Research indicates that a disproportionate number of minority students are assigned to special education programs in urban school districts. Oftentimes, these programs are inadequate and they deny minority students with special needs a free appropriate public education. These concerns are not only applicable to urban public schools; research also suggests similar problems for youth in correctional facilities. In this article, the authors explore the following issues: segregation and disability in youth correctional facilities and the legal issues involved; the barriers of providing a free appropriate public education in youth correctional facilities; and excerpts from interviews with an incarcerated female with disabilities and one of her teachers regarding her education in an urban juvenile correctional facility.
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