Special Education and Implications for the Future in Public Schools

To determine the future of special education, it is important to review both the difficulties and best practices surrounding student services in the past and today, especially after the controversial 1997 and 2004 reauthorizations of the All Handicapped Children’s Act of 1975 to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Many modifications called the Regular Education Initiative changed special education, not always favoring students but cutting program costs. Those changes continue to affect how and what services students receive today, and questions surround how they’ll be addressed in the future. These include classification or categories as labels used to provide services to students with disabilities. Should they be used in the future or exist? Students with disabilities get fewer services in self-contained and resource classes, but are they effectively served with inclusion in the general education classroom? How do high-stakes standards affect students with disabilities and individual educational plans (IEPs)? Have special education teacher preparation programs changed, and should they be revitalized? Special education funding has always been controversial, often lacking clarity, so how are students with disabilities benefiting? Are charter schools and vouchers serving students with disabilities, or are they being denied the necessary services they need to be successful? How is special education equality and equity dealt with in the classroom? What are the effects of technology on students with disabilities? These are some of the concerns requiring examination for students with disabilities and their education in public schools.