#mark schneider

The Rising settei

By: Mark Schneider

Published: Dec 9, 2025

I have four grandchildren, three of whom have been diagnosed with learning disabilities. At different times, they have had Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), legally binding documents under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), or 504 plans, which are rooted in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Both documents specify the accommodations students must be given to help them learn.

I have watched my daughters fight like tiger moms to get their kids the services they deserve by law. I have also watched with dismay as my granddaughter was treated badly by the Wake County, NC, public school system, despite her disabilities. (She is now enrolled in a private school, where she is flourishing.)

Most of us have encountered parents who were fierce advocates for getting their children accommodations in school. But as is the case with my upper-middle-class daughters, success in getting accommodations is often affected by the class and education background of parents who are seeking services, a disparity that is likely exacerbated by differences in who gets IEPs and who gets 504 plans.

The more widely used IEP is an entitlement program that details procedures and processes to provide a “free and appropriate public education.” In contrast, 504 plans are based in anti-discrimination laws and do not have the same complex requirements and safeguards as IEPs, giving schools far more discretion in granting 504 plans compared to IEPs. In turn, 504 plans are the result of often intense negotiations involving school officials, evaluators, and parents, and data consistently show that low-income students are more likely to have IEPs while more advantaged students have 504 plans. Finally, students in colleges and universities can use their high school IEPs or 504 plans to argue for accommodations in college.

In the past, learning disabilities were (unfortunately and inappropriately) stigmatized. For some disabilities, such as ADHD, that stigma is largely gone. In fact, these disabilities are often coveted, especially by parents, who can wield disability status as a tool to increase their children’s odds of success in K–12 schools.

Among the most frequent accommodations granted to students with disabilities is extra time to complete tests and assignments. Understandably, many parents, especially higher income ones, view disabled status as a way of getting their children a leg up in testing, aiding them in their quest to ensure their children get into the best colleges. Indeed, one of the strategies used in the 2019 Varsity Blues scandal, in which college admissions counselors helped well-to-do families game the system, was to have children fake a disability to get accommodations while taking the SAT.

The appeal of accommodations is one of the factors that has helped increase the percentage of special education students in schools. In 2000, about 13 percent of students had IEPs. In 2022, that proportion increased to 15 percent. Another 3 percent or so have 504 plans. While IEPs are more common, studies find that affluent school districts have seen a rapid increase in students with 504 plans.

Not surprisingly, postsecondary institutions are also enrolling more students with disabilities, leading to a rapid increase in the provision of accommodations. The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) reports the percentage of undergraduates with disabilities at any given institution if over 3 percent of its student body is so classified. In 2013, only 911 schools crossed that threshold. By 2023, the number increased to 1,675. Over that same decade, the proportion of students with disabilities across all schools grew from 7 percent to 9.4 percent. But that growth varied by institution type, going from 8 percent to just over 9 percent at private not-for-profit schools but more than doubling from 7 percent to over 15 percent at Ivy League schools.

As shown in Table 1, private not-for-profit universities have the highest concentration of students with disabilities. That proportion is even higher at the eight Ivy League universities. The lowest concentration is among public two-year institutions (community colleges).

The disproportionate expansion of special education students at selective institutions is of particular interest. My tiger mom daughters did what they had to do to help their children, and my oldest grandson was just admitted to a selective college—a school that offers lots of accommodations for students with disabilities.

As with so many well-meaning government programs designed to help less advantaged students, Section 504 has become another tool to help well-off students win in the competitive game of college admissions.

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Incentives explain outcomes.

It started with Lafayette’s ship coming into the dock

and when he was walking to the stage place he saw me, and no joke he asked me how I was doing, hugged me and KISSED ME ON THE CHEEK!!!!! (he kinda knows me) MY BRAIN DIED AT THAT MOMENT ASHEJJAHAGJSSJBSDH I MALFUNCTIONED!

i g o t a k i s s o n t h e c h e e k f r o m m a r k s c h n e i d e r

I didn't notice the phone was sideways but still !!!!

I got my membership pin!!!

Then there was the speeches

then I was introduced as a new AFL member to all those important speaker people (FUCK I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!! WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS HOW HAPPY I AM!!!) by that guy on the podium in the pic

Mark Schneider as King Ceorge III!

Good grief he's hot. He has such big DILF energy.

Also never have I ever wished that George would have remained the king of the North American continent. Man I wish Benedict Arnold had gotten away with those documents.

Dear Anon,

this question actually had quite the perfect timing because I planned to make a similar post regarding reenactors now that the Bicentennial is approaching.

Good reenacting is walking this very fine line between the accumulated factual knowledge you have and an engaging performance. Reenacting is handling these very tricky questions like “Did you had nightmares during the war?” (real example) that there is little to no source material for.

Probably the most famous La Fayette-reenactor is Mark Schneider. He worked for and with Colonial Williamsburg, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and George Washington’s Mount Vernon to name only a few. He also portraits Napoléon Bonaparte and Benedikt Arnold. There is quite a lot of his content on YouTube and he has produced a number of good quality “talks” with the organizations listed above, especially during the COVID.

Schneider is very versatile. He can give you a young and enthusiastic La Fayette fresh after the Battle of Brandywine or a more mature and sober La Fayette, discussing politics with James Madison in a tavern in 1825. And beside his knowledge of La Fayette, there is also his talent to entertain and engage a crowd. I honestly count on him for the Bicentennial.

The other Reenactor I have in mind is Ben Goldman from the American Historical Theater. Not quite as famous perhaps as Schneider, I have nonetheless seen him a few times and generally liked his performances. He is often invited to represent La Fayette as a guest at an event and not necessarily to portrait in the same way as Schneider does.

There are of course countless other Reenactors but the “smaller” ones are often harder to come by and I am always happy to find someone new – so if any one has a recommendation?