Legacy

Legal Impact

"More recently the Federal cases of Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children against Pennsylvania, and Mills against Board of Education of the District of Columbia have been decided. These Court rulings guarantee the right to free publicly supported education for handicapped children and have resulted in similar court action in 27 States throughout the Nation."
~ Senate Congressional Records, June 18, 1975

In addition to the immediate ramifications of the PARC v. Pennsylvania settlement, the case set legal precedent for subsequent court cases challenging the exclusion of children with both physical and cognitive impairments from publicly funded educational programs.

These cases extended the legal impact of the PARC decision beyond the state of Pennsylvania and developmental disabilities.

"As further support for its conclusion, the majority opinion turns to Pennsylvania Assn. for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth, 334 F. Supp. 1257 (ED Pa.1971), 343 F. Supp. 279 (1972) (PARC)"

~ Supreme Court Case Board of Education v. Rowley, Majority Opinion, 1982

Education for All Handicapped Children Act

"[i]ncreased awareness of the educational needs of handicapped children and landmark court decisions establishing the right to education for handicapped children pointed to the necessity of an expanded federal fiscal role [in special education]."

~ Senate Congressional Records, June 18, 1975

"[the Education for All Handicapped Children Act] is a result of many court decisions, including the historic right to education consent agreement between the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which was signed in 1971, and established for the first time in the Nation the right of mentally retarded persons to a free public education."


~ Senator Schweiker addressing congress, June 18, 1975

"[The FAPE and LRE] provisions were tracked, as were most of the provisions of the [PARC v. Commonwealth Pennsylvania] order, directly into public law 94142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, now known as IDEA."


~ Thomas Gilhool, lead PARC attorney, speaking on the impact of the PARC decision, 2012

Public Law 94-142, The Education for All Handicapped Children Act: November 29, 1975

In 1975, as a result of the growing push for equal education, pioneered by PARC v. Pennsylvania, and the legal precedent set by the PARC v. Pennsylvania decision, Congress passed the Education for all Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA).

The EAHCA was the first national piece of legislation to mandate that all school districts provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE) to all cognitively impaired and physically disabled children in the United States of America.

"My son, Sonny Weicker, has been educated under [the EAHCA]"
~ Senator Lowell Weicker, 1990

In 1990, the EAHCA was renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

In the 2020-2021 school year alone, 7.5 million students were educated under the IDEA, representing 15% of the total student population.

As a result of PARC v. Pennsylvania's landmark decision, all children, regardless of ability, now have the right to a free appropriate public education under the law.

Caden and Marcus, two students receiving a FAPE under the IDEA, speak about how school has personally impacted them: Courtesy of Knights of Columbus, 2018

Settlement

Thesis

Written Work