THOUGHT LEADER


Mainstreaming Students with Disabilities on General Education Routes


Written By Pete Meslin


T


here are many reasons to “mainstream” students with special needs onto general education routes, not the least of which is the law. Specifically, 20 U.S.C. 1400(d) of the


federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that we “prepare them for … employment, and independent living...” In this case, the law has captured a beneficial concept of inclusivity. Not only does IDEA prepare students with special needs


for life beyond school, but it prepares general education students for adult life coexisting with people who have a variety of different abilities. That is, it helps break down the barriers that often isolate students with special needs from their peers and teaches empathy, whether that is something as simple as holding a door open or as compli- cated as designing a job for a student with special needs. As Temple Grandin, a professor of animal sciences at Col-


22 School Transportation News • MARCH 2021


orado State University and autism spectrum advocate, so aptly put it during her TSD Virtual keynote in November, “A [bus] driver could be the key to a good career.” So, who are the kids that can be mainstreamed onto general education bus routes? The answer is all of them. However, it will be easier with students that have less severe disabilities. There is no law forbidding putting children with special needs onto general ed buses. In fact, it is helpful to not differentiate between general ed and special ed buses. We have buses and we have stu- dents who ride them. Period. We are more likely to send a single bus into a remote


area than to send two buses—one each for general ed and special ed. In other words, we are more likely to opt for cost savings. We are also very cognizant that busing kids together, when proper precautions are taken, is better for all children.


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