|
A. Understanding §504
Requirements
In order to understand §504 requirements,
school-to-work policymakers, administrators, and educators need to attend to
four sources of §504 obligations:
- The §504 statute itself
- The U.S. Department of Education/Office for
Civil Rights regulations implementing §504 (21)
- The U.S. Department of Labor/Office for Civil
Rights regulations implementing §504 (22)
- The U.S. Department of Education/Office for
Civil Rights "Guidelines for Eliminating Discrimination and Denial of Services
on the Basis of Race, Color, National Origin, Sex and Handicap in Vocational
Education Programs" ("OCR Guidelines") (23).
B. Scope of §504 Statute
The §504 statute itself states:
"[n]o otherwise qualified individual with a
disability in the United States shall, solely by reason of her or his
disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefit of, or be
subject to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal
financial assistance . . . ." (24).
As virtually all state educational agencies, local
school districts, public schools, and vocational schools receive federal funds,
virtually all are required to comply with §504. So, too, are most postsecondary
schools, such as technical institutes, junior colleges, community colleges, and
four-year colleges. Local partnerships receiving implementation grants under the
School-to-Work Act (or other federal funds) are also subject to
§504.
C. Who is Protected from Discrimination
Under §504
Under §504, an "individual with a disability" is
anyone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major
life activity (25). Major life activities include caring for one's self,
performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing,
learning, and working (26). For purposes of school-to-work systems and high
school-level vocational education programs, a youth with a disability is
"otherwise qualified" under §504 - and so protected against discrimination - if
non-disabled youth of his or her age may take part, or if state law or the
federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act entitles youth of that age
to public education (27).
D. Section 504 Regulations Help Define
Discrimination
Because the School-to-Work Act is jointly
administered by the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor, school-to-work
systems must comply with the §504 regulations of both agencies. In addition,
receipt of Perkins Act funds, or any other funds from the Department of
Education, independently triggers the obligation to comply with the Department
of Education's §504 regulations.
The §504 regulations provide further detail about
what constitutes unlawful disability-based discrimination. They also set out
affirmative steps that education agencies and programs must take to ensure that
youth with disabilities receive full educational opportunity.
E. Section §504 Regulations and
Prohibited Practices
The Department of Education and Department of
Labor §504 regulations include identical, extensive lists of prohibited
discriminatory practices. These prohibitions are designed to ensure that youth
with disabilities have an equal opportunity to gain the same benefits, obtain
the same results, and reach the same level of achievement as their non disabled
peers. For example, school-to-work systems, partnerships, and programs (and any
other programs that receive or benefit from federal funds) may not -
- Deny a youth with a disability the opportunity
to participate in and benefit from programs
- Provide youth with disabilities the
opportunities to participate and benefit that are unequal to those offered
their peers
- Provide youth with disabilities with programs,
benefits, or services that are not as effective as those provided to their
peers
- Provide youth with disabilities with
lower-quality programs than those provided their peers
- Provide different or separate programs to youth
with disabilities, unless this is necessary in order to deliver services that
are as effective as what other youth receive (28)
F. Section 504 Regulations and
Affirmative Obligations
The Department of Education §504 regulations also
require schools to evaluate the educational needs of youth with disabilities and
to provide special education supports, related services, and reasonable
accommodations to students who need them (29). Schools must take these steps for
all students who have disabilities within the meaning of §504, even if they are
not protected by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(30).
G. OCR Guidelines for Eliminating
Discrimination and Denial of Services on the Basis of Race, Color, National Origin, Sex, and Handicap in
Vocational Education Programs
The U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil
Rights Guidelines' provides further details for compliance with §504 (as well as
Title VI and Title IX). The guidelines apply to all recipients of federal funds
that offer or administer programs of vocational education or training, including
state educational agencies (and other public agencies), local education agencies
or school districts, high schools, secondary-level vocational schools,
postsecondary schools and programs, and local partnerships implementing programs
under the School-to-Work Act.
OCR issued the guidelines in 1979 after
discovering a pattern of civil rights violations during compliance reviews of
vocational education programs conducted from 1973 to 1978. In regard to students
with disabilities, OCR found that eligibility requirements, such as admissions
tests, often denied students vocational education opportunities on the basis of
disability; students often were impermissibly assigned to separate programs;
students were denied equal opportunities as a result of inaccessible facilities
and poor evaluation procedures; and vocational education administrators often
failed to protect students against discrimination by participating employers
(31).
The guidelines were explicitly intended to end
these abuses (32). They address a wide range of issues, including:
- The responsibility of state agencies to
prevent, identify, and remedy discrimination by the local programs to which
they give federal funds
- Equitable distribution of federal, state, and
local funds
- Recruitment efforts and admission
criteria
- Accessibility of buildings and equipment
- Provision of related aids and services
- Discrimination by cooperating employers
- Practices that disproportionately impact
students on the basis of disability, race, or gender
Specific provisions of the guidelines are
discussed in subsequent chapters.
Back to School-To-Work
|
