Changes in IDEA will make it more flexible and fairer for all concerned.
Suppose you discover one of your children doing something that is way out of line. And suppose that, after telling the kid he is grounded for a couple of weeks, you find that another of your children has been guilty of the same offense. Would you tell the second child that his bad behavior didn't matter? Not unless you wanted to teach your kids that the rules apply to only one of them. A double standard like that would be devastatingly unfair to both youngsters, and it would undermine your authority as a parent. Unfortunately, a federal law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), is forcing teachers to use this kind of double standard as they try to maintain classroom discipline.
When a student endangers other students or repeatedly disrupts the class, making it difficult or impossible for the other children to learn, the teacher can invoke the school's disciplinary code. If the code has teeth, the student could be assigned to an alternative program, or even be suspended or expelled, and the rest of the class could get on with its work. But if the child has a disability, the school disciplinary code may not apply, and a totally different set of rules prescribed by law will kick in.
The people who created IDEA wanted to make sure that kids with disabilities would not be jerked around from one placement to another. But the law's "stay-put" provision creates a double standard for classroom behavior that can make it impossible for teachers to discipline students with disabilities. According to "stay-put," once a child with a disability has been placed in a class, he can't be excluded because of behavior related to his disability for more than IO days without the consent of his parents or a formal hearing process. The hearing process is complicated and time-consuming, and school officials often fear they might end up with a lawsuit on their hands. If they do go ahead, it can be months or even years before a decision is made. In the meantime, the child remains in the class, and the education of everybody else, including any other disabled classmates, goes down the tubes.
Here's an example. A junior high school student in Missouri had "multiple mental disabilities" that led to a variety of hostile acts "such as biting, hitting and poking persons, throwing objects, and turning over furniture." These incidents took place at a rate of more than 10 per week for two years. None was life- threatening, but the other children were upset and their learning suffered. The school system tried many different things to restore order to the classroom - including having a second full-time teacher in the room. Nothing helped, and the girl's parents refused permission to put her in an alternative placement. The system finally took the case to court and won, but not before other students had lost two years of learning and the teachers had gone through hell.
IDEA is an important piece of legislation, but it needs to be revised so it is fair for all the children who are affected by it. Congress has a chance to make these revisions in this session, and members of Congress should be urged to do so. Here are some of the important changes that must be made:
• The "stay-put" rule needs to be relaxed. If a student with a disability endangers the safety of other students and teachers, it should be possible to remove the student from the class without the parents' consent or a court order. School officials -- people who are close to the situation -- should be able to make temporary alternative placements to ensure the safety of all students.
• The same relaxation of "stay-put" should be allowed in cases of habitual and highly disruptive behavior. Schools must be able to act on their own authority to make temporary alternative placements so teachers can teach and the other children can learn.
• The guidelines that define when a student's behavior is a manifestation of his disability need to be tightened. Currently, nearly any misbehavior can be attributed to a child's disabling condition -- and therefore excused. A youngster who is learning -- disabled may get very frustrated as she tries to learn how to read, but that cannot be an excuse for hitting or biting other children. The law needs to distinguish clearly between children who have not yet learned to control their behavior and those who cannot understand their actions or control them. (It also needs to close a loophole that encourages after-the-fact disabilities: that is, trying to get a child classified as disabled after he has committed a serious offense on the ground that the offense is a manifestation of his disability.)
The changes I have suggested will not endanger the rights of children with disabilities; they will make the law more flexible and fairer for all concerned. The only danger is that Congress will not understand that their constituents consider these changes important. So call or write your representatives to make sure they do.