Teachers should not have any say in recommending drugs or assigning a DSM-IV diagnosis.
I am a special education teacher in Virginia and one of the very first things I was told was to never do either one of the 2 above things. If I did, I could be sued and the school district would not only NOT defend my actions, they would join in the suit. Diagnosis and drug recommendations are never to be done by a teacher. It is illegal. Cut, dried, no arguments.
Now, I know in just a moment someone is going to think and then perhaps post, "But wait a minute! This is exactly what happened to my son/daughter/niece/nephew/friend/etc. Instead of getting into a discussion her on FR of whether or not it is legal and whether or not it happened, I recommend that you or your friend file a due process suit against the school immediately. This is a clear violation of IDEA.
Well, that's what I would think, and it certainly makes sense. You are not (at least the typical teacher is not) trained in medicine - so you have no business recommending anything regarding medicines.
But I'm trying to square that with the statement I quoted earlier:
it is easier for teachers and administrators to recommend drugging students who exhibit disruptive behavior or what, to a lay person, appears to be an emotional disorder
and this:
Schools authorities, supported by members of the psychiatric community, have recommended that millions of children be put on psychotropic drugs
Is this the generic "recommendation", like "I think we ought to drug them all", or is it specific, like "I really think Johnny would greatly benefit from Ritalin." ?
The former I can understand as coming from a frustrated teacher, the latter is way overstepping the law as you described it.
I wonder.