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Labor Day Through the Lens of Disability: Progress, Challenges, and the Path Forward
For me, Labor Day is what marks the beginning of Fall. School is back in full swing, and we have begun to get back into a routine of things. The dog days of summer are closing in and, if we’re lucky, we can get one or two more trips to the beach in before it gets too cold. But as I popped open my coca cola in celebration, I couldn’t help but wonder where I fit into this story.
Continue reading#SayTheWord: The Crucial Role of IDEA in Preventing School-to-Prison Pipelines
Author: Laura Benjamin
Law Trainee at Project HEAL at Kennedy Krieger Institute
The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) governs special education law in the United States. The IDEA guarantees students with a qualifying disability a free appropriate public education (FAPE). The IDEA also provides additional protection for students eligible for special education and related services. One of these protections involves the suspension or expulsion of a student with a disability. When a student with a disability is removed from their educational placement for more than 10 school days in an academic year, the local education agency (LEA) must conduct a manifestation determination review (MDR) meeting. An MDR determines whether the behavior leading to the student’s removal was substantially or directly related to their disability. If it is determined that the behavior was directly or substantially related to that child’s disability, then the team cannot change the student’s placement and must return them to school immediately absent special circumstances.
Continue readingThe Intersection of Pride and Disability
Andy Arias, a member of the Center’s Advisory Board, gives some gentle truths about intersectionality.
