Discipline Provisions of IDEA: Misguided Policy or Tacit Reform Initiatives?

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized in 1997 and extended many of the provisions of Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (EAHCA). These provisions guaranteed children with disabilities a free and appropriate public education (FAPE)[20 U.S.C. (sec) 1412(a)(1)] in the least restrictive environment (LRE)[20 U.S.C. (sec) 1412(a)(5)(A)]. However, the 1997 public law also included several amendments. Among the most controversial additions were provisions concerning the discipline of students with disabilities. Since the 1975 EAHCA did not include regulations concerning discipline, there were questions about how to balance the right of a disruptive child with disabilities to a FAPE and the need to discipline all children in an effort to maintain school safety and order. School districts believed they were authorized to discipline all students to deter future misconduct and ensure school security. Parents of students with disabilities believed that their children's education should not be discontinued or suspended for misconduct related to their disability. Prior to the 1997 IDEA, these questions were directed to the courts. The judicial decisions established that students with disabilities had protections against certain types of disciplinary procedures. This dual standard provoked controversy. Many parents and school officials complained that the dual system limited the school's authority to address the dangerous and disruptive behavior of students with disabilities. Yet parents of these students maintained that disciplinary sanctions such as long-term suspension and expulsion were intrusions on their right to FAPE and represented a return to the times when children with disabilities were neglected by the public education system (Bryant, 1998). The IDEA 1997 amendments attempted to address the controversy and to provide guidelines for disciplining children with disabilities (Groeschel, 1998). Yet many commentators and legal scholars (e.g., Bunch, 1998; Dupre, 1997; Groeschel, 1998; Rachelson, 1997) have asserted that the discipline provisions represent misguided policy and uninvited federal intrusion into the domain of local school officials. In this article I maintain that the current IDEA discipline provisions have the potential to dramatically change and improve school culture by serving as tacit reform initiatives that may lead to a substantial reorganization of schools. I contend that the provisions, written to safeguard the educational rights of students with disabilities, may assist in guiding the development of an educational philosophy and policy committed to providing an empowering education for all students. I first examine the tradition and hegemony of suspension and expulsion practices in addressing violence and disruption in schools, particularly with students with emotional or behavioral disorders (E/BD). Following a review of the litigation influencing both P.L. 94-142 and IDEA 1997, I discuss the specific discipline provisions, including critical commentary from legal and educational scholars. Finally, I submit that the discipline provisions hold great promise for a systematic educational reform capable of balancing goals of educational equity and excellence. Tradition of Suspension and Expulsion Practices There is an ongoing and growing concern for safety and order in schools. Wren (1995) noted that the violence that plagues rural, urban, and suburban schools in the United States is real and that school systems across the country have reached the point where they are willing to sacrifice the education of a few for the safety of many. Discipline codes were established as schools' responses to violence, disruption, and misconduct. Punishment has been a hallmark of the discipline codes, featuring suspension and expulsion from school. Each year, some 1.5 million students miss 1 day or more of school because they have been suspended or expelled (Black, 1999). …