Parents and advocates are raising concerns that students labeled "emotionally disturbed" in special education face systematic isolation and excessive discipline, with students of color bearing the brunt of these restrictive classroom practices.
Students classified with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) are kept separate from their peers until they can demonstrate behavioral control, but this separation often limits their opportunities to learn appropriate behaviors and academic skills.
The practice creates what educators describe as a "catch-22" situation where isolated students primarily interact with other students who have the same label, leading them to model the behaviors of their EBD-classified classmates rather than learning from general education peers, according to NPR.
In many EBD classrooms, nearly all students are of color, with most receiving their labels as early as first, second, or third grade. Students in these settings report that their isolation makes behavioral improvement difficult because they lack positive peer role models and feel singled out from an early age.
Racial Disparities Highlight Bias Concerns
Black students face disproportionate placement in emotionally disturbed classrooms, reflecting broader patterns of overidentification in special education.
Black students are 40 percent more likely to be identified with a disability than their white peers and three times more likely to be suspended or expelled. In New York City public schools specifically, Black students are more than twice as likely to be classified as having an emotional disturbance compared to their peers, Educating All Learners reported.
Education researchers argue that the subjective nature of EBD identification enables bias to influence placement decisions.
Unlike other special education categories, EBD classification does not require a medical or psychological diagnosis and instead relies on subjective criteria, including "an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships" and "a pervasive feeling of unhappiness."
Critics contend that while the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandated educational access for all students, it inadvertently institutionalized systemic racism by enabling the segregation of Black and brown students from mainstream classrooms.
Researchers note that behavior interpretation remains subjective, allowing teachers to remove children from class based on their own judgments, with students of color facing removal at disproportionate rates.
Students with emotional disturbance labels also experience higher rates of disciplinary action, with approximately half of students in this category being suspended or expelled 11 or more times.
Many educators and advocates note that students labeled EBD often have experienced childhood trauma, suggesting the classification might more accurately reflect post-traumatic stress rather than an inherent behavioral disorder requiring separation, as per OPB.
