The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) received more complaints about disability-related issues from 2009-2011 than ever before. OCR enforces civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, disability and age. During that three year period, 55 percent of the total number of complaints received had to do with disability discrimination.
The most frequent complaint had to do with the provision of a free, appropriate public education. Of the 11,700 complaints received regarding disabilities, nearly one in four(4,700) delta with FAPE.
Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, an appropriate education is defined as regular or special education and related aids and services that meet the educational needs of students with disabilities as adequately as students without disabilities are being served. And that education should take place in as integrated a setting as possible. OCR also enforces rights afforded by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and of the remaining complaints, those about retaliation numbered nearly 2,200. And more than 1,500 had to do with academic adjustments for students with disabilities, nearly 1,800 were about the exclusion or denial of benefits, and close to 1,100 dealt with disability harassment.
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