — even though it acknowledges that he was keeping up with his peers academically. 

Many children are sent to state institutions that provide little more than food, clothing, and shelter. “Our society ignored and allowed the abuse and inhumane treatment of children with disabilities,” Decker says. “Without witnessing the conditions that compelled Congress to pass disability laws, it is hard to imagine how awful it was.”

The Supreme Court strikes down school segregation,opens in a new tab calling education “a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.” The ruling is about race, not disability. So disability advocates spend the next two decades building the case for including kids with disabilities in public education.

Congress passes the first major federal school funding lawopens in a new tab in 1965. That same year, a companion law — the State Schools Act — starts sending federal grants to state institutions that educate children with disabilities. 

The following year, the ESEA Amendments of 1966 extend that funding to local school districts. They also create a federal office (the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped) to oversee it. 

Ann Turnbull, EdD, co-founder of the Beach Center on Disability,opens in a new tab describes the special education classrooms of this era in an upcoming episode of Understood’s Zero Reject podcast. “The classroom really had every type, every disability,” she says. “The phrase that came to mind was a dumping ground. If any student had a challenge, then they were sent to this classroom.”

PARC v. Pennsylvaniaopens in a new tab rules that kids with intellectual disabilities have a right to a publicly funded education. Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbiaopens in a new tab decides that Washington, DC, schools can’t turn kids away, no matter the cost. Together, the cases establish what’s now called “zero reject.”

Congress passes the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It’s the first federal civil rights protection for people with disabilities in any program that gets federal money, including public schools. It’s the foundation of today’s 504 plans. But a law like this needs regulations — the specific rules that spell out how to follow it — before federal agencies can actually enforce it. Those regulations sit unsigned for years.

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142) declares that every child with a disability has a right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). It also requires schools to write an IEP for each eligible student and teach kids in the least restrictive environment (LRE). Parents must be included in decisions and have the right to due process when there’s a dispute.

Disability rights activists stage sit-ins at federal buildingsopens in a new tab to force the signing of the 504 regulations. The pressure works: The government signs the regulations, and Section 504 finally becomes enforceable.

The Supreme Court takes up FAPE for the first time. The case centers on Amy Rowley, a deaf student whose school denied her a sign language interpreter. The court rulesopens in a new tab that schools must provide instruction individually designed to benefit the student. But they don’t have to help every student reach their full potential. For the next 35 years, lower courts split over how much benefit is enough.

Congress passes the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986, extending the law to preschoolers ages 3 to 5. It creates early intervention for infants and toddlers, now known as Part C. Families no longer have to wait until a child turns 3 to get support.

Congress renames the law the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This update includes autism and traumatic brain injury as disability categories. It also requires transition planning to help students with IEPs prepare for life after high school. And it replaces terms like “handicapped” with person-first language throughout the law. 

That same year, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) becomes law, extending disability rights well beyond the classroom.

The 1997 IDEA updateopens in a new tab requires schools to give students with disabilities access to the general education curriculum and include them in state testing. Schools also must consider positive behavior supports when behavior affects learning, and in certain discipline situations, create a plan to address it. The update also increased the family’s role in an IEP team.

The 2004 update allows schools to use response to intervention (RTI) to identify learning disabilities. It also requires states to address why certain racial and ethnic groups are overrepresented in special education.

The Endrew F. case finally answers the question courts had been split on for decades: How much progress is enough? In this case, a boy with autism wasn’t making progress after several years in public school. His parents rejected the district’s proposed IEP and enrolled him in a private school for kids with autism. Then they sued for reimbursement.

The Supreme Court unanimously ruledopens in a new tab that IEPs must let a child “make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances,” with goals that are “appropriately ambitious.” It means that school districts must create IEPs that are based on the child’s actual abilities and challenges. And the IEP must be designed to meet challenging objectives. 

Decker, who studied what the ruling changed for students with disabilities, says it gives families something concrete to ask for. “If caregivers are worried about their child’s progress, they can request data to document that the IEP is allowing their child ‘to make progress appropriate’ based on their individual child’s circumstances,” she says. “If IEPs are not supported by the data, then caregivers could advocate that changes must be made to comply with IDEA.”

A March 2025 executive orderopens in a new tab directs the U.S. Department of Education to shut down “to the maximum extent” the law allows. The department cuts its staff roughly in half. 

In June of 2026, interagency agreements move day-to-day administration of special education programs to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and education civil rights enforcement to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Here’s the most important thing to know: IDEA and Section 504 are still law. Your child’s IEP and 504 plan work the same way they did last year. Changing those laws would take an act of Congress.

Decker calls the shift problematic. She points to less federal expertise in special education, delays in funding, and mixed guidance from different agencies. “Caregivers should be aware that the department can no longer offer the necessary supports and oversight that it used to provide for students with disabilities,” she says. “I would watch for additional cuts to legal protections for individuals with disabilities.” 

A bipartisan Senate bill that would reverse these agency transfers advanced out of committee in July 2026. But it hasn’t passed the full Senate. 

Every right in your child’s IEP meeting exists because someone pushed for it — in a courtroom, in Congress, or at a school board meeting. Today, IDEA covers 13 disability categories, including ADHD under “other health impairment.” 

The work isn’t finished. Asked whether the promise of the 1975 law has been kept, Decker says no — not for everyone. Congress pledged to cover up to 40 percent of the cost of special education, but federal funding has hovered around 12 percent. “Public schools are legally required to provide special education without the necessary resources and support,” she says.

Knowing this history won’t change what’s in your child’s IEP. But it can change how you advocate for your child. 

Thumbnail image credit: PeopleImages via Getty Images