Whose Future Counts? Disability, Discipline, and the Moral Status of Children in American Education

This paper examines how contemporary school discipline laws shape the futures of disabled children in the United States. Placing recent policies such as Texas House Bill 6 in conversation with the historical precedent of Buck v. Bell (1927), it argues that legal frameworks governing school discipline can translate disability-related differences into behavioral deviance, legitimizing exclusion in the name of institutional order. While Buck v. Bell sought to regulate the reproductive futures of disabled persons, modern disciplinary regimes increasingly govern their educational futures through suspension, removal, and alternative placements.