Can Special Education Be Fixed?
An outdated system collides with evolving diagnoses, inclusion battles, and a growing federal divide
For decades, special education in the United States has operated under a framework built for a different era—one where diagnoses were narrower, expectations were lower, and the goal was often access, not outcome. Today, that system is being asked to do something fundamentally different: support a rapidly growing and increasingly complex population of students with disabilities while preparing them for independence, employment, and full participation in society. The question facing families, educators, and policymakers is no longer whether the system is strained. It’s whether it can be fixed at all.
At the center of the issue is the law that defines special education: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Passed in 1975 and last significantly reauthorized in 2004, IDEA established the right to a “free appropriate public education” in the “least restrictive environment.” At the time, it was transformative. …
