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The great variation in state laws governing charter schools and in individual school charters makes fertile ground for experimentation (Szabo & Gerber, 1996). The potential for innovation and school autonomy, however, has generated concern among some disability advocates who worry about the lack of clarity regarding instructional practices and accountability schemes and about the possibility that some schools may exclude students with disabilities. In fact, in his examination of Arizona's 46 charter schools operating during the 1995-96 school year, McKinney (1996) found that only 4 percent of children enrolled in the schools were receiving special education services and that evidence suggested that charter schools were trying to avoid serving students with disabilities.

Particularly relevant to these concerns is Heubert's (1997) analysis of the applicability of federal disability laws and regulations to charter schools. Heubert concluded that all charter schools are required to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He noted that these federal laws affect central aspects of schooling for students with disabilities--including enrollment, curriculum, pedagogy, and discipline--to a greater degree than do most state and local laws. Heubert further concluded that charter schools, especially those operating as LEAs, may have greater obligations than traditional public schools to enroll students with disabilities. He reasoned that, due to the distinctive nature of the educational services at most charter schools, students who apply would not have equal educational opportunity if that unique charter school experience were not readily available to them.

As more charter schools have opened, disability advocates may have some reason to reduce their concerns about discrimination against students with disabilities. Preliminary results from the National Charter School Study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education indicate that, overall, at least 7.4percent of students enrolled in charter schools in January 1996 were students with disabilities (RPP International & University of Minnesota, 1997). According to the researchers, the prevalence of students with disabilities could actually be higher because some charter school operators, who believe they deliver individualized instruction to all students, are reluctant to report students as receiving special education services.

Other studies also suggest that students with disabilities may be under-identified, but not under-enrolled, in charter schools. For example, Finn, Manno, and Bierlein (1996) examined a nonrepresentative sample of 35 charter schools in seven states and found that (1)8 percent of students had individualized education programs (IEPs), (2)5 percent did not have IEPs but "would have had one in their former public school," and (3)6 percent were "other students with serious learning impediments." In a related study, Vanourek, Manno, Finn, and Bierlein (1997) also concluded that the rates of special education students would be higher when factoring in the number of students with learning impairments who did not have IEPs. By the authors' estimate, 12.6 percent of the students in charter schools were students with disabilities: 7.7 percent had a formal IEP, 3.5 percent did not now have an IEP "but probably would have had one in their former public school," and 1.4 percent were students with "other serious learning impediments." They compared the combined figure of 12.6 percent to the 10.4 percent receiving special education services in public schools. Relatedly, SRI International's study of California charter schools (Powell, Blackorby, Marsh, Finnegan, & Anderson, 1997) found that many charter school operators did not know if their students had IEPs prior to enrolling because the charter school experienced difficulty obtaining information from districts or from parents who were reluctant to disclose special education status.

Most important, rather than excluding students with disabilities, many charter schools specifically target these students. The National Study identified 15 schools with an enrollment that was more than 25 percent students with disabilities and two schools with 100 percent (RPP International & University of Minnesota, 1997). The study also found that charter schools in two states, Minnesota and Wisconsin, had enrollments of students with disabilities (18.5 and 12.2 percent respectively) that were higher than both the national rate and their own public school rates. Another University of Minnesota study found that approximately 25 percent of the nearly 2,000 students enrolled in charter schools in Minnesota had active IEPs, which was 10 percentage points higher than for the host districts (Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, 1997; Lange, 1997).

In a study of Colorado charter schools, McLaughlin, Henderson, and Ullah (1996) found that the 19 schools (out of 24) that responded to their survey served approximately the same proportion of students with disabilities (7.3 percent) as schools did statewide (9.1 percent). Interestingly, the researchers also found that individualized instruction and small class size--hallmarks of many charter schools--may have resulted in increasing enrollment of non-identified students with disabilities who are in need of special education services. Once enrolled, many of these students are not referred to special education because school staff believe that they can provide the necessary individualized support and that there is no financial incentive for identifying these students.
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