by Stephen Goode

About the author: Stephen Goode is a writer for Insight, a weekly newsmagazine.

A disabled, violent student in North Carolina broke her teacher’s arm in a classroom fray. A disabled Oklahoma student stabbed her teacher with a nail she had secreted into class. What followed? Summary expulsion, or at least placement in more restrictive classrooms"

No. Under the 1975 Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, which provides the special programs designed to educate and create opportunities for disabled students, the teachers and school officials in the two states may deal with such violent and disruptive students with only mild punishments.

Mild Punishment for Disruptive Behavior

The Oklahoma student received a three-day suspension, for example, and the North Carolina girl was suspended from school for two days even though similar acts by nondisabled students would have...