Ford’s Legacy Includes a Special Education Law He Signed Despite Worries

When President Gerald R. Ford signed the 1975 special education legislation that would have a huge impact on education, his ambivalence was evident.

Though he supported the mission to open classroom doors for children with disabilities, the fiscally conservative president expressed worries that the Education for All Handicapped Children Act would strain the resources of the federal government and raise false expectations of support—predictions that many special education observers say have become a reality.

As political dignitaries, family members, and friends said goodbye yesterday in Washington to the nation’s 38th president, who died Dec. 26 at age 93, others were trying to make sure that his words regarding special education were remembered and heeded by those trying to improve the landmark law, now called the Individuals with Disabilities...