Education

Beyond IDEA: The Candidates’ Positions

By Christina A. Samuels — October 01, 2008 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

I’ve blogged a few times over the past weeks about the presidential candidates’ political stances on special education and disability awareness.

Laws that affect people with disabilities, however, go well beyond the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. This month, the Ohio Legal Rights Service, an advocacy organization for adults and children with disabilities, compiled a list of the candidates’ stated views on a number of important issues. They include mental-health legislation, employment, and health care.

I spotted one missing element in the overview. While it does say, correctly, that Democratic candidate Barack Obama supports increased federal funding of IDEA, the list fails to note that Republican candidate John McCain has said he does as well (though presumably the U.S. Department of Education might fall under the widespread freeze on spending that McCain floated during the recent presidential debate.)

A version of this news article first appeared in the On Special Education blog.