On the seventy-first anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision (May 17, 1954), it is important to recognize that while the ruling did not specifically address disability rights, it was instrumental in laying the legal and constitutional groundwork for Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (now IDEA). Brown established the precedent and rationale that all children—regardless of race or disability—are entitled to equal access to public education. This Blog previously addressed issues related to Brown on July 20, 2019 (https://spedlawblog.com/2019/07/20/brown-v-board-of-education-1954-and-the-development-of-special-education/).

Let’s highlight the five main ways Brown laid the foundation.

1. Established the Right to Equal Educational Opportunity

Brown declared that “separate but equal” education violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. This was the first definitive ruling stating every child has a right to an equal education under the Constitution, a principle later used to protect students with disabilities.

Without Brown, there would be no constitutional foundation for requiring schools to serve students with disabilities.

2. Marked the First Time the Federal Government Intervened in Local Education

Brown was also historic because it represented the first time the federal government stepped into what had always been a local issue—public education. Until this point, schooling decisions were entirely left to states and districts. Browndeclared when a local policy violates constitutional rights, the federal government has a duty to intervene.

This shift was critical for later federal education laws like PL 94-142, which mandated states take specific actions to serve students with disabilities.

3. Provided Legal Framework for Inclusion

The Court’s statement that separate educational settings are “inherently unequal” laid the groundwork for challenging the segregation of students with disabilities. It helped create the concept of the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), a key pillar of PL 94-142, requiring students with disabilities be educated with nondisabled peers whenever appropriate.

4. Inspired Later Landmark Disability Cases

Civil rights attorneys cited Brown in key early disability cases like:

• PARC v. Pennsylvania (1971) – argued students with intellectual disabilities had a right to public education.
• Mills v. Board of Education (1972) – established lack of funds is not an excuse for denying education to students with disabilities.

Both directly relied on the reasoning and moral authority of Brown.

5. Shifted Education from Privilege to Right

Before Brown, public education was often treated as a local privilege, not a right. Brown reframed that, stating education is “a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.” PL 94-142 carried that forward by making education a federally protected right for children with disabilities.

Summary:

Brown v. Board of Education broke the ground the disability rights movement would later build on. It:

• Established the constitutional right to education for all students.
• Allowed the federal government to mandate local education changes.
• Created the foundation for inclusion, nondiscrimination, and federal enforcement.
• Made it legally and morally impossible to justify excluding students with disabilities from public schools.