Overview
A quality education is a linchpin to a successful life for all Americans, including those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). The federal, state, and local governments each play a role in assuring that every child with a disability obtains a free appropriate public education.
Several important federal laws protect the rights of students with disabilities in schools. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was the first disability civil rights law to be enacted in the U.S. and includes Section 504, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in programs that receive federal financial assistance. Section 504 set the stage for the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, which prohibits discrimination in all areas of public life, including schools and all public and private places that are open to the general public. However, the most significant law for students with disabilities is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which requires a free appropriate public education, appropriate evaluation, an individualized education plan, least restrictive environment, parent participation, and procedural safeguards.
You can learn more about The Arc’s position on education by reading our position statement.
Why It Matters
Students with I/DD face many challenges in obtaining a quality education. While there have been some significant legislative victories, there are still many barriers to receiving a proper education, resulting in students leaving school unprepared for adult life in the community.
Despite the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requiring that students with disabilities be educated to the maximum extent that is appropriate with students who do not have disabilities, many students remain segregated in self-contained classrooms or in separate schools.
There is also a lack of qualified special education teachers, with nearly every state reporting a shortage of teachers and related service personnel.
Additionally, restraint and seclusion remains widely unregulated, used disproportionately on students with disabilities, and frequently results in injury, trauma, and sometimes even death.
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What The Arc Is Doing
While legislation like the IDEA and ADA were huge victories for the disability community, we must continue to fight to ensure proper implementation and enforcement. When Congress first passed the IDEA, it intended to fully fund the law at 40 percent of the additional cost of educating students with disabilities. However, federal funding has never even reached half of that amount, leaving it to states and localities to try to make up the difference. The Arc continues to advocate for the government to meet the full funding amount.
Our Policy Goals
The Arc’s Public Policy Goals include many strategies to ensure that the promises of legislation like the IDEA, ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act), and other laws are met. The Arc joins partner organizations in advocacy to ensure the needs of students with disabilities are included and properly addressed when education legislation arises – and alerts The Arc’s grassroots when action is needed. We also engage in legal advocacy when laws are not properly enforced.
Our Coalition Work
The CCD Education Task Force, which The Arc co-chairs, works to ensure that the educational needs of children with disabilities and their families are being met through early intervention, k-12, and higher education. The task force advocates for proper funding, implementation, and oversight of established programs and works to ensure that evolving approaches to education, such as school choice (including “vouchers”), provide the same rights and protections that students with disabilities have under existing civil rights and education laws.
Restraint and Seclusion
The Arc supports legislation to ban seclusion, limit restraint to true emergencies, and provide schools with proven effective alternatives to these harmful practices. Federal legislation to reduce the use of restraint and seclusion was first introduced in 2009 and The Arc looks forward to the reintroduction of the Keeping All Students Safe Act in the 116th Congress.
How You Can Help
There are many ways to advocate with and support The Arc’s grassroots movement.
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The Arc promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes.
