Minority
Children With Disabilities Will Be Harmed In Disproportionate
Numbers If IDEA’s Discipline Safeguards Are Reduced or
Eliminated
from Harvard University's Civil Rights Project, January
30, 2003
For more articles visit
www.bridges4kids.org.
Fueled by the “Zero Tolerance” movement’s embrace of harsh and
swift punishment for even minor misbehavior, some in Congress
have called for amending the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA) (likely this spring) to reduce or
eliminate critical due process requirements. Under current law
– in response to unwarranted removals from school, and a
general pattern of denying access to educational opportunity -
students with disabilities have protection from unjust
disciplinary removal and denial of educational opportunities.
The evidence on school discipline, school violence and racial
disproportionality suggests that these protections are
especially important for children of color who are disciplined
at much higher rates than non-minority children. There are
areas where we should be discussing how IDEA can be
strengthened and improved upon, but taking away the due
process rights of children with disabilities should not be
part of that discussion.
Among children with disabilities, Latino, Native American, and
African American children are substantially more likely than
whites to be suspended, removed by school personnel, or
removed by a hearing officer. For example, according to
national OSEP data from the 1999-2000 academic year, African
American students with disabilities are more than three times
as likely as Whites to be given short-term suspensions. Racial
disparities are nearly as great for long-term suspensions with
both American Indians (2.72 times) and African Americans (2.6
times) more likely to be removed for more than ten days.
Moreover, African American, Latino, and American Indian
children with disabilities are each 67% more likely than
Whites to be removed on grounds of dangerousness by a hearing
officer.
There is currently a hole in the safety net – not a double
standard. Many advocates have sought, unsuccessfully, to
provide greater due process protections to all students
regardless of disability status. The failure to extend this
safety net to all children represents a political compromise,
not a double standard.
Removing services will exacerbate the already high drop out
rate for students with disabilities. Research indicates that
students who are suspended or expelled are at greater risk of
dropping out, regardless of disability status. Minority
students with disabilities already have higher dropout rates
than non-minority students. Disruptions in academic programs
and relationships with caring adults are often more
problematic for students with disabilities than for their
non-disabled peers. Therefore school removal, which would
likely increase if due process protections are diminished,
will likely have severe long-term repercussions and
disproportionately harm children of color with disabilities.
We need more teacher training in classroom management, not
reduced safeguards for children with disabilities. We know
from research that many teachers are not adequately trained in
managing a classroom, and even less likely to be trained to
work with students with emotional or behavioral disorders.
Providing teachers with the training and support they need
would go much further toward creating a safe and productive
learning environment than laying down a fast track for
removing students with disabilities.
|