House Committee Weakens Special Education Law
Tell Lawmakers to Reject a Bad IDEA

Read H.R. 1350* Failing to Qualify: The First Step to Failure in School? (Feb. 2003) In the Best Interests of All* (Jan. 2003) *PDF files; you will need the free Acrobat reader to view and print this document. Support the Bazelon Center. Your tax-deductible donation helps the Bazelon Center keep you informed on important developments in mental health law and policy. Not a Subscriber? Sign up now to receive action alerts and updates from the Bazelon Center.

April 24, 2003— Immediate action is needed to protect access to education for children with mental or emotional disorders. The House of Representatives will soon consider a bill that would severely weaken important rights protections for students who need special education and related services.

On April 10, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved H.R. 1350, “The Improving Education Results for Children with Disabilities Act.” The bill, which would reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), contains language that would make it easier to exclude children with mental or emotional disorders from the free and appropriate public education to which they are entitled under the IDEA. The bill now moves to the full House, where a vote is expected soon. (The Senate is likely to introduce its version of IDEA reauthorization shortly after Congress reconvenes from spring recess on April 28.)

Bill Promotes Exclusion of Children with Disabilities

Children with mental, behavioral or emotional disorders—especially those who do not receive needed services—can exhibit behaviors in school that are difficult to manage. Rather than providing tools to help them learn appropriate behaviors, H.R. 1350 would encourage school officials to deal with the problem by suspending or expelling the students.

Under the discipline provisions proposed in H.R. 1350, schools could unilaterally expel any child with a disability it determines has violated any school “code of conduct,” regardless of the seriousness of the offense. The legislation would also allow schools to place children in alternative interim settings for up to 45 days. If enacted, the bill would allow expulsion of children with disabilities for almost any action, including behavior related to their disabilities.

No documentation exists to justify such draconian measures. A General Accounting Office (GAO) report released in 2001 found that IDEA’s existing disciplinary provisions do not significantly limit administrators’ ability to discipline students or adequately address disruptive behaviors.

In addition to encouraging removal from class or expulsion from school, H.R. 1350 also eliminates the current legal requirement for a determination of whether disruptive behavior is a manifestation of a child’s disability. Other current requirements for functional behavioral assessments of children would also be deleted. Such assessments allow educators to design effective behavioral intervention plans to reduce or eliminate troubling behaviors. Research demonstrates that the use of positive behavioral interventions and supports can significantly reduce discipline problems.

The IDEA amendments in H.R. 1350 would encourage administrators to use more punitive approaches in place of these interventions, leading to the inappropriate removal of children with disabilities from school, with many ultimately dropping out. Studies show that as many as 73 percent of youth with serious emotional disorders who have dropped out of school are arrested within five years. Many children can avoid such outcomes if they have access to appropriate interventions and supports.

Definition Leads to Exclusion

H.R. 1350 also fails to address a long-standing problem in IDEA. In order to qualify for services under the IDEA, children with mental or emotional disorders must have an “emotional disturbance” as defined by federal regulations. The federal definition of this term has been criticized, particularly for the exclusion of children on the basis of “social maladjustment.”

Recognizing problems with use of the term, 10 states no longer include wording on “social maladjustment” to disqualify children from services. Where the term is still in use, many children who need special education services are failing to qualify for services under the IDEA. A Bazelon Center study found a link between identification rates and the use of the social maladjustment exclusion. Yet research has found no justification for a distinction between a mental or emotional disorder and “social maladjustment.” Furthermore, no valid instruments exist to make such a distinction.

H.R. 1350 fails to directly address problems in the federal definition, but the House committee did adopt an amendment to the bill calling for the GAO—the investigative arm of Congress—to study the variation among states’ IDEA definitions. The study would also examine evaluation processes for the IDEA categories of “emotional disturbance”, “learning disability” and “other health impaired” (OHI) and investigate the degree to which these definitions and processes conform to accepted scientific research. The study delays action to improve the definition, but the amendment represents the committee’s acknowledgment that a problem may exist.

Take Action Now

H.R. 1350 is a bad IDEA. The bill is a major step backward in protections for students with disabilities. Call your Representative and urge him or her to oppose H.R. 1350 because:

• Children with mental or emotional disorders are less likely to succeed if suspended and expelled from school.
• Responding to problem behavior by restricting a child’s access to education is counterproductive.

Also let your Representative know that:

• By removing the “social maladjustment” exclusion from the IDEA, Congress could help states correctly identify children with mental and emotional disorders who need special education services.

The Bazelon Center, with other national disability advocacy groups, is organizing a national call-in day on April 29. Advocates are encouraged to participate.

Contacting Your Member of Congress

• Call: Contact Representatives by calling the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
  
• Write a letter to:
  The Honorable (first and last name)
  U.S. House of Representatives
  Washington, DC 20515
  
• Email: Use the form below to contact your Representatives and urge them to reject H.R. 1350. Your message should be clear and concise. Most congressional offices ignore email from people outside of their districts, so make sure you introduce yourself as constituent by including your full name, mailing address and zip code.