Equal Educational Opportunity for Children with Disabilities: Department of Education Releases Updated Guidance

Who is school for? 

It’s for everyone – or at least it should be. A free appropriate public education (FAPE) is a right of all children in the United States, but as parents, students, and education professionals know, there are many obstacles to equity – especially for students with learning differences and disabilities. 

To this point, on July 24, 2023, the Department of Education published updated guidance to “ensure and strengthen the rights and protections guaranteed to children with disabilities and their families…” In part, this updated policy guidance and accompanying Dear Colleague letter, address problems like the lack of early intervention services that were exacerbated by at-home schooling during the pandemic. The letter reports, in part, that “OSEP [Office of Special Education Programs] has determined that many States have, over the past 15 years, not consistently met IDEA’s requirements.”  

This likely comes as no surprise to parents and educators working with school systems that are underfunded and understaffed.  

These shortfalls are also at the center of a recent lawsuit in the state of Rhode Island. The ACLU there alleges that the Rhode Island State DOE is “not meeting its obligations under federal law to provide early intervention services to children between the ages of 3 and 5 who have sensory, emotional, physical, cognitive or language disabilities.” 

Surprisingly, Rhode Island agreed, and said that the root cause of this issue was widespread staffing shortages affecting many school districts across the nation. 

Equity is an issue that follows students to college. Once a student enrolls in college, if there is a burden of accommodation, it falls on them alone. There is no IEP system mandated across colleges and universities in the United States. Pedagogical scholars even debate whether autistic students should share college classrooms with allistic students despite many successful, prolific autistic scholars.  

With a shortage of special education professionals, assessment experts, and teachers in general, the state of education is struggling to meet the needs of children. As this problem continues to grow, all stakeholders suffer: overworked educators and administrators, worried parents, and of course, the student at the heart of an evaluation.  

WPS is taking action for positive change with our inaugural scholarship contest. The WPS Neurodiversity and Student Diversity Scholarships aim to encourage college students of all ages – undergraduate or graduate, two- or four-year institutions – to pursue studies in the following fields: 

• Clinician 
• Educator 
• Special Educator
• School Psychologist
• Occupational Therapist
• Speech Language Pathologist
• School Administrator 

These two $2,500 scholarships are for students with an identified neurodiversity, like autism, ADHD, or dyslexia; or students who represent a diversity in race, gender/sexual identification, religion, socioeconomic status, and other diverse traits. 

Learn more about the WPS Scholarships here. 

Science shows that early intervention matters, and that children respond positively to people with whom they personally identify. From birth, through school years, into college, and even in a person’s professional life, neurodiversity and diversity can be obstacles to success. They can also be incredible, positive assets in understanding and facilitating growth and education with the right supports and tools.