The Role of Special Education Interest Groups in National Policy ...

Advocacy groups composed of parents view the policy as a rights-based entitlement, whereas education professionals, groups representing school administrators in particular, perceive special education as a source of supplemental funding. The two types of organizations view the role of the federal government differently. The disability advocates see the federal government as a protector of rights and consistently advocate more federal intervention, whereas the school professionals consistently advocate more local control in policy matters. The competing perspectives result in competing ways in which groups define policy problems and generate solutions. Conflicting problem definitions have resulted in bitter policy fights, for example in 1997, when the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act reauthorization extended over two Congresses. I argue that to understand the special education policy process, one must not only understand problem definition, but the tension between these competing conceptualizations. Policy problems constructed around rights versus programmatic and allocation rules present a different set of assumptions about who enforces the policy and who has decision-making authority (Stone, 1997).

Policy Targets and Strategies. I show that groups target various institutions depending on the stage of the policy process. During reauthorization, groups target Congress, but once the law is passed and regulations are written, groups turn to the Department of Education. I also show that when groups experience a policy loss in one institution, they change arenas. I call this “venue change.” I further show that groups form broad coalitions on issues that affect all their constituents, such as expanding entitlements or reducing paperwork requirements for professionals. But when items get specific around the details of the policy, such as in what setting students with disabilities should be educated, groups mobilize to advocate their respective policy interests.

In examining policy targets and strategy choices, I propose that special education is a unique policy domain, because disability cuts across all socioeconomic and ethnic boundaries. Children with disabilities live in every Congressional district, making special education a bipartisan