About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

3 Vt. L. Rev. 71 (1978)
Education for the Handicapped: A Senator's Perspective

handle is hein.journals/vlr3 and id is 75 raw text is: EDUCATION FOR THE HANDICAPPED: A SENATOR'S PERSPECTIVE Robert T. Stafford* Every American child has a right to an equal educational op- portunity. This doctrine has been set forth by numerous state constitu- tions, I Supreme Court decisions2 and federal civil rights laws.3 While the doctrine is disputed by some, it is a generally accepted principle upon which the Congress has based several important education laws in the last decade. The enactment of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975' is founded on this American principle guaranteed by. our Constitution.' In essence, this Act seeks to guarantee a handi- capped child the right to a free, appropriate, public education in the least restrictive educational environment. There are undoubtedly numerous ways of characterizing what the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 is really all about. I am reminded of a line from Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man: I am invisible. .. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber, and liquids-and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.' This invisibility has, until quite recently, been the condition of handicapped Americans in relation to their fellow citizens, and it * United States Senator, Vermont; B.S. Middlebury College, 1935; J.D. Boston Univer- sity, 1938. 1. See COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN, DIGEST OF STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS: EDUCA- TION OF HANDICAPPED CHILDREN (1971), [hereinafter cited as DIGEST OF LAWS]. 2. See, e.g., Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). The United States Supreme Court affirmed the rights of all children to an equal education. See text accompany- ing notes 12 & 13 infra. 3. For a discussion of the right to education principle as established within federal and state litigation and legislation, see Zettel & Abeson, The Right to a Free Appropriate Public Education, in THE COURTS AND EDUCATION 193-99 (C. Hooker ed. 1978). 4. 20 U.S.C. §§ 1401-1461 (1970 & Supp. V 1975). 5. U.S. CONST. amend. XIV, § 1. 6. R. ELLISON, INVISIBLE MAN 3 (1952).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most