Serving students with disabilities in American public schools

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 17% of children 3 to 17 years old have one or more developmental disabilities. These include intellectual disabilities, hearing loss, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, and a host of other conditions classified as developmental disabilities by the CDC.

In the 2023-24 school year, 7.9 million public school students ages 3 to 21 received special education or related services. This was an increase of greater than 3 percent from before the coronavirus pandemic and represents the highest number of special education students ever served in our schools.

Nationally, in 2023-24, 15 percent of all public school students ages 3 to 21 received special education services for disabilities. In Georgia in the same year, 13.3 percent of public school students in grades K-12 were served in special education. And in the Glynn County School System, 16.3 percent of K-12 students were enrolled in special education. The most common category of disability served in public special education is specific learning disabilities (e.g. dyslexia, auditory or language processing disorders, etc.), which characterizes over 30% of all special education students in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights is currently responsible for enforcing the three major federal laws protecting students with disabilities in schools:

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, authorizes federal grants to local school systems to fund programs supporting disadvantaged students.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities by any program or activity receiving federal funding. Applied to schools, Section 504 both prohibits discrimination and requires accommodation (e.g. accessible facilities, extra time on assignments, preferential seating) for students with disabilities. Around three percent of public K-12 students in the U.S. receive accommodations only under Section 504. The majority of public school students with disabilities are served also under a third major statute, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

IDEA requires that all students with disabilities are afforded free and appropriate education (FAPE). Under IDEA schools provide specialized instruction through Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) to students whose disabilities limit their ability to access the general education curriculum. Under IDEA, students are kept with their non-disabled peers as much as possible and given additional supports as needed.

Special education staff are the boots on the ground implementing these protections to ensure that every student’s individual needs are met and that each one receives FAPE. Their methods are guided by student data and delivered with care. And, what they do works. A study of over 575,000 students in New York City showed that for students with specific learning disabilities, educational gains are significantly greater when they receive special education services, and achievement is greatest when they begin to receive services earlier in their education.

When I hear politicians talk about defunding or dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, these are the students I worry for most. My concerns are increased by the hurried and chaotic way in which the current administration has made other recent changes to federal agencies. The U.S. DoE does not tell states or districts what to teach or not to teach, but it does mandate and fund education for students with disabilities. Dismantling the Department without carefully considering, planning, and codifying what other entities would be responsible for enforcing and funding IDEA, will leave school systems powerless to provide the specialized instruction required for children with disabilities to flourish in schools and beyond. Our children will suffer the consequences. And, in a future column, we will look at how our labor force and greater economy may also suffer.

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Dr. Melissa Trussell is a professor in the School of Business and Public Management at College of Coastal Georgia who works with the college’s Reg Murphy Center for Economic and Policy Studies. Contact her at mtrussell@ccga.edu. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the College of Coastal Georgia.