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53 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 409 (2021-2022)
Rights to Nowhere: The IDEA's Inadequacy in High-Poverty Schools

handle is hein.journals/colhr53 and id is 414 raw text is: RIGHTS TO NOWHERE: THE IDEA'S INADEQUACY IN HIGH-POVERTY SCHOOLS Claire S. Raj* ABSTRACT The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) successfully opened the schoolhouse doors to millions of students with disabilities. But more than forty years after its enactment, the law has proven largely inept at confronting the educational inequities faced by the many students with disabilities attending underfunded, high-poverty public schools. This shortcoming is inconsistent with common conceptions of the IDEA: Advocates and policymakers alike treat the IDEA's rights and privately enforceable remedies as strong, meaningful tools. This Article theorizes that the IDEA's under-appreciated failures are overlooked because they are the products of the law's internal structure, undue judicial deference to schools, and litigation that targets procedural injuries rather than substantive educational practices. The IDEA's core procedural rights are meant to guarantee students with disabilities an appropriate education in the most integrated setting possible. Yet, in high-poverty schools, virtually none of the law's promises are realized. The IDEA's rights are tethered to an assumption that schools are operating with an adequate level of capacity and proficiency, but under-resourced schools lack the ability to ensure either. As a result, the law's three core principles-procedural rights, appropriate education, and integrated settings-are badly diminished for students with disabilities in * Associate Professor, University of South Carolina School of Law. The author extends her heartfelt gratitude to her colleagues, Emily Suski and Ann Eisenberg, for their friendship and support through a stressful and trying writing process. She also thanks Adriana Hernandez for her dedicated research and willingness to engage in tedious tasks with a positive attitude.