Advancing Conditions for Abolition Democracy in Special Education Dispute Resolution

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Examining Inclusive Policies in Special Education (Table 11)

Abstract

In this paper, we expand on how the dimensions of parent participation and dispute resolution in special education are animated by social and historical forces of depoliticization, professionalism, and capitalism. We aim to shed light on each of these concepts—alone and in conversation—constituting complex considerations for addressing educational inequities in special education dispute resolution, particularly for racialized students and families. To support our analysis, we employ a theoretical framing of abolition democracy (Davis, 2011), supported by an institutional theory of justice (Skrtic, 2013). By engaging sociological, historical, and educational evidence with this framework, we conjure informed, transformational possibilities for racial justice in special education policy, specifically through parent participation and due process, key pillars of special education law.

Authors

• Courtney L. Wilt, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

• Chelsea Morgan, University of Kansas