Capital Digest

The number of students with disabilities attending regular classes increased by 6.1 percent to nearly 1.6 million--one-third of all disabled students in the nation--between the 1985-86 and 1990-91 school years, according to a report released last week by the Education Department.

"We are working to create one education system that values all students,'' Judith Heumann, the assistant secretary for special education and rehabilitative services, said in a statement lauding the trend toward such "mainstreaming.''

A record 4.99 million disabled people from birth to age 21 were served under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Chapter 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act during 1991-92, a 3.9 percent increase from the previous year's figure of 4.8 million. That percentage change was the largest for the past 15 years, according to the study, which is a report to Congress on the...