How “special needs” vouchers deceive the public and silence the right to inclusive education

Abstract

The rapid growth of special needs vouchers has been accompanied by the loss of historic civil rights and protections under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). We examine three of the largest special needs voucher programs in the United States: those in Florida, Georgia and Ohio. We find that these programs and the largest private special education schools within these states are silent on the right to education in the LRE. This study focuses on how silencing the right to be educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE), thus inclusive education, is taking place. Using Huckin’s framework of textual silence and critical discourse analysis, we identify this silence as manipulative, drawing connections between historical segregation, neoliberal ideology and the rhetoric of market choice in the United States. We discuss implications regarding segregation, equity, and education policy.

Keywords:

• Special education vouchers
• least restrictive environment rights
• inclusion
• silence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The intentional failure to disclose a material fact and especially the existence of a cause of action by one under a duty to make such a disclosure to another who acts or fails to act in reliance and suffers a loss. https://www.merriam-webster.com/legal/fraudulent%20concealment

2 We examine the use of the term “special needs” later in this paper as the effect of euphemization to distract and elicit sympathetic, positive evaluations while individualizing and depoliticizing disability.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

E. Frank Fitch

E. Frank Fitch, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor Emeritus of Education at the University of Cincinnati, Clermont College. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of educational philosophy, inclusive education, disability studies, and cooperative learning.

Kathleen M. Hulgin

Kathleen M. Hulgin, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Education at the University of Cincinnati, Clermont College and her research and teaching interests are in the areas of educational policy, inclusive education and disability studies.

M. Nickie Coomer

M. Nickie Coomer is an Assistant Professor of Education at Colorado College. Her research is in the social and cultural processes in schools that construct and maintain disability in special education.