Law Commons^™

Educational Equality For Children With Disabilities: The 2016 Term Cases, Samuel R. Bagenstos

Book Chapters

One of the most longstanding debates in educational policy pits the goal of equality against the goal of adequacy: Should we aim to guarantee that all children receive an equal education? Or simply that they all receive an adequate education? The debate is vexing in part because there are many ways to specify “equality” and “adequacy.” Are we talking about equality of inputs (which inputs?), equality of opportunity (to achieve what?), or equality of results (which results?)? Douglas Rae and his colleagues famously argued that there are no fewer than 108 structurally distinct conceptions of equality. And how do we …

From Mainstreaming To Marginalization? Idea's De Facto Segregation Consequences And Prospects For Restoring Equity In Special Education, Kerrigan O'Malley

Law Student Publications

As a basic construct for recommending measures to correct the prevailing inequities in special education, this comment examines the de facto segregation impact IDEA stemming from the Supreme Court's interpretive rulings and from the Act's own enforcement norms. The analysis further identifies the equality compromising consequences of specific IDEA provisions and considers prospects for restoring equity to special needs service delivery in these areas, with a particular focus on tuition reimbursement for private school. Respecting the historical alignment of the law of race discrimination in education and the law of disability education rights, the analysis identifies inequities that prevail at …

How The Biological/Social Divide Limits Disability And Equality, Martha T. Mccluskey

Journal Articles

What is disability - a biological or social condition? In the conventional equality frameworks, the division between biology and social identity puts disability at the bottom of the formal equality hierarchy, but at the top of the substantive equality hierarchy. Compared with race and then gender, disability deserves the least protection against formal discrimination, on the theory that disadvantages are based on real and relevant functional differences more than on suspect social judgments. But turning to substantive equality, disability’s supposed greater biological basis justifies affirmative accommodation of difference, compared to the social differences of race, with gender in the middle …

Connecting Care And Challenge: Tapping Our Human Potential - Inclusive Education: A Review Of Programming And Services In New Brunswick, A. Wayne Mackay

Reports & Public Policy Documents

Due to the short time frame for this Review, this cannot be considered an exhaustive report. There is however quite a massive volume of information and sources introduced here touching on the particulars required by the Terms of Reference.

In section I we present legal considerations that have an impact on education in various ways, all of which are related to inclusion and the application of equality rights in Canada. Those considerations include accommodation of students with disabilities, the student-teacher relationship, discipline, safe-schools, and a framework for analysis: the new 3 R’s in education: Rights, Responsibilities and Relationships. Included are …

Discrimination Against The Unhealthy In Health Insurance, Mary Crossley

Articles

As employers seek to contain their health care costs and politicians create coverage mechanisms to promote individual empowerment, people with health problems increasingly are forced to shoulder the load of their own medical costs. The trend towards consumerism in health coverage shifts not simply costs, but also insurance risk, to individual insureds, and the results may be particularly dire for people in poor health. This Article describes a growing body of research showing that unhealthy people can be expected disproportionately to pay the price for consumerism, not only in dollars, but in preventable disease and disability as well. In short, …

The Elwood Case: Vindicating The Educational Rights Of The Disabled, A. Wayne Mackay

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The guarantees of the Charter of Rights affect the definition of education for the disabled. The case of Elwood v. Halifax County - Bedford District School Board, a landmark case in educational rights of disabled children in Canada, has major implications for educational practice.

One of the earliest and most controversial Charter of Rights challenges to the existing educational structure has come from parents of disabled children. Disabled children and their parents are blazing a trail to define educational rights in Canada, and the process is giving some shape to the the elusive concept of equality enshrined in the …