2012
This topic brief was prepared by theCenter for Law and Education undercontract with the Council of ParentAttorneys and Advocates (COPAA).Correspondence and reprint requestsmay be addressed to Kathleen B.Boundy the CENTER FOR LAW ANDEDUCATION, 99 Chauncy Street, Suite700, Boston, MA 02111. Ph: 617-451-0855Website: www.cleweb.orgEmail: kboundy@cleweb.org
Preliminary Analysis of the Legal Issues and Areas of Concern
Charter Schools and Studentswith Disabilities
Charter Schools and Students with Disabilities
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PageIntroductionI. Background and Development of Charter Schools 1
A.
Expansion and Growth of Charter Enrollment 4B.
Federal Role Promoting Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools 5C.
Characteristics of Charter Schools 8
II. Federal Statutes Governing the Operation of Charter Schools 14
A.
Application of Title I-Part A to Charter Schools 14B.
Application of IDEA, Section 504, and the ADA to Charter Schools 15
III. Issues and Concerns for Students with Disabilities 20
A.
Relationship of Charter School to the LEA and the Delivery of Special Education 201.
Charter schools operating as their own independent LEA 212.
Charter schools operating as part of a larger LEA 233.
Charter schools that are neither an independent LEA nor part of an LEA 244.
SEA’s ultimate responsibility under IDEA 25B.
Discrimination in Admission, Enrollment, and Retention 26C.
Choosing Charters Identifiable as Schools for Students with Disabilities;Tension between Parental Choice and the IEP Team 34D.
Effectiveness of Charter Schools and Accountability 37
Conclusion 41
Kathleen Boundy would like to acknowledge the assistance of her colleague Joanne Karger and Noah Kaplan, a 2L at Harvard Law School, in the preparation of this brief.
Charter Schools and Students with Disabilities
1
Introduction
This paper examines the extent to which students with disabilities are beingserved by the approximately 5000 publicly funded charter schools, which arepredominantly, but not exclusively, located in urban, under-performing schooldistricts, and 20 percent of which are operated by charter-school managementorganizations (CMOs) controlling multiple entities.Part I of the paper provides a brief description of the rapid development of charterschools, including their purpose and intent as well as the characteristics thatdistinguish charter schools from traditional public schools.Part II describes the overriding legal principles and current federal statutesgoverning the operation of charter schools.Part III identifies an array of systemic issues and concerns that interfere withstudents with disabilities having meaningful access to charter schools that operateas part of an existing local education agency (LEA) and those that operateindependently as their own LEA. For example, attention is paid to the under-representation in charter schools of students who have more significantdisabilities with more resource intensive educational needs and the exclusion of these students through selectivity, controlled outreach, counseling out, and otherpush out practices. In this context, the paper examines the legal rights of students with disabilities to be free from discrimination, to receive a free appropriate publiceducation, to be educated with students without disabilities in the regulareducation classroom to the maximum extent appropriate, and to be provided anequal opportunity to access publicly funded charter schools.Despite a lack of evidence of their effectiveness, these schools are perceived asemblematic of school reform and educational excellence by state legislation andfederal policy and funding priorities.
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Charter Schools and Students With Disabilities Final
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) http://www.copaa.org/ Excerpt on page 41 sounds exactly like much of my prose on the subject: "It is not legally or morally acceptable that these so-called “schools of choice” that…
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