PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1972)

By Andrew Dawson

Overview

In PARC v. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the two parties settled before the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The approved consent decree declared several state laws denying students with intellectual and developmental disabilities access to free and publicly funded education as unconstitutional. Thus, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was responsible for providing evaluations and placements for all students with disabilities between the ages of six and twenty-one in properly and publicly funded educational settings (Clearinghouse).

Summary

In January, 1971, several children with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their parents, filed a class-action lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the State Board of Education and several school districts (the respondents). PARC (the plaintiff) claimed Pennsylvania laws denying students a free education who had reached the age of eight, but had not yet reached the mental age of five was unconstitutional, and thus sought a declaratory and injunctive relief. These laws had been used on multiple occasions by the state to deny free public education for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The plaintiffs argued school districts unfairly classified students as “uneducable and untrainable” (Clearinghouse). Further, the plaintiffs argued students with intellectual and developmental disabilities would benefit from a free education and that denying such education negatively impacted their development (Justia Law).

In October, 1971, the court entered a consent decree (settlement) which declared the state laws preventing students with intellectual and developmental disabilities from a free and public education as unconstitutional. Further, this consent decree required the state of Pennsylvania to evaluate and place all students with disabilities ages six through twenty-one into appropriate and properly funded educational settings. The court also appointed monitors and retained the ability to enforce the consent decree (Clearinghouse).

Impact

PARC v. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is seen as a landmark decision, among the most famous in education, and as the first major case which provided equality to students with disabilities. Following PARC v. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, cases in other states (which had enforced similar laws) were won and began to introduce educational equality (Stewart, Disability Justice). Further, Mills v. Board of Education of District of Columbia (1972) drastically expanded the PARC v. Penn decision by including children with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities, in addition to intellectual and developmental disabilities. These cases lead to the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) of 1975 (Ross, ASU). The PARC and Mills rulings lead to pressure for federal legislation guaranteeing a public education for all children. Thus, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was passed in 1975, amending EHA. IDEA codified the right of a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for all students (Stewart, Disability Justice).

Specifically in PARC v. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, there were several key cases in Pennsylvania during the 1970s and 1980s where specific school districts faced lawsuits as a result of being non-compliant to the 1971 consent decree. In each of these cases, rulings were in favor of the plaintiffs. Further, in 1982, an additional settlement was agreed upon regarding “severely handicapped students.” This 1982 settlement stated students would be “provided with a program of education and related services which is conducted in age appropriate schools attended also by non-handicapped students, in natural proportions, by specifically trained teachers and aides” (Clearinghouse).

Court Documents:

Full Ruling of PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania 

Court Documents for 4 Cases After 1971 Consent Decree

Full Ruling of Mills v. Board of Education of District of Columbia by the United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975

Link to Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (Updated Amendments to IDEA) (now known as IDEIA) 

Link to IDEA Parent Guide (IDEA: 2004)

Citations:

Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975 - S. 6), GovTrack.us, www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/94/s6. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

Mills v. Board of Education of District of Columbia, 348 F. Supp. 866 (D.D.C. 1972), Justia Law, law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/348/866/2010674/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

PARC v. Commonwealth of Pa., 343 F. Supp. 279 (E.D. Pa. 1972), Justia Law, law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/343/279/1691591/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, clearinghouse.net/case/11082/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Public Interest Law Center. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024. Link

Ross, Nathaniel. PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1972), ASU Embryo Project Encyclopedia, 5 May 2022. Link

Stewart, Dan. The Right to Education, Disability Justice, 1 June 2023, disabilityjustice.org/right-to-education/.