Disability Rights and Education
The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.
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The ACLU supports equal access to educational opportunities for people with disabilities. The ACLU is also committed to challenging the “school-to-prison pipeline,” a disturbing national trend wherein children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Students with disabilities and students of color with disabilities are disproportionately targeted by school police. They would benefit from support by much-needed mental health staff—counselors, social workers, and school psychologists. Instead, they are isolated, punished, and pushed out.
We promote an education system that is free from school policing and punitive disciplinary methods—such as corporal punishment, restraint and seclusion, and bullying—and inappropriate and overused suspensions and expulsions. We oppose the use of vouchers and separate schools that further segregate and impoverish the education of students with disabilities.
The ACLU supports equal access to educational opportunities for people with disabilities. The ACLU is also committed to challenging the “school-to-prison pipeline,” a disturbing national trend wherein children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Students with disabilities and students of color with disabilities are disproportionately targeted by school police. They would benefit from support by much-needed mental health staff—counselors, social workers, and school psychologists. Instead, they are isolated, punished, and pushed out.
We promote an education system that is free from school policing and punitive disciplinary methods—such as corporal punishment, restraint and seclusion, and bullying—and inappropriate and overused suspensions and expulsions. We oppose the use of vouchers and separate schools that further segregate and impoverish the education of students with disabilities.