Government 2301 Executive Project - Essay Example

This helpful act was brought into law by George W. Bush on December 3, 2004. This act has helped out and benefitted 6.8 children and youths suffering from disabilities (OELP). In order to gain a better understanding of the Office of Special Education Programs, it is important to take a closer look at the act, IDEA. IDEA has had a profound effect on individuals with disabilities. It was actually preceded by a different act, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142) put into law on Nov.

29, 1975 (IDEA’s Impact). This law was made in order to protect the rights of the needs of individuals with disabilities, as well as assisting their families. Before IDEA, many people with disabilities were not able to obtain the types of necessary opportunities to educate themselves successfully (IDEA’s Impact). A report in 1970 showed that several United States schools would not permit certain students with disabilities to enter the school (IDEA’s Impact). This, of course, greatly harmed the education of these individuals while at the same time making education seem like something these people did not deserve.

However, in a fair country with public education, shouldn’t everybody have access to it? This is why IDEA was formed. The act initiated programs that could discover disabilities relatively early on in order to assist students. This education would then be molded to fit these individuals’ basic needs, whether they were deaf, blind, mentally retarded, or suffered from some other type of disability. This has created an opportunity for children with disabilities to take advantage of their public schools (IDEA’s Impact).

Thus, the schools have responded to this with different ideas. Some students have separate classes with different teachers, while others are learning with their non-disabled