Education Week - May 20, 2015 - 21

Age
Students With Disabilities Swell OCR Docket
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services, and failing to consult with
education leaders on the best way to
resolve concerns.
Assistant Secretary of Education
Catherine E. Lhamon said the record
10,000 complaints in all categories of
discrimination filed in each of the fiscal
years 2013 and 2014 send a clear
message that her office is aggressively
enforcing civil rights laws designed
to end discrimination on the basis of
race, color, national origin, sex, disability,
and age in all programs or activities
that receive federal financial
assistance.
The office has issued policy guidance
documents and "Dear Colleague"
letters, provided more data to the public,
and streamlined complaint processes
in an effort to be more transparent
and responsive in the past few
years, ocr said its report.
"It is not my belief that there are
more incidents of civil rights violations
in the world today than there
were in the past decade or more,"
said Ms. Lhamon. "It is my belief that
there is greater community awareness
that our office exists and is prepared
to stand for students who need us."
She also said that the high number
of disability complaints "speaks to
the degree to which we continue to
see disability discrimination in our
schools today."
Tallying the Complaints
The Education Department's office
for civil rights enforces the Title II of
the Americans with Disabilities Act
of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973, along with other
civil rights laws. Separately, its office
of special education and rehabilitative
services enforces the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act.
In looking at particular caseload,
the office for civil rights fiscal 201314
report found that about half of the
complaints it handled (46 percent)
involved students with disabilities,
alleging violations of either the ada
or Section 504. That was a higher proportion
than alleged discrimination
on the basis of sex (27 percent), race,
and national origin (22 percent) and
age (5 percent).
And while those proportions were
similar in the ocr's last report covering
2009-2012, overall volume has
increased across the categories since
that period. In fiscal 2012, for instance,
about 7,800 total complaints
were filed.
Among the resolved complaints involving
students with disabilities:
*Bay Village school district (Ohio)-
In response to a parent complaint
that the instructional day was cut
short for students with disabilities
because they were loaded on to buses
earlier than other students, the district
added a van run and changed the
bus routes at a cost of about $12,000
a year. "We always would want to be
in compliance. This was a time creep,
and it's adjusted now," said Superintendent
Clinton Keener.
*Cumberland County schools
(N.C.)-After parents of students
with mobility impairments alleged
discrimination because a school's
playground and cafeteria stage were
not accessible, the district installed
new playground equipment at a cost
of $24,000 and worked with existing
space to accommodate the students,
according to David Phillips, the board
attorney for the districts.
*Riverview Gardens school district
(Mo.)-School officials say a new intervention
team process and professional
development has helped reduce
discipline problems and suspensions.
The changes came after a parent alleged
her son, who had attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder and a
specific learning disability, was discriminated
against because of multiple
suspensions without having a
formal review.
The civil rights office resolved
nearly 20,000 cases in the past two
years, a record, according to the recent
report. The office has made changes to
improve efficiency, including developing
a pre-complaint online screening,
expedited case review for single-issue
disability complaints, and online surveys
to streamline investigations.
Greater Transparency
In fiscal 2014, ocr began posting
resolution agreements on its website
and releasing lists of institutions
under investigation. In the spring
of 2014, the office released the first
universal civil rights data collection
since 2000, which highlighted troubling
issues, such as higher rates of
suspension, arrests, use of seclusion,
involuntary confinement, and physical
restraints among students with
disabilities.
"The increased transparency and
data is pushing the increase in complaints,"
said Denise Marshall, the executive
director of the Council of Parent
Attorneys and Advocates based in
Towson, Md. "Parents are desperate to
protect their children and to get them
out from under the harsh realities of
some of the things they are subjected
to because of race or disability."
When information about discrimination
in schools is public, change
is more likely to occur, said Katy B.
Neas, the executive vice president
for public affairs for Easter Seals in
Washington. "This administration has
breathed new life into the concept of
enforcement, where 15 years ago it
was not as high of a priority," she said.
Support Needed
Still, school districts are concerned
with how to provide an adequate response.
"The
power of the data to help
school districts understand where
they still have room to grow-that's
the first takeaway" of the report said
Noelle M. Ellerson, the associate executive
director of policy and advocacy
for aasa, the School Superintendents
Association, in Alexandria, Va.
However, the federal government
should also provide support to better
train personnel up front and fully
fund programs to serve students with
disabilities. While money is not the
sole solution, Ms. Ellerson said, it is
"naïve" to think that districts can do
better without additional support
from the government.
And while transparency is good, Ms.
Ellerson would like to see ocr highlight
districts that are proactive in
serving all students, not just those it
is investigating for wrongdoing.
Francisco M. Negron, the general
counsel for the National School
Boards Association, also based in Alexandria,
said his organization takes
issue with ocr publishing some, but
Academic Adjustments
DISABILITY ISSUES
BEHIND THE CASES
The nearly 10,000 complaints
involving students with
disabilities received by the U.S.
Department of Education's office
for civil rights over fiscal years
2013 and 2014 deal with a wide
range of alleged discrimination.
SOURCE: Office for Civil Rights
Accessibility (Programs/Facilities)
Accessibility (Technology)
Admissions and Recruitment
Different Treatment/Exclusion/Denial of Benefits
Disability Harassment
Discipline
Employment
Free Appropriate Public Education
Graduation Requirements
Minorities in Special Education
Non-Academic Services
Procedural Requirements
Retaliation
Restraint and Seclusion
Testing
Treatment of Postsecondary Students
Other
0
87
12
280
239
2,850
86
76
360
865
500
Number of Complaints
EDUCATION WEEK | May 20, 2015 | www.edweek.org | 21
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
471
176
120
1,746
1,112
561
198
3,770
not all, case resolutions
on its website
and questions the
value of naming
schools under investigation
before
a matter is fully resolved.
The
nsba, which represents
14,000 school districts, is
also concerned about ocr taking "expansive
approaches to the law" without
consulting policymakers on school
boards about the implications, which
can result in unfunded mandates,
said Mr. Negron. He added that the
timing of the ocr report's release is
significant because it coincides with
the office asking for a sizable increase
in its budget for fiscal 2016.
The office is requesting an increase
of $30.6 million in fiscal 2016 over the
previous year to add 200 full-time employees.
The recent report notes that
since 1980, staffing levels at ocr have
been reduced by about 50 percent.
The dominance of disability-related
complaints at ocr correlates
with court cases for students with
individualized education programs
under the idea, which has been a
leading source of legal activity in
recent decades, according to Perry
A. Zirkel, professor of education and
law at Lehigh University in Bethlehem,
Pa. Also, there has been a
rise in students with 504 plans and
students pursuing postsecondary
education because of the expanded
eligibility standards under the 2008
amendments to the ada.
Providing Information
By being more proactive with information,
Ms. Lhamon said she hopes
to reduce the need for ocr investigations.
Issuing so many policy guidance
documents is an effort to move
away from a "gotcha-trapping mode,"
to an "information-sharing mode" to
help schools fully satisfy the students'
rights, she said.
Bob Farrace, the director of public
affairs for the National Association
of Secondary School Principals, said
any discipline that removes students
from instruction has to be reconsidered,
and last week his organization
adopted new guidance to members on
1,285
TOTAL NUMBER of complaints
raising disability issues,
fiscal years 2013 and 2014:
9,941
Disability
46%
(9,941)
27%
Sex
(5,845)
5%
22%
(1,173)
Race and National
Origin
(4,632)
CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINTS:
A BREAKDOWN BY TYPE
The U.S. Department of Education's
office for civil rights received nearly
20,000 complaints about various
types of discrimination in fiscal years
2013 and 2014 combined. Complaints
involving students with disabilities
represented the largest share of
those complaints.
SOURCE: Office for Civil Rights
discipline policies.
"This ocr report provides principals
a catalyst to take a good hard look at
the data in their school," he said. "We
need to push back the notion of active
discrimination happening in the
schools or implicit bias. The fact is we
all have blind spots, and what data is
able to do is bring those blind spots
into much clearer view."
Michael Gamel-McCormick, the associate
executive director for research
and policy at the Association of University
Centers on Disabilities in Silver
Spring, Md., said the ocr report
should prompt investment in training
for teachers in how to address challenging
behaviors and offer positive
behavioral intervention.
There is still a misconception that
students with disabilities can't benefit
as much from instruction as others,
but this new generation of students
has higher expectations, said Mr.
Gamel-McCormick, adding: "If we
think about that group of students
having the right to the same type
of instruction, the access to courses,
books, websites that all students
have-that's the way to be thinking.
To make sure there is equal access."
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