During the Obama administration, the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 office for civil rights has taken an activist stance on civil rights enforcement, especially when it comes to students with disabilities. And as the clock winds down on this presidency, the Education Department is continuing its efforts though the release Wednesday of three new guidance documents for schools.
The first document is a. Section 504 refers to a portion of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination by recipients of federal money, which includings public schools as well as charter schools.
Section 504 predates the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which was signed into law in 1975. Though the laws both deal with the civil rights of people with disabilities, they are different in several important ways. For example, Section 504 and IDEA define 鈥渄isability鈥� differently. IDEA has , while Section 504鈥檚 definition is much more broad鈥攊t refers to a 鈥減hysical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity.鈥� About 12 percent of students nationwide are covered by the IDEA, while about 1.5 percent of students nationwide are covered solely by Section 504.
The resource guide explains those differences and also offers examples of a district鈥檚 responsibility to evaluate students and to provide accommodations.
Restraint and Seclusion May Violate Students鈥� Rights
The second guidance package explains how the use of
The document notes that students with disabilities represent 67 percent of those who were restrained and secluded during the 2013-14 school year, while making up only 12 percent of the student population. 鈥淒ata disparity alone does not prove discrimination. The existence of a disparity, however, does raise a question regarding whether school districts are imposing restraint or seclusion in discriminatory ways,鈥� the document says.
In addition to the letter, the guidance package directs educators to a .
Special Education Protections Apply to Charter School Students
The third guidance package notes that as their peers who are enrolled in traditional public schools. This guidance was released jointly with the office of special education and rehabilitative services. The guidance is broken into two parts: one document, authored by OCR, spells out the . The second document outlines . The two laws are different enough that two documents were needed, federal officials said.
Notably, the charter school guidance restates that virtual schools are also responsible for providing accommodations to students with disabilities; for example, a school that offers web-based classes must insure that those classes are modified for students who are blind or who have visual impairments. Relatedly, with the Education Department over inaccessible websites.
Education officials say these guidance documents do not create or impose new legal requirements. Rather, they are meant to clear up confusion about how existing laws are interpreted and enforced. (The department has used the same reasoning to say that Title IX requires schools to permit , a controversial reading of the law that is going to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2017.)
The civil rights priorities of the new administration are yet to be determined, but a member of President-elect Donald Trump鈥檚 education transition team has said that the.