How New Federal Guidance on Disability Could Impact K-12 Special Education

Education Week spoke with Meghan Burke, a Vanderbilt University special education professor, about new Justice Department guidance on disability law and what it might mean for schools. This summer, the department said it will no longer lean on its earlier guidance built on the 1999 Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C. when it enforces the Americans with Disabilities Act. It described that earlier guidance as not enforceable and said it plans to revisit it.

The Olmstead ruling held that needlessly keeping people with disabilities in segregated settings is a form of discrimination under the ADA. The case involved two women in Georgia who stayed institutionalized even though doctors said they could live in the community. Burke says the decision itself has not been overturned. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, student plans must include transition planning, with goals for education or training, employment and, when appropriate, independent living skills such as paying rent or keeping a home clean.

Burke and other researchers worry schools could read the federal shift as a cue to put those skills lower on the list, especially since many special education teachers get little training on adult disability services. Burke stresses that the guidance does not change the education law and that schools should keep high expectations. No federal explanation of the change appears in the piece.