How GAO Raises Awareness About Special Education

It’s not a huge surprise to learn that October is “National Halloween Safety” month but who knew that it also brings Pumpkin Spice Day, Candy Corn Day, and Caramel Apples Day?

While so many anniversary days are whimsical, national recognition days and months also raise awareness about serious issues, providing opportunities to share information and create greater understanding. Some are well-known, like Breast Cancer Awareness month. Every October we see lots of pink ribbons, pink merchandise in stores, and fundraising events. But not as many people are familiar with the array of disability awareness campaigns in October including #downsyndromeawarenessmonth, #SyndromeAwarenessmonth, #dyslexiaawarenessmonth, National ADD/ADHD Awareness Month, and #NationalSensoryAwarenessmonth. One of the common threads among these campaigns is that together they help raise awareness about the challenges students with disabilities face.

In an ideal world, all children would thrive in school. Unfortunately, we know many students with disabilities struggle in school because data tell us so. For many years, students with disabilities who receive special education services have performed worse on standardized tests than their non-disabled peers. Put more plainly, students with disabilities can find it harder to make progress in school.

The good news: There are federal laws that are intended to help address the needs of students with disabilities. Chief among these is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA.)

Congress enacted IDEA in 1975 to ensure that children with disabilities have access to a “free appropriate public education.” In a nutshell, a free appropriate public education (aka, “FAPE”) is an educational program designed to meet a child's unique needs and that prepares them for further education, employment, and independent living. Not all children with disabilities are eligible for services under this law. To qualify, a child must also need special education services to make progress in school. Every eligible student must have an individualized education program (IEP), a personalized plan that describes how the student is currently doing in school and how the student’s disability affects their involvement and progress in the general curriculum. An IEP also includes annual goals specifying what the student is expected to do or learn. Annual goals might focus on progress with certain subject matter, specific behaviors, or communication. An IEP then lists the services the student will receive (e.g., speech therapy, psychological services, occupational therapy, or physical therapy) to help them attain their IEP goals. During the 2020-21 school year, more than 7 million children between the ages of 3 and 21 received special education services under IDEA.

Additional protections for students with disabilities come from Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. A student is eligible for Section 504 if they have a physical or mental condition that substantially limits a “major life activity.” Students with disabilities who are not eligible for services under IDEA may be eligible under Section 504. Schools must develop ‘Section 504 Plans’ for eligible students that include appropriate accommodations, evidence-based interventions, and/or related services that are also scientifically or research-based. The 504 plan must provide the student with an equal opportunity to succeed based on their individual needs when compared to same age, non-disabled peers. Examples of accommodations in a 504 Plan are preferential seating, extended time on tests and assignments, reduced homework or classwork, and verbal, visual, or technology aids.

So what’s the bad news? Despite these laws, students with disabilities often still face challenges receiving the education they deserve. And when students face challenges, their families do as well. Like special education itself, though, these challenges are not one-size-fits-all. Our work at the US Government Accountability Office has examined various aspects of special education over the last five years—and in doing so, shed greater light on these issues.

Although all public school districts are responsible for identifying children with disabilities and evaluating them to determine if they are eligible for special education, the percentage of public elementary and secondary school students served under IDEA varies widely from one state to another, from a low of 11.3 percent in Hawaii and Texas to a high of 20.5 percent in New York during the 2020-21 school year. In our work for a 2019 GAO report, we found that it can be difficult for school districts to find and properly evaluate children who may be eligible for special education. In addition, we found that states have some latitude in setting eligibility criteria and defining disability categories, and can also determine their own processes for identifying and evaluating children. As a result, a child who is eligible for services in one state might be ineligible in another. This means that if a student receiving special education services in one state moves to another state, they may no longer be eligible for special education. This can be a particular problematic for families who move often, like military families whose children transfer schools, on average, 9 times before they graduate from high school.

On top of the challenges students with disabilities face obtaining the services they need to succeed in school, in 2018 we found that they also face disproportionate rates of discipline. Data from the 2013-14 school year showed that while students with disabilities represented approximately 12 percent of all public school students, they accounted for nearly 25 percent or more of students referred to law enforcement by school officials, arrested for a school-related incident, or suspended from school. Our analysis of discipline for students with disabilities by both race and sex showed that Black students with disabilities and boys with disabilities were disproportionately disciplined across all categories of discipline. For example, while Black students with disabilities represented about 19 percent of all K-12 students with disabilities, they accounted for nearly 36 percent of students with disabilities suspended from school.

Given the challenges that students with disabilities and their families face, it’s no surprise that parents and school district leaders often disagree over whether districts are meeting their obligations. IDEA requires states to make several dispute resolution options available to districts and parents to address any disputes that arise about a child’s eligibility for services, or whether they are actually receiving the specific services their families feel they need. These dispute resolution options include mediation, due process complaints, and state complaints (complaints filed with a state educational agency). In a 2019 report, we found that parents pursued dispute resolution most often for issues related to school decisions about their child’s evaluations, placement, services and supports, and discipline of their children.

We also found that parents may face a variety of challenges in using IDEA dispute resolution, including paying for attorneys and expert witnesses at due process hearings, and parents’ lack of time off from work to attend due process hearings. Parents may also be reluctant to initiate disputes because they feel disadvantaged by the resources available to the school district—expertise and financial. It comes as no surprise that very high-income districts had higher rates of dispute resolution activity compared to very low-income districts. No doubt because families with ample financial resources feel better able to take on the burden of a dispute with a school district.

On top of all that, the pandemic has made things even more difficult for these students. The news is full of stories about how the pandemic has negatively affected the academic progress of the nation’s students. The effects on students with disabilities has been even more profound. In a 2020 report, we found that during periods of remote learning school districts faced a number of obstacles providing some students with disabilities services required by their IEPs. —such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, or speech therapy—for students with complex needs was particularly difficult in a virtual setting.

What can we take from our US Government Accountability Office work on this topic? When you face a multitude of challenges, it can feel like problems are coming at you from all sides. Making sense of it all, and deciding what to do next, is hard. Like awareness days, GAO reports provide information that can raise awareness and help policymakers and the public understand issues better. While sorting out these complex and nuanced issues is not easy, it is important. Students with disabilities deserve access to the same kind of opportunities that other kids do; my team is committed to doing their part to help these students receive the free, appropriate education to which they are entitled.