Reflections on the 25th Anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Abstract

November 29, 2000, marked the 25th anniversary of the signing into law of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This seminal law has improved the educational opportunities for students with disabilities in the United States. In this article we briefly review the IDEA's first 25 years and speculate on the direction the IDEA may take in the future. Our purpose in this article is to (a) present the litigative and legislative developments that led to the passage of IDEA, (b) examine the law itself and the litigation interpreting the IDEA, and (c) discuss the direction that IDEA may take over the next 25 years.