Special Education and the “Deserving Disabled”

The words "Books Not Bars" projected on a detention center. Backbone Campaign
The 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is coming up next month and the disability rights community has launched a campaign to celebrate the anniversary that has the tag line, "Disability Rights Are Civil Rights." … I think it's an interesting choice for a slogan because I see it as a tacit admission that society as a whole still does not fully understand disability rights as civil rights… Continue reading

Lack of Oversight of Restraint and Seclusion in Special Education

Chairman Miller and Rep. McMorris-Rodgers address a press conference
House Committee on Education and the Workforce Democrats
On April 19, 2015, EdSource published an investigative report that explores the California Department of Education's (CDE) lack of oversight of restraint and seclusion in special education. The report concludes that the July 2013 repeal of the Hughes Bill—a law that imposed data collection and other oversight obligations on CDE and regional special education agencies—has created "a shadow discipline system in many special education classrooms, where minimally trained classroom aides have significant leeway in using emergency interventions to manage disruptive students."
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