By Alyson Klein
States and school districts would be charged with thinking much more critically about how to help students who have been in special education transition into the workforce and post-secondary education, under a bipartisan, bicameral bill to renew the federal Workforce Investment Act.
The provision, which was championed by U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, a longtime advocate for students with disabilities, would essentially take the idea of “inclusion,” which has become a hallmark of K-12 settings, and bring it into the workforce. (As most special educators know, “inclusion” requires students in special education to be in the least-restrictive environment possible, learning alongside their general education peers.)