FWD: NEWS RELEASE NCD #02-356 April 23, 2002 Contact: Mark S. Quigley 202-272-2

[Guest guest]

NEWS RELEASE NCD #02-356

April 23, 2002

Contact: Mark S. Quigley

202-272-2004

202-272-2074 TTY

National Council on Disability Addresses Discipline

and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

WASHINGTON--The National Council on Disability (NCD) today

reissued its 1998 Discipline of Students with Disabilities:

A Position Statement

<www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/discipline.html>, in

preparation for an April 25 Senate hearing on discipline

issues and the reauthorization of the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

During the course of five studies on IDEA and one on

transition issues, from 1989 to 2000, NCD consistently

found that parents of children with disabilities are

enthusiastic supporters of the law. They think it is a

good law. Those studies include:

+ Back to School on Civil Rights (2000)

<www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/backtoschool_1.html>

+ Transition and Post-School Outcomes for Youth with

Disabilities: Closing the Gaps to Post-Secondary Education

and Employment (2000)

<www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/00publications.html>

+ Improving the Implementation of the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act: Making Schools Work for All of

America's Children (1995) and its supplement (1996)

<www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/95school.html>

<www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/96school.html>

+ Inclusionary Education for Students with Disabilities:

Keeping the Promise (1994)

<www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/inclusion.html>

+ Serving the Nation's Students with Disabilities:

Progress and Prospects (1993)

<www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/progress.html>

+ The Education of Students with Disabilities: Where Do We

Stand? (1989)

<www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/stand.html>

NCD's 1998 Discipline of Students with Disabilities: A

Position Statement

<<A

HREF= " http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/discipline.html " >http://www.ncd.g\

ov/newsroom/publications/discipline.html</A>>,

which is as relevant today as it was in 1998, shares NCD's

concern about the way this issue is being characterized and

the potential harm to children with disabilities that may

come from Congressional efforts to revisit this issue.

NCD believes that instead of making it easier for schools

to wash their hands of students with disabilities by giving

schools new means to facilitate their discriminatory

exclusion, policy makers must look for ways to address the

needs of all students with and without disabilities so that

they stay in school and succeed.

NCD is also seeking input from IDEA stakeholders on its new

working paper on IDEA reauthorization

<www.ncd.gov/newsroom/reauthorizations/idea/idea.html>.

Specifically, NCD wants feedback on questions related to

monitoring and enforcement, full funding, discipline, and

eligibility and over-representation of students from

culturally diverse backgrounds. The paper is designed with

questions that will help stakeholders develop their

responses.

For more information, contact Mark S. Quigley at 202-272-

2004.

Note: NCD is an independent federal agency making

recommendations to the President and Congress on disability

policy. In 1986, NCD first proposed and then drafted the

original Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Currently,

NCD is coordinating a multi-year study on the mplementation

and enforcement of ADA, IDEA, and other civil rights laws.

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