Law Schools and Disabled Faculty: Toward a Meaningful Opportunity to Teach
Journal of Legal Education, Vol. 41, p. 351, 1991
4 Pages Posted: 20 Sep 2012
Date Written: October 23, 1991
Abstract
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 promised that federal funds would no longer be used to support discrimination against disabled people. Today, Two-thirds of all disabled Americans between the age of 16 and 64 are not working at all. Translated into absolute terms, this means that about 8.2 million people with disabilities want to work but cannot find a job. And, sadly, disabled people cannot find a job in law schools. Of the 6,555 faculty members at ABA-accredited law schools, only 85 are reported by their deans as disabled. Only 16 faculty members identified themselves as disabled. These statistics illustrate that two decades after the passage of the Rehabilitation Act, disabled people remain grossly underrepresented on law faculties. Saddest of all, the problem is barely acknowledged.
Keywords: law schools, disabled faculty, Rehabilitation Act
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