In Maryland, about 100,000 students-almost one in eight-are in special education classes. Do they all belong there? Longtime public-education advocate Kalman “Buzzy” Hettleman’s latest book is, “Mislabeled as Disabled: The Educational Abuse of Struggling Learners and How We Can Fight It”. Hettleman says one reason failing students are placed into special education is that they don't receive reseach-based instruction to help them catch up to their peers.