Dive Brief:

• Special education advocates are divided over a new bill before the Louisiana Senate, which would lower the graduation standards for students with disabilities.  
• Proponents believe the bill will give special education students a clearer and more realistic path towards graduation, but opponents fear the bill will over-identify special education students, creating unwanted segregation.  
• Under the bill, which was passed unanimously by the state's House, special education students would be promoted based on their individualized education plans (IEPs) and not their mastery of the state standards.  

Dive Insight:

While its clear from the debate everybody involved wants the best for the students, what that means has diverging definitions. Proponents of the bill see graduation as a marker of success, while opponents of the bill see success as higher achievement and expectations.  

The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, who are against the bill, wrote a letter to the bill's creator, Rep. John Schroder, saying it, "flagrantly disregards the rights of students with disabilities and disrespects their opportunity to achieve meaningful academic, social and emotional outcomes alongside their peers, through access to a regular high school diploma."