Resolution
1954 Decision |
Illinois Commission on the 50th Anniversary Special Education and the Brown Decision |
The purpose of the Brown versus the Board of Education decision which we commemorate this year, was to enhance the attainment of equal educational opportunity for public education for all the citizens of our country. The implementation of the means to achieve that equal opportunity has yet to develop into the desired equity of outcomes. The passage of the Individuals with Disabilities "Education Act (IDEA) in 1975 was designed to enhance the attainment of equal educational opportunities for all of those students with disabilities that could affect their educational goals. The implementation of that act, a,s well, has not achieved the desired outcomes of either operational or equity in academic outcomes. As a result, although significant gains have been made for children with disabilities, the benefits of IDEA have not been made available on an equitable basis for all children, particularly for poor and minority children. For black children in particular, thee continues to be overrepresentation in certain categories of disability, misclassification, unnecessary isolation from non-disabled peers, and low-quality curriculum and instruction, which promote hardships in attaining equity in outcomes promised by the act. The parallels between the implementation of Brown and IDEA are remarkable on the one hand and discouraging on the other. For example, as re-segregation has increased in recent years, the overrepresentation of minority children in certain categories of disabilities has reached alarming proportions. The proportion of black children in categories of the educationally mentally retarded are nearly double their proportion in the general student population, and the percentage of those who are labeled as emotionally disturbed and those with specific learning disabilities have increased at a significant rate. What is particularly disturbing is the fact that identification as a student with special education needs generally means that black children, in particular, are exposed to a myriad of undesirable educational consequences, including lower tracking placements in classrooms, higher numbers of suspensions and expulsions, a higher rate of dropping out of school, and more involvement with the juvenile justice system. In other words, we must begin to see that special education is being used as a place to .put children and not as a service; and that it is a place that has dire consequences. Further, it is necessary to question the use of special education identification as a means of behavioral or classroom control, rather than as a means to provide specialized services to meet a particular need in the educational and social development of the child. Other parallels between the response of Brown by schools and the response to IDEA can be suggested. The overrepresentation of poor and minority children, especially black males in special education categories, as a "place" to put the child may result in another strategy utilized by many schools in their response to Brown. Specifically, the use of special education identification as a placement often results in de facto segregation of special education students within schools for most of their daily educational experiences. Research has shown that minorities are less likely than whites to be educated with their general education peers, as is required by law. That is, special education identified children are to be educated in the least restrictive environment, thereby providing increased opportunities for greater and more equal educational opportunities. Research and the observation of practice illustrate that racial identification and discrimination are contributing factors in the education provided for students placed in special education categories and in the education provided for these students. Equity in educational outcomes cannot be achieved as long as our policy pronouncements do not provide the structure for the implementation of special education services to be truly services and not to be used as a place to put students who have special needs removed from the chances to participate to the extent possible in the pursuit of educational excellence. |
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Illinois Commission on the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education Contact: Executive Director Ollie McLemore |