Legislation spells out the rights of students with disabilities and indicates the due process procedures available to families who believe their children are not receiving appropriate services. Truly inclusive programs for young children demand that teachers, school administrators, families, and advocates alike shift their focus from contracts, rights, and due process to collaboration and communitywide solutions. When educators and administrators cannot resolve disputes with families about inclusion or special education services, these disputes may escalate quickly into costly legal conflicts.
Some educators use mediation to resolve issues with families.
Teachers' unions often help shape special education policies at the classroom level. But providers of child care and early childhood teachers outside of public school settings are rarely union members, and they usually earn lower salaries than do public school teachers and the special educators who consult in their classrooms. Inclusion is not explicitly mandated in federal special education law. And it has been affirmed in several court cases. But Dennis did not greet her with his usual banter.