The Big Idea Behind the I.D.E.A

Long before George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, America had a dark history of its treatment of the disabled. From the creation of institutions to hide them away, to laws based on eugenic ideals that led to the segregation and sterilization of those deemed to have an unwanted or objectionable attribute, making it clear the United States constitution didn’t lend its protection nor its declaration of rights to those considered undesirable.

In 1970 many states had long held laws that excluded children who were blind, deaf, or as it was labeled at the time ‘mentally retarded’ from receiving an education. In 1975 the 94th congress enacted the Education of All Handicapped Children act (Public law 94–142)requiring all schools that received federal funding to provide equal access to an education for all children, regardless of physical or mental disability.[1]

As families broke their silence and the darkness of raising children with disabilities it quickly became necessary to change the way these children were educated, more importantly to ensure they were given the opportunity to be educated and given the same access to a public education as other children.

The idea of locking children away in institutions no longer acceptable, a much needed darkness was lifted. The shame cast upon parents preventing them from reaching out and creating the resources needed to support, was being tossed to the wayside as doors of opportunity were opening for their children in realistic ways that would forever change the landscape and expectations for their futures.

With amendments being made right alongside progress and societal perceptions the Public Law 94–142 was reenacted in 1997 under the new title ‘Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),[2] promising a comprehensive and explicitly detailed road map of where to go and how to get there.

Ending segregation for the disabled and mainstreaming those long hidden away, opened avenues for a foundation to build real futures with productive outcomes, leading to job goals and independence in a world that was just beginning to accept their existence.

A parents decision to mainstream their child is often met with resistance. This push back can be difficult to navigate not only for the families directly involved but also the professional educators that have no previous experience with persons who have complex needs and guidelines were desperately needed.

The I.D.E.A (Individual with Disabilities Education Act) was intended to make the process easier and provide a more universal approach, offering procedural safeguards as well as due process for parents and children with disabilities.

Among the many things the new laws provided were the groundbreaking requirements of creating Individual Education Plans (IEP) that included the students with disabilities in the assessment process. Another first in the rights of children with intellectual/physical disabilities was the federal right to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) regardless of disability, in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) that would now be determined by detailed evaluations which would include input from both teachers and the parents, changing the way a child was educated on every level.

The empowerment parents gained from these new rules were short lived as they were met with resistance by the establishment that had long ignored the needs of these students. Underprepared and deficient in experience, educators soon found themselves treading water in an ever growing ocean of confusion as they sought to find footing in areas they lacked training and expertise. While parents scrambled to get a grip on what it all meant and how their child would now benefit, they were often met with schools refusing to let go of the old and embrace the new. The unknown dripping with fear, the very people the new laws were set to protect were falling short and slipping through the cracks as everyone struggled against the undercurrent of change.

While the big idea behind the I.D.E.A was meant to level a playing field for all children it often didn’t protect those most fragile and vulnerable to the will of those unwilling to embrace it or them. Parents continued to be left out of the loop, districts failed to educate themselves let alone the families that would benefit the most. When a school tells you your child doesn’t qualify to be in their classrooms, a parent new to advocacy would quickly find themselves at the mercy of those in charge and remain completely unaware of the facts and law, trusting those who should know instead.

The continued changes to the federal education law definitely sought to provide children with disabilities a more appropriate education as it expanded its reach to include employment goals in transition services, creating the mindset that a productive future was indeed attainable. Children once thought a burden to society were being offered learning opportunities that would create real life job skills, ushering in an era of inclusivity where ‘presuming competence’ became the battle cry of a new generation.

Integration took time and mis-steps were drastically made as a long awaited shift shook things up. Society itself was also metamorphosing as persons with disabilities were coming out of the shadows and into public spaces, as well as in work environments. Just as a new day was on the horizon and persons with complex needs were becoming a common thread in communities, businesses and schools the unthinkable happened.

The appointment of the Secretary of Education falls upon the President of the United States, and while they must be confirmed by congress, it is a long standing practice that partisanship often dictates the outcome of such hearings and the confirmation of Betsy DeVos was no exception. Her nomination was surprising given she has no formal experience in education, or creating policy; the fact she has a history of lobbying on behalf of charter and private schools should have been a red flag to the dangers awaiting children under IEP’s and 504’s, that would lie ahead given neither of those schooling formats are required to educate children with disabilities.

Obviously confused and unaware of Education Law in the U.S, Mrs. DeVos couldn’t answer a simple yes or no question in her confirmation hearing, January of 2017, in regards to the I.D.E.A. Fumbling some off-handed response that the states should determine whether or not they follow the rules set forth in the federal 94–142 law, her inability to understand the very law protecting our most vulnerable citizens was just the beginning. She was soon slashing her way through the very law she seemingly failed to recognize existed.[3]

In October of 2017, not even a year into her new post, DeVos shredded 72 specific regulations, 63 of them pertaining directly to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), nine relating to the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA).

Among them were the Procedural Safeguards as well as the Due Process Procedures for Parents and Children with Disabilities. If that didn’t spark enough concern the guidelines laid out for including Students with Disabilities in Assessments being among the axed regulations should be. She didn’t stop there, wielding a pen like a pair of scissors the policy of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap into programs and activities receiving and/or benefiting from Federal Financial Assistance disappeared too.

Unable to stop herself from ridding the education system of policies and regulations she clearly has no understanding of, the employment goals for individuals with a disability found itself on the cutting room floor alongside the standards for implementing community-based education programs for students with disabilities[4]. There is no viable reason for any of these cuts and its clear what students matter to DeVos and which ones don’t. Perhaps its her way of processing the things she can’t understand, as she stomps her way across student rights and actual education policy.

More recently she fell into a pickle when she stopped the processing of loan forgiveness claims from the thousands of students who were defrauded by colleges. After a fire storm from Democrats, the multitude of students affected and a law suit filed against the Department of Education demanding loan forgiveness, she partially back pedaled her decision falling short of full loan forgiveness to the students left without a viable degree from the institutions they paid tuitions too.[5].

Whatever the big idea was that sparked the creation of policies to educate children regardless of ability, or whether colleges will be allowed to fraudulently enroll students in an effort to obtain the mass loans guaranteed under the Federal Student Loan program, it’s all irrelevant to DeVos’ mission to take the country back to a time when only the wealthy, white, able bodied children mattered.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_for_All_Handicapped_Children_Act

[2] https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/leg/idea/history.html

[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/01/17/betsy-devos-confused-about-federal-law-protecting-students-with-disabilities/

[4] https://thebestschools.org/magazine/devos-slashes-idea-guidelines/

[5] https://ktla.com/2019/11/08/faced-with-federal-lawsuit-education-secretary-devos-erases-student-loans-for-1500/