Our own little Charlie Wilson ... sort of.
Harrison (Pete) Williams was a Senator from New Jersey. He is important to us because he was the Senator that proposed the core provisions of EAHCA, what is today
IDEA, based off the
PARC and
Mills cases which granted equal educational access to children with disabilities.
A few years later, just as his law was starting to positively affect the lives of millions of disabled students, he was caught taking bribes in an FBI sting operation called
ABSCAM (the same sting operation John Murtha was involved in). He agreed to take stock in a titanium mining business in return for giving the business special treatment by the government. He was convicted and served several years in jail.
I guess you take your heroes where you can find them.
Article originally appeared on The Edjurist - Information on School and Educational Law (http://edjurist.com/).
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