Remembering Why There’s a Special Education Law

Donald Trump is destroying programs that help Democratic and Republican kids, including special education. He seems not to understand why laws exist to protect students.

Linda McMahon is eliminating the U.S. ED, without Congressional approval, which oversees critical federal laws for public schools, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). She fired the special education staff, mostly ending the department.

Health and Human Services (HHS) might manage special education, but HHS is a massive program with problems.

The Arc, an organization that supports those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, describes why this wouldn’t be a good idea.

…this move might be viewed as promoting a medical model of disability—one that treats disability as a diagnosis to be managed rather than recognizing students as learners with potential. Framing students with disabilities through a medical lens risks stigmatizing, segregating, and isolating them from their peers. It undermines decades of progress toward ensuring that students with disabilities are seen and supported as general education students first.

Some believe states will provide better accommodations. But history shows this has failed before. It’s why a federal mandate was created.

McMahon’s reckless changes, ending special education without viable solutions, demonstrate a lack of concern for a vulnerable population.

Those who have worked in the field over the years — parents and teachers — can certainly think of ways to help public schools better address student needs, including those with special education needs.

But that’s not what this is about. McMahon has no professional educational background to understand schools, students, children with disabilities, or the history of special education, or to make meaningful changes. She’s in this role to end services. She repeatedly brags about this claiming the U.S. ED isn’t necessary.

Instead of better funding for special education, which parents and teachers have demanded for years, she’s giving $500 million to charter schools, and, sadly, some Democrats will be onboard. They’ve wanted to privatize America’s schools for many years.

However, in all the years since their existence, charter schools have rarely been a solution for children with disabilities. Students are often counseled out and rejected, especially those with emotional and behavioral disabilities, ADHD, and intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Private schools are supposed to serve children with disabilities but religious schools are exempt. And who’s monitoring these schools which often don’t have the resources or the qualified staff to run good programs.

Also, importantly, charter schools and private schools don’t always include students with disabilities in general classes, called inclusion. Charter schools segregate children into disability groups for those with dyslexia, or schools for intellectual and developmental disabilities, much like the 1800s when children stayed at home or were primarily given religious classes.

Children don’t get opportunities to socialize with their peers and without oversight, these schools might not assist children to learn and find independence.

McMahon, by not enforcing the law that mandates public schools open their doors to children with disabilities, creates a dangerous situation, that will result in children with disabilities sliding backwards in time.

Make no mistake, special ed. has consistently been underfunded, but the belief that every child can learn and be educated is a promise Americans should support and protect.

Parents are told the law remains, but a law must be enforced, or it will likely fall apart. Reviewing history is necessary to remember why such a law became significant.

Warning! The following links include pictures and videos that are difficult to view.

Burton Blatt’s Christmas in Purgatory

In 1965, Burton Blatt and photographer, Fred Kaplan, began a research project at a Connecticut center for the developmentally disabled. They visited five state institutions in the east that housed individuals with developmental disabilities. Kaplan carried a miniature spy camera on his belt, secretly snapping pictures as they toured the facilities. They never identified the institutions, likely understaffed.

You can view Christmas in Purgatory HERE.

Burton Blatt increased our awareness of the inhumane treatment of those with disabilities, his legacy is described here. 

As an advocate of deinstitutionalization, he helped initiate community living programs and family support services. In his clinical work he emphasized the provision of education to children with severe disabilities, those whom he called “clinically homeless.” As a national leader in special education, he called for programs to integrate students with disabilities into public schools and worked to promote a more open society for them. 

Willowbrook State School

Robert F. Kennedy, Sr., visited Willowbrook, a New York State school, in 1965. After visiting the school, he said:

I think that at the state institution for the mentally retarded, and I think that particularly at Willowbrook, we have a situation that borders on a snake pit, and that the children live in filth, that many of our fellow citizens are suffering tremendously because lack of attention, lack of imagination, lack of adequate manpower.

There is very little future for these children, for those who are in these institutions. Both need a tremendous overhauling. I’m not saying that those who are the attendants there, or who run the institutions, are at fault – I think all of us are at fault and I think it’s just long overdue that something be done about it.

Reporter Geraldo Rivera followed in 1972 reporting

Deinstitutionalization didn’t happen over night. Special education has evolved and must continue to improve. Sadly, the drive to end public education and more specifically special education will destroy this initiative. Privatization is about monetizing schools, a danger for children with disabilities, especially those with developmental disabilities.

Parents are reminded that IDEA is still in place, but without federal enforcement it could be hard to get services.

Here’s what to watch for and what we’ve already seen.

• More unaccountable charter and private schools that exclude children with disabilities.
• A reduction or end to IEP (Individual Educational Plan) or 504 plan meetings.
• More charter and private schools lacking inclusion, e.g., Schools for Dyslexia, Autism, etc.
• Vouchers that won’t cover the total cost of private school tuition.
• Private schools that reject students with disabilities, especially those with more severe disabilities.
• Fewer qualified special education teachers.
• More unaccountable homeschools.
• The threat of another eugenics movement.
• Children with difficulties in the classroom being ignored because there are no special education services.
• Unproven online programs or cyber schools known to fail.
• An increase of religious schools and curriculum.
• Abuse, as there will be less oversight, less teacher preparation, and more behavioral difficulties.
• Children sent home or expelled from school for acting out and not following rules.
• A return of badly run state institutions with little oversight.

For many who remember 1975 and the beginning of Public Law 94-142, who fought for children with disabilities to be served in their public schools, ending the All Handicapped Children Act —now IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) —is a bitter pill.

How will America turn this around? There doesn’t seem to be any silver lining at this time. The best hope is for a new President who makes education, public schools, and special education a priority.