Parental “Power” and Racial Inequities in Special Education

• In Event: 2449 - Disability and Society: Systemic Supports, Barriers, and Inequality

Abstract

Racial disparities in special education are formally known as disproportionality and the issue is defined by a group’s over- or under- representation in an educational category, program, or service in comparison to the group’s proportion in the overall population (Donovan & Cross, 2002). Disproportionality is considered a special education issue because federal disability legislation has defined it, procedural remedies have been targeted to remedy it, and funds have been specifically allocated to address the issue through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Unfortunately though, due to weak federal and state enforcement of IDEA regulations (e.g. Hehir, 2002; Wakelin, 2008), parents have become the primary advocates for their child(ren) when interfacing with IDEA and school systems. This is highly problematic because substantive application of IDEA to practice is thus contingent upon parental social, economic, and cultural capital and their access to information that allows them to successfully advocate for their child(ren) within schools. This paper ethnographically explores how disproportionate outcomes in three suburban school districts, which were federally cited for being disproportionate, relate to IDEA, parental power, and the persistence of racial inequities in special education. The paper illustrates that there are equity implications associated with the central role that parents play in the IDEA implementation process because the educational system differentially rewards and responds to varying habitus, means of parental engagement, and social and cultural capital.

Author

• Catherine Kramarczuk Voulgarides, Touro College