Urban special education policy and the lived experience of stigma in a high school science classroom

In this paper, I provide a window into the lived experience of a group of urban high school science students confronted with the stigma associated with special education, disability, and academic failure and present tools to understanding the ideological forces and institutional structures that undermine the ability of schools to create a culture of care and inclusion of children with disabilities. With the purpose of understanding the context of these students’ tainted social status within the school community, I draw connections between the ideological bipolarity and ambiguity of federal and state special education law and the lack of moral commitment at the local level to including and protecting the rights of children with disabilities in New York City schools. An important element of this paper is an exploration of a decade of neoliberal reform in the New York City Department of Education and the meticulously documented failure of New York City’s special education system to provide mandated services, adequately include special education students, and generally protect the rights of children with disabilities. I conclude that the ableism embedded in special education law and a lack of meaningful enforcement renders special education regulations intangible to administrators whereas neoliberal performance benchmarks are extremely salient due to the dire consequences for schools of not meeting them.