“Oppositional Defiance Disorder” is a diagnosis that can get a student an IEP.
So a disruptive, violent child can show up to school every day - throw chairs, bring drugs to school - then get mom or dad to take them to the doc to diagnose them with ODD. It’s a manifestation of their disability.
“Inclusion” also means that these children need to be placed in the same classroom as all the other children. So 29 children are subject to the violence of 1.


A middle or high school teacher typically has 100-200 kids.
If 20-50 of them have 30 page IEPs, you are expecting the teacher to be accountable for 600-1500 pages of documentation.
Where is the misinformation? It is law that IEP students cannot be suspended for more than ten days without a “manifestation determination hearing”, and cannot be suspended for “manifestations” of their disability. Which, with ODD, includes things like throwing things and calling their teacher a fucking removed.
These types of actions have always landed my iep kid into a self contained classroom. Always. Mess up in Sped, they send you out of district where the staff is allowed to put you in a hold for saftey.
Never, has a violent action in Gen Ed, been dismissed because of his IEP. Yeah, the manifestation is alway a yes, the action was part of his disablility, but they dont let him stay in a gen ed setting, we change the iep so he is in self containment.
If your school doesnt have a sped room, or an out of district placement plan… that… seems like it would help your problem out, a lot.
You’re really hung up on manifestation determination. You sound like you’re lashing out because you wanted to be rid of a kid and it didn’t go your way.
Your misinformation comes from the idea that parents are just arbitrarily getting their children an ODD diagnosis to keep them from getting in trouble. And stigmatizing kids that actually have ODD. And the idea that it’s either suspend the child or let them do whatever they want.
Look, it sounds like your school is heavily under-resourced and it’s making your job that much harder, and that sucks. But what you’re doing right now very much makes you part of the problem, and you need to reevaluate if this is what you really want to be doing. If I saw any of my kid’s teachers saying anything close to what you’ve been saying here, I’d be raising hell with the school and the school board.
Not all, but yes. This happens.
I can tell you that my mother was able to bully a school into putting half days into my brothers IEP because she wanted to keep him home for weirdass emotional incest reasons.
I have worked across multiple districts. I have talked to multiple teachers from other schools. This is a matter of federal law.
Which schools aren’t “heavily under-resourced?”
I had a parent have a meltdown today because I wrote that their student stole something and lied about it. They were livid at the fact that I called a student taking something from me and telling me they didn’t to my face “stealing and lying.” Parents are absolutely happy to raise hell because teachers are just supposed to be passive punching bags.
Honestly, I strongly suggest you consider stepping back from teaching. For your own good, and for the good of your students.
Honestly, I suggest that you get into teaching.
Maybe sub for a day. Experience some of the gaslighting for yourself.
And yeah, being expected to just take the abuse is why there is a massive teacher shortage. The fact that everyone thinks their personal K12 experience makes them a master pedagogue is just icing on top.