A growing number of students in the nation’s schools have disabilities, new data shows, and they are more likely to experience restraint, seclusion and other discipline.
Students with disabilities account for 19% of the nearly 50 million children in public schools across the country, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s most recent civil rights data collection.
Some 15% are served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act while another 4% receive services under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
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The figures are based on reports from 17,591 school districts accounting for over 97,000 schools during the 2023–2024 academic year. The Education Department released raw numbers in August, but is now sharing a report reflecting key findings from across the country.
The agency’s Office for Civil Rights typically conducts the civil rights data collection every two years, asking all public schools and districts as well as charters, alternative schools, justice facilities and others receiving federal financial assistance about enrollment, student access to courses and teachers, discipline and much more.
The share of students with disabilities reflected in the latest report is up compared to the 17% identified in the data collection two years prior.
Roughly 7.6 million students with disabilities in preschool through high school were served under IDEA, according to the report released this month, and about two-thirds of them were boys.
While children with individualized education programs account for just 15% of public school students, they represent 68% of those who experience seclusion and 73% of kids who are physical restrained. Meanwhile, this group accounts for about a quarter of students receiving in-school or out-of-school suspensions and 23% of expulsions.
The disparities are problematic, said Denise Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, or COPAA, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of students with disabilities and their families.
“Students with disabilities and students who are black are still subjected to disproportionately high exclusionary discipline, restraint and seclusion,” she said. “Every time schools resort to suspending, restraining or secluding, the child is not learning. The program has failed them. We know there are better, evidence-based alternatives available and we need to use them. Just reporting out the data is not enough.”
