Education Policy: Research: Historical Overview: Kennedy:
Federal Education Policy and the States, 1945-2009
The Kennedy Years: Disability and Education
Kennedy did not succeed in passing a "general
aid" package for schools in 1961 or 1962, but he did sign several
smaller programs into law. In particular, he succeeded in passing
programs for disabled students (a group of particular interest to
him, because his sister, Rosemary, suffered from mental retardation).
In 1961, he gathered a distinguished panel of experts to develop
"A National Plan to Combat Mental Retardation." The panel
announced its findings two years later, in 1963, and Congress responded
with two major laws: the Maternal and Child Health and Mental Retardation
Planning Act, which granted $265 million in federal aid over five
years to support programs for the mentally retarded, and the Mental
Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Construction
Act, which granted $330 million over five years for new buildings
to serve disabled citizens. Virtually every state launched a federally
funded Mental Retardation Planning Project, the chief aim of which
was to bolster states' eligibility for future federal grants.
