Laws affecting students from diverse populations.

There are many federal and state law that affect students from diverse populations. In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled in Plyler vs. Doe that undocumented children have the right to seek public education and that educators cannot ask about their or their parents’ immigration status. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination in schools, employment, and public accommodations. The Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education began the effort for schools to not be segregated. In 1973, the Rehabilitation Act calls for educational equity for individuals with disabilities. In 1974, the case of Lau vs. Nichols gave English language learners the right to have instruction that meets their specialized needs. In 2003, a Supreme Court ruling overturned the last anti-homosexual law. Title IX made it illegal to discriminate against women and girls in educational programs. In the Federal District Court ruling of Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children vs. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it ruled that all children between the ages of six and twenty-one must be provided free education. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act required free and appropriate education for all children with disabilities. All these rulings and law the government has introduced show the ways it has tried to make education better and available for everyone. With a better educated youth, this country could do great things.