On October 21 the U.S Education Department’s Office for
Civil Rights issued guidance to schools reinforcing the fact that bullying is
not to be tolerated in our schools. The guidance
included a reminder that this applies to those students with disabilities. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act outline school’s responsibilities
to take immediate action to investigate any allegations of bullying and to take
steps to stop the bullying and ensure prevention of any reoccurrence. All
programs that receive federal funding are mandated to bar discrimination on the
basis of disability.
Unfortunately, in our nation’s schools and in Wyoming
schools, discrimination and bullying of students with disabilities does not
always come from students, but from teaching staff and administrators. One in three of all children arrested have a
disability and those with emotional disabilities are three times more likely to
be arrested before they leave high school than other students.
What we know is that children who are forced into the
“school to prison pipeline” are less likely to graduate, less likely to be
gainfully employed and more likely to end up in the adult prison system.
Wyoming has one of the highest rates of physically
restraining students with disabilities in the nation. Less than 15% of Wyoming students have been
diagnosed with a disability, yet 93% of students physically restrained are
disabled students. These numbers show a
shocking inability of our education system to effectively assist Wyoming
children with disabilities to have productive healthy lives. Click here to see your school district’s
disciplinary data.
Linda Burt
Executive Director
