The motivating principle behind IDEA was to ensure equal opportunities for all children. To realize this idea, we must find a balance between the needs of all children. In 1975, the federal Education of All Handicapped Children Act was passed, now revised as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 1990). For handicapped children, the law is long overdue. The designers of IDEA saw themselves as progressive reformers, designing fairer and more responsive schools. Lawmakers were attempting to correct two historic injustices. First, public schools did not serve many of the country's eight million handicapped children, with as many as one million children out of school. Second, a disproportionate number of minority children were labeled as educated mentally retarded. Combining free speech and due process would ensure that school officials made the least arbitrary and frivolous educational decisions they reasoned about. IDEA involved more than just installing wheelchair ramps and updating testing procedures. Certainly the magnitude of the act struck absolute terror into the hearts of school administrators. It required not only specific education for each child, but also related services designed to meet specific needs, including: transportation, speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychological counseling, and social work services. To avoid inappropriate placements, a comprehensive and individual assessment by a multidisciplinary team would be provided in the child's native language. To avoid cultural bias, there would be no single procedure that would serve as the sole criterion for placement. Each child was to receive an Individualized Education Plan... half of the document... extracted from http://www.urbanedjournal.org/archive/volume-9-issue-1-fall-2011/ scuola-cosi-noiosa-Associazione national middle school. (2010). This is what we believe: keys to educating young adolescents. Westerville, OH: Author.Riley, R. & Coleman, A. (2011). Turning the page on the debate over equity in education. American Educator, Spring 2011, 26-30. Sugai, G., & Lewis, T. (2002). Teaching social skills in the classroom. In E. J. Kame'enui & C. Darch (Eds.). Management of classrooms. (2nd ed.).White Plains, NY: Longman.Sutherland, K., Lewis-Palmer, T., Stichter, J., & Morgan, P. (2008). Examining the influence of teacher behavior and classroom context on behavioral and academic outcomes for students with emotional or behavioral disorders. The Journal of Special Education, 41(4), 223- 232.