Section 504 of the Rehabiliation Act of 1973

Section 504 and A Historical Look at Legislation Surrounding It.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 stated:

Section 504 has a broad scope of applicability in the field of education.  It is so broad that it can be confusing to the general classroom teacher.  This law can cause a great deal of concern for the teacher who finds himself working with a student who has a 504 accommodation plan, or whose parents are requesting one, or when the teacher feels that the student may benefit from services that may not fall under special education’s jurisdiction.  A 504 accommodation plan is a document created by a team of educators for an individual student.  It outlines strategies which are intended to enable the student, with a qualified disability, to be successful in the general education classroom.

To fully understand the implications of a law like Section 504, some background knowledge of laws surrounding the Section 504 legislation is necessary.  In 1965, the Federal Government enacted the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which was designed to help disadvantaged students attain higher levels of proficiency in school.  This was the beginning of the Federal Government’s active role in providing educational opportunities to children with disabilities.

From 1965 into the early 1970’s Congress began to view Federal programs as a necessity if students with disabilities were to gain full access to educational opportunities.  Out of this concern came Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  This act placed lawful demands on any organization that received Federal funding as assistance to its programs.  Exclusion from, denial of benefits, or discrimination in any Federally funded program was prohibited by Section 504.

In 1974, Congress funded grant programs to school districts throughout the U.S. that provided funds for the training of educational personnel who taught children with disabilities and for new research programs that were meant to identify the best practices in teaching youth with disabilities.  The next year, in 1975, Congress realized that passing requirements and developing research would not completely ensure that delivery of the services for children with disabilities would actually occur.  Congress then passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, which was later renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA.  With IDEA, Congress created a process that distributed Federal funds to organizations, such as schools, that were in compliance with the regulations of IDEA.  States were held accountable for providing the services that were put into place (Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, 1997).

IDEA is separate legislation from Section 504 and should not be confused with it, even though they are related.  In 1976, the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare began in earnest to push for enforcement of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its Section 504.  By October 1, 1977 regulations requiring compliance with IDEA and Section 504 were in place (Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, 1997).

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), was created in 1990.  Its purpose was to target the American agencies and businesses that did not fall under IDEA and Section 504.  It was meant to assist even the entities that did not receive Federal funding with rights and regulations for disabled Americans. Because of its similarities to the requirements of Section 504, the ADA is briefly included here.

During a congressional debate some lawmakers feared that endless and expensive litigation would result from the passing of the ADA.  Others in the debate told those who were skeptical not to worry because a body of explanatory Section 504 case law already existed as a guideline.  Much of Section 504’s case law that was referred to was written in the context of public education (Zirkel, 1997).

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