Ensure Access to Education for Children with Disabilities

All Michigan children can learn and succeed in school and life, given the right supports. Unfortunately, children with disabilities, especially children with challenging disability-related behavior, fare far worse than children without disabilities. Schools compound the problem by failing to identify disability-related issues, failing to provide research-based student supports, failing to provide adequate training and resources to teachers and other educators, or by excluding children from school completely.

People with disabilities benefit from policies that:

• Provide a right to education for all Michigan students.
• Hold Michigan schools and state oversight agencies accountable for providing appropriate special education services and supports.
• Promote the use of positive behavior supports, both for individuals and school-wide, to keep children in school and increase success.
• Include students with disabilities in general education reform, including state planning under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).