The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the State of Georgia on Tuesday for the illegal segregation of children with behavioral disabilities.
The suit alleges that thousands of disabled children enrolled in Georgia’s Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support (GNETS) program were unconstitutionally segregated into inadequate facilities and were not integrated with other students.
Details of the Case
According to a two-year investigation by the US Department of Justice, it is reported that nearly two-thirds of the students enrolled in GNETS were moved to facilities that were constructed to house black students during the time of Jim Crow laws. These facilities were devoid of standard amenities such as gymnasiums, libraries, and certified teachers. Other students were isolated all day, including the period for lunch, from children without disabilities. Almost 4,600 students are enrolled in the GNETS program, and learn most of their classes on computer programs.
The Department of Justice sent a letter to Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, addressing the concerns of students in the GNETS program, and advising Deal that such practices violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The effect of isolation and treatment of these students is apparent. The letter addressed to Deal in 2015 even reported a child in the program saying, “school is like a prison where I am in the weird class.”
Vanita Gupta, Head of the Civil Rights Division, stated “Georgia has relegated thousands of students with behavior-related disabilities to separate, segregated and unequal settings, and placed other students at serious risk of entering such settings, failing to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.”
The suit is currently seeking to force Georgia to provide disabled students with equal services and integrated, general education settings. Hopefully, this will allow disabled students to be integrated with other students and access equal education opportunities.
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