A new U.S. Government Accountability Office report finds that the number of students with disabilities spending at least 40% of their day in general education classrooms rose about 25% from the 2012–13 to 2023–24 school years. The GAO report links stronger mainstream participation with improved performance outcomes reported in earlier research, but emphasizes that districts’ ability to increase inclusion depends heavily on staffing resources such as paraeducators and specialized supports. The watchdog also found state and district variation driven by factors including whether districts have special-education schools, per-pupil revenue levels, and poverty composition rather than average poverty rates. Inclusion policy remains a resource-and-support question for schools aiming to meet IDEA’s least restrictive environment requirement.