Spokane schools suspending first-graders, kindergartners more than high schoolers

Special education students continued to be suspended at a disproportionate rate. Although comprising only 12 percent of the district’s student population, those who are considered special education students receive 34 percent of all district suspensions.

By Eli Francovich
[email protected]

Full Story: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/nov/21/spokane-schools-suspending-first-graders-kindergar/

***

Disability Rights Washington

Education for students with disabilities is relatively new, compared to other civil rights. Only within the last 40 years has the right for students with disabilities to attend public school been federally recognized. There are still individuals with disabilities in older generations who never had any formal education.

There’s work to be done in education. Special education laws include a jumble of acronyms and statutes that don’t always seem to mesh with broader education laws. The laws that protect important rights of students with disabilities are still evolving. When public policy makers and education administrations are at work, the rights of students with disabilities are not always immediately recognized. Funding streams ebb and flow with the economy and state and federal budgets, and have yet to see full funding. Kids with disabilities in many areas are still overly segregated.

Dedicated parents, teachers, advocates and organizations work to advance the rights of students with disabilities. DRW works collaboratively with these groups to focus efforts on systemic change in education.

http://www.disabilityrightswa.org/advocacy/education

Special Education Parent Council Network

It was parents of students with disabilities who championed Washington’s House Bill 90, Education for All, and catapulted education of students with disabilities onto a national platform in the 70s. In what came to be known as the parent movement, marches and rallies around the country spurred federal legislation, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, into life.

Since the 70s, education advocacy for students with disabilities has evolved as funding models changed and instruction techniques were honed. There are still several working challenges inherent in the special education model.

As lifelong advocate and champion of House Bill 90 Cecile Lindquist recently remarked at a parent meeting, "When we fought it was for access to education for our kids. We wanted a place at the table. Today, you, as parents, are fighting for education quality."

http://www.disabilityrightswa.org/special-education-parent-council-network