Excluded by Choice

Federico R. Waitoller is an associate professor in the department of special education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2023 he received the AERA Special and Inclusive Education SIG Distinguished Researcher Award.

• Foreword: Hope Against the Perverse Ripples of Equality ReformsAlfredo J. Artiles—ixAcknowledgments—xiii1. Introduction—1Excluded by Choice: Entering the Great American Education Debate—5Is This a Book Against Charter Schools?—11A Book About Disability, Race, Education, and Urban Space: Outline of the Book—132. Choosing Schools? Stories of Desperation—18Searching for Safety—21Special Education Services: Austerity Measures and Segregation—34Academics—42Perceiving the Disinvestment and Destabilization of Public Schools—453. Choosing Schools? Stories of Optimistic Attachments—53Parents' Perceptions of Safety in Charter Schools—59Perceptions of Charter Schools as Academically Rigorous—62The Perception of Charter Schools as Well-Resourced Educational Spaces—644. The Cruelty of Optimistic Attachments: Pushout Practices in Charter Schools—69Discipline and Academic Practices—71Delay and Deny Special Education Services—78Lack of Trained Teachers—84Suggesting to "Choose" Another School: "Think of What Is Best for Your Child"—87Aren't These Practices a Violation of Federal Law?—915. Sustaining Hopes of "Inclusion": Fight or Flee—94Complaining to the Charter Administration: "Becoming a Pest"—95he Role of the School District—98Working with Lawyers—1036. The Consequences—112Being Pushed Out—112Deteriorating Students' Well-Being—116Impact on Parents' Well-Being—1277. Fantasies of Inclusion in the Education MarketSpace: Theoretical Contributions—129Parental Choice in the Education MarketSpace—129Fantasies of Inclusion—138The New Racial Inequities in Special Education—1468. Toward an Intersectional and Radical Inclusive Education: Recommendations—150Intersectional Inclusive Education Principles—151Recommendations for Practice—154Recommendations for Policy—160Recommendations for Research—164Conclusion—166Appendix: Methods—168Researcher Positionality—168Recruitment of Participants—169Data Collection—170Data Analysis—172Limitations of the Study—174References—176Index—192About the Author

This title has received the 2022 Society of Professors of Education (SPE) Outstanding Book Award.