Systemic racism in special education: Parent participation legitimizes inequities

We continue our conversation with LaToya Baldwin Clark of UCLA School of Law. Dr. Baldwin Clark explains how the special education system advantages White middle class families. Poor families and families of color tend to lack cultural capital to navigate the system and advocate effectively for their children. While resources flow to White children with special needs, Black children tend to be stigmatized and placed in more restrictive settings. Dr. Baldwin Clark offers recommendations. Overview 00:00-01:00 Intros 01:00-01:54 Racial disparities in special education 01:54-06:41 How White parents/children benefit from social and cultural capital in special education process 06:41-08:59 Parental participation fails to protect Black children from segregation in special education placements 08:59-14:01 Process of mandated parental participation exacerbates/legitimizes racial inequities 14:01-20:22 Racial breakdown of children placed in more or less restrictive special education environments; greater physical segregation of Black children 20:22-21:53 Suspensions and expulsions 21:53-24:13 Recommendations for change 24:13-28:42 Disproportional suspensions of Black youth; biases and stereotypes of Black girls 28:42-29:51 Responsibility of school districts to ensure White middle class students do not get more resources 29:51-32:46 Need to educate White middle-class parents about equitable distribution of resources 32:46-34:15 Outro Transcription

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.