An Overview of Special Education Law Part II [Article Review]
Introduction
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly abbreviated ESEA, was enacted by the US congress on 11th of April, 1965 thereby becoming one of the outstanding educational legislation ever enacted by the US congress. The principal focus of this legislation was the provision of equal education rights to all US citizens. In the same year, the congress added Title IV to ESEA in an attempt the facilitate education of students with special needs. This paper aims at presenting a critique of an article that touches on the Special Education legislation.
Article Summary
As presented in Theresa Sidebotham’s article, special education is tremendously relevant owing to the fact that problems revolving around disability can best be tackled with the help of special education. This type of education is of vaulting importance in the revolution of juvenile justice systems as well as the welfare of children of children with disability. In addition, Sidebotham asserts that the law is particularly salient in bettering the welfare of children with special needs as well as complementing the Child Abuse Prevention Act. The article also seeks to advise parents and anyone in readership of the article on how to determine whether a child needs special education or not. Most importantly, the article seeks to clarify the mysteries surrounding foster children specifically with regards to special education. Furthermore, the article talks about the functions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act before concluding with an assertion that the Special Education Law is complex.
Discussion
The article is, by all means, a pertinent addition to the available literature on the Special Education Legislation; a part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. As it can be easily deduced from the article, there is a close correlation between juvenile justice and the special education law. In addition, the achievement of juvenile justice is profoundly dependent on the provision of special education to the affected children. I am wholly in accord with the author’s concluding remarks that the Special Education Law in complex. This is because as highlighted in the conclusion of the article, the topic covered in this article is, indeed, very composite - it is difficult to understand the relationship between Juvenile Justice and Special Education in light of the fact the special education is mostly perceived to apply to children with disabilities only. The article has far-reaching effects on the current public and private education. On several occasions, children involved in crimes are reflexively considered not fit to receive education with other children studying in public or private schools. However, the author aptly states that Special Education should be provided to compliment juvenile correction systems. In my opinion, the efforts by the juvenile justice systems can be boosted further with the introduction of programs that will enable children undergoing juvenile correction to attend school normally as other student. I argue this with in mind that special education can be provided on the go with the education for normal children. However, just like a plethora of other legislation, the special education law is characterized with some limitations. The major limitation of the law is that there are no apt stipulates to guide the picking children in need of special education. It is worth noting that the limitations of the special education law are not covered anywhere in the article.
Conclusion
Even though the article does not capture this subject in a clear manner, the article is indispensable in shaping special education specifically with regards to children under the juvenile justice systems.
Reference
Sidebotham, T. (2009). “An Overview of Special Education Law—Part II.” Colorado Bar Association, 38(3); 59-68. Retrieved from http://www.rothgerber.com/files/8141_AnOverviewofSpecialEducationLawIJan09.pdf
