Enacted in

1975, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act – now called the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides all children with

the right to a free and appropriate public education. On the face of it, the

IDEA is a shining example of law’s democratizing impulse. But is that really

the case? In Disabled Education, Ruth Colker digs deep beneath the

IDEA’s surface and reveals that the IDEA contains flaws that were evident at

the time of its enactment that limit its effectiveness for poor and minority

children.

Both an

expert in disability law and the mother of a child with a hearing impairment,

Colker learned first-hand of the Act’s limitations when she embarked on a legal

battle to persuade her son’s school to accommodate his impairment. Colker was

able to devote the considerable resources of a middle-class lawyer to her

struggle and ultimately won, but she knew that the IDEA would not have

benefitted her son without her time-consuming and costly legal intervention.

Her experience led her to investigate other cases, which confirmed her

suspicions that the IDEA best serves those with the resources to advocate

strongly for their children. The IDEA

also works only as well as the rest of the system does: struggling schools that

serve primarily poor students of color rarely have the funds to provide

appropriate special education and related services to their students with

disabilities. Through a close examination of the historical evolution of the

IDEA, the actual experiences of children who fought for their education in

court, and social science literature on the meaning of “learning disability,”

Colker reveals the IDEA’s shortcomings, but also suggests ways in which

resources might be allocated more evenly along class lines.