Moments in Disability History 6
The Right to Education Based on Brown v. Board of Education
Dr. Gunnar Dybwad was Professor of Human Development at the Florence Heller Graduate School of Brandeis University and an internationally known authority on developmental disabilities.
In 1954, early in his tenure as Executive Director of the then-named National Association for Retarded Children, Dr. Dybwad called attention to the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. He suggested that what Brown sought to recognize and change for African American children, that "separate facilities are inherently unequal," had enormous possibilities for children with disabilities as well.
The biggest breakthrough came in 1971 when attorney Thomas K. Gilhool, representing the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (PARC v. Commonwealth), used Brown v. Board of Education in his arguments in a case that resulted in a landmark decision affirming the right to education at public expense and due process for children with disabilities.
The New York Times, on page one, quoted Dr. Dybwad: "The decision makes Pennsylvania the first state in the union to guarantee education and training to all of its children with developmental disabilities now and in the future."
Four days later, on its editorial page, The New York Times called on the Congress to do that for all of the states of the United States. Within two months in the House of Representatives, and another month later in the United States Senate, what became section 504 was introduced, and shortly thereafter, what became the Education for All Handicapped Children's Act of 1975, was given birth as Public Law 94-142.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

The court ruled that the right and opportunity to an education must be made available to all on equal terms, "all" meaning people of all races. Even though Brown made no reference to children with disabilities, it provided for 1971 and 1972 court decisions in Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., that extended the right to a free public education to children with disabilities.
Video: Selections from an Oral History of Policy and Advocacy in Developmental Disabilities as Reflected in the Life and Works of Gunnar Dybwad Ph.D.
In these video clips, Dr. Dybwad speaks of the influence of the courts and Tom Gilhool speaks of Dr. Dybwad's influence on the courts.
Video courtesy of The Elizabeth M. Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities, NJ's University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service.

Dr. Gunnar Dybwad
Sources:
The Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities: Parallels In Time II: 1950-2005: A Place To Learn: The Development of a Free Appropriate Public Education for All Children