Why are we putting kids in Special Education that don't need to be???

Today I was in my English class and we were doing presentations for our final project and two students had analyzed the difference between 3rd graders writing and oral language. They spoke of this one child saying she was a tier 3 level special education student and upon seeing her work it seemed quite normal for a 3rd grader and they spoke of how she was one of the best ones they looked at. I then asked if the student had social problems and they said she was very popular just a little unfocused. But clearly by this description it seemed the student should not be in special education and was perfectly able to function in the regular classroom. Therefore I just think it is a little ridiculous that we are putting students in special education that do not need to be because this may actually be setting them back more. Just because teachers do not want to deal with a slightly unfocused student, it is not ok to put them in special education because they do not wat to deal with them.