How the IDEA Falls Short on Protecting Students with Disabilities from Exclusionary Discipline
Vol. 59
Page 267
Students with disabilities miss an average of forty-four school days in one school year due to exclusionary discipline, which is almost twice as many days as students without disabilities. When students with disabilities get in trouble at school or in the community, schools routinely force them out of school and into the school-to-prison pipeline, rather than provide the special education and related services these students need — and are legally entitled to — under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (the “IDEA”).
Congress recognized the overlap between students’ disabilities and behavioral challenges in school when creating the IDEA and its protections Under the IDEA, students with disabilities are supposed to be afforded additional protections from exclusionary discipline. Yet studies from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights demonstrate that these protections are not working. This Note argues that because the rules are inconsistently and improperly applied, protections for students with disabilities under the IDEA are insufficient to actually protect students’ rights.