Edward Roy Becker

“ The Act's mainstreaming directive stems from Congress's concern that the states, through public education, work to develop such independence for disabled children.↑ Courts should also consider the reciprocal benefits of inclusion to the nondisabled students in the class. Teaching nondisabled children to work and communicate with children with disabilities may do much to eliminate the stigma, mistrust and hostility that have traditionally been harbored against persons with disabilities. ”

“ In practical terms, the school has an advantage when a dispute arises under the Act: the school has better access to the relevant information, greater control over the potentially more persuasive witnesses (those who have been directly involved with the child's education) , and greater overall educational expertise than the parents. ”

“ But in New Jersey, which has one of the lowest mainstreaming rates, only 2.35% of children with mental retardation within that age group were mainstreamed, while in Massachusetts, a state with one of the highest mainstreaming rates, 74.97% of children with mental retardation were placed in regular classes. ”

“ We, however, express no view at this time on the nature or extent of the overlap between IDEA and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.↑ We also note that, as the Obertis' counsel acknowledged at oral argument, inclusion in regular academic classes may become less appropriate for Rafael, given his cognitive disability, as he reaches the higher grades. Dr. Brown testified before the district court: . . . as Rafael -- children [with similar disabilities] all over this country, as they increase in chronological age, they spend more and more of their time learning to function in non-school settings ”

“ We note, however, that a determination that a school has violated the affirmative requirements of IDEA by failing to mainstream a child with disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate may not necessarily mean that the school has discriminated "solely by reason of . ”