Inclusion Does Not Exist for Many Children In Boston

IDEA has been a Federal law for the better part of three decades.  From the beginning the concept of educating children in the least restrictive environment ("LRE") has been a cornerstone of the law. To combat wholesale segregation of children with special needs was one of the motivations for enacting the law.   Even after all of these years, in Boston over 40 percent of children with IEPs are segregated from their neurotypical peers and not exposed to the general curriculum. Boston is the harsh reality that thousands of children face; not the fantasy world of Nanette Asimov's imagination, or the false construction of the school side in Arlington Central v. Murphy--that experts and advocates are coopting parents into filing due process. As discussed below,  the abject lack of inclusion in Boston's special education system raises fundamental issues.

The lack of enforcement of the LRE requirement is simply an abdication of enforcement at the State and Federal levels.  The State and local education officials acknowledge that the current situation is wrong. However, they point out that 10 years ago the segregation rate has decreased from 50% to 42% this year. Well gosh at the rate of 8 percent every  10 years they will bring the segregation percent down to near zero in about 50 years. So over the course of several generations, Boston will come into compliance.  Some of the current students who are segregated in the system now could have grandchildren who would be segregrated.  Sorry, the education officials get no points or slack for such abysmal excuses, and utter lack of enforcement.

In the neighboring city of Lowell, the segregation rate is 12 percent which is closer to the national average of 19 percent. These numbers are still significant, but in Lowell they provide additional supports to allow children to be included.  Not that Lowell's approach is so novel; IDEA prescribes providing a child with supports and services before considering moving the child to a more restrictive setting.

Perhaps even more outrageous than the segregation rate, is the fact that school officials have failed to even demonstrate a rationale for segregating children. The Boston Globe article stated that:

"State officials, in a 2002 report, said Boston did not clearly demonstrate why special education students needed to be removed from regular classrooms. Boston gave no evidence that it gave student a chance in a regular classroom."

In four years, the length of time it normally takes a student to finish high school, there is still a systemic failure to even present a flimsey pretense for segregation.  State officials have also not lowered the boom on Boston in 4 years.  It would not be surprising if this story was revisited in 2010 that not much would have changed, since there appears no effective motivation to change.

The above description suggests to me that children are  not being segregated for any particular reason, other than that is part of the school culture.  Boston's thoughtless denial of the LRE rights of these  children, again should provoke parents to finally realize that schools are in automatic gear.  While some children need more self contained settings, such decisions should only be made after careful deliberation, the child is given an ample chance in inclusion, and with a clearly articulated rationale for the more restrictive setting.  The point is that Boston's mindless automatic actions are not unique, they are unfortunate emblems of how schools operate.

Comments

[Rachel Norton]

I am in San Francisco, Nanette Asimov's home base, and despite a stated plan by SFUSD to make all schools inclusive by 2002, only about 35 percent of our schools actually "offer" an inclusion program, and the district (under new management since the inclusion goal was created) is wildly backpedaling. Clearly, the problem is widespread. My question to you is this: to your knowledge, have parents in any school district had success with class action suits to redress the kind of segregation you discuss?

Rachel: such suits have been successful. I would contact an attorney from COPAA.org or your local Parent Advocacy Center which if you do not know where that is contact the California Department of Education for the address and telphone. Charlie Fox

[Michele]

I applaud Boston's decision to remain non-inclusive. I have worked in both inclusive and non-inclusive environments. If we are striving to have an average I.Q. of 70 across the spectrum inclusion is a great idea. If we truly want to educate children to 'their' maximum potential we will work with them at their level in a resource room.