Title
Calling upon the School Reform Commission to reject Resolution IU 7: Alternative Special Education Program for students with disabilities in grades K through 12 that seeks to establish a new segregated school for certain students with disabilities, and to insist that the School District provide quality, inclusive education to every child.
Body
WHEREAS, Every child deserves a quality, dignified education, legally and morally, which is obtained by the inclusion in general education classrooms of students with and without disabilities, in more favorable outcomes for all, as over 20 years of research has consistently demonstrated; and
WHEREAS, The systemic and unnecessary isolation and segregation of students with low-incident disabilities contravenes Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), which prohibits such segregation of persons with disabilities in state and local programs, services, and activities; and
WHEREAS, The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act ("IDEA") requires that all students with disabilities be educated in the "least restrictive environment," which means inclusion education in regular classes alongside children who are not disabled with the use of supplementary aids and services to the fullest extent possible given the nature and severity of each child's disability; and
WHEREAS, Across the country, this Commonwealth, and our City, students with disabilities, their families, and allied advocates have engaged in long, difficult campaigns inside courtrooms and classrooms, and outside them, to obtain the education due to these children as enshrined in those and other laws; and
WHEREAS, In 2005, in the Gaskin v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania decision, these parties obtained a groundbreaking statewide class action settlement on behalf of over 280,000 students with disabilities that promoted placement in mainstream settings, expanded related services and accommodations, mandated new policies and provided ...
Click here for full text