I wanted to take the time this week to reflect on a few things and get a little more personal about something that has really affected me. As many of you know, I have a passion for teaching that often overwhelms me, even to the point of tears, when I hear some of the sad stories about what is happening to kids with disabilities currently in the local public schools. For those of you who don't know me, you will just have to take my word on this. This week I was astounded and outraged as my heart broke at another expectation that wasn't met by a promise for something new.
On Wednesday I heard that a new private school finally announced their opening as an alternative for students with specific disabilities. I had heard the rumors and was hopeful because it was a mom who helped start it. Yet, when I visited the new website I felt let down and betrayed. The trend I see in the private school arena in our area is very sad indeed. The schools locally all seem to want the best and brightest kids, the ones who have high IQ's and no underlying issues with behavior or remedial skills. When I see a school catering to a very narrow band of students with disabilities that probably could make it in the current public system, I have to wonder why they even bother? I ask myself, “Where is the school that will take a student at their level, whatever level that is, and create an individual program that truly meets their needs? Where is the school that isn't worried about behavior issues because they know how to effectively engage and educate the kids who come to their school?”
Not only that, but the money issue is insane too! 20K, 30K, 40K or more to provide a quality education for these special children? They advertise low staff to student ratios, but then you come to find out that this number doesn’t reflect teachers or paras in the classroom. It includes staff that may be sitting on the other side of the building, behind closed doors, doing the business of the school. It is the numbers game and if you can somehow make your ratio low by manipulating those numbers, then you can justify charging more. Of course private schools don't have to provide any services or special education. Which honestly doesn't bother me because, if they are a good school and provide quality for their price, I believe they will thrive as families see the value in what they do. If not, then they will eventually close. What does bother me is if they claim to serve a population, yet when you get down to the nitty gritty they aren't really serving that population at all.
So when are we going to see a real change? When will our focus shift from private schools for high functioning students to meeting the real needs of all students at a price that doesn't rival the cost of college? I hope to address those questions in the next few months for families in my local area. It isn't an easy road I have chosen to take, but my passion and desire to reach all students is important enough that I would gladly go hungry for a day to see just one of them smile as they realize they can succeed in learning.
Showing posts with label special needs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label special needs. Show all posts
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Special Education Parties Eliminated
Boulder Valley School District is planning to eliminate special parties for special education students, district wide. Read this article to get all the details.
Kim Bane from the district cites 2 reasons in the article for eliminating the program. Her first reasoning is the time of the events, often during the school day which takes away instructional time. Her second reason deals with inclusion.
Let's start with the second reason, inclusion. While it is important to include all students in activities at the school, this is already common practice. The special education students are always encouraged to attend and participate in all school activities. They haven't changed a policy to suddenly allow these students at activities they weren't permitted to attend before. Meanwhile, the schools are already part of the national trend of inclusion at the school on all levels, so these students are interacting with their peers in the traditional classroom daily. In fact, this past year I witnessed an honor student who worked in the resource room with special education students and was talking to one girl about whether she would be attending the basketball game later that night. This special education student who is in a wheelchair was planning to go. Plenty of inclusion going on at this school and bonding between peer groups. So in my opinion, the inclusion argument is moot.
Going back to the first reason, missed instructional time, the article notes that these students are pulled out during the school day for 2 hours, 4 times a year for these activities. Not a huge loss in instruction time, especially if you know that in special education courses it is taught that recreation and leisure activities are something that need to be taught to special education students. Therefore these could be considered additional parts to the curriculum in providing opportunities for these students to meet new students from across the district. Furthermore, let's add up the number of hours that sports students miss from instructional time to drive to a game or meet. Do you think it would exceed 8 hours in a school year? What about that missed instruction time?
In my opinion, this isn't about instruction time or inclusion. So what is it all about? Money. Plain and simple. Special Education students often require special transportation because of their needs. The article does mention this, but it seems to get lost in the controversy and focus of the issue. Students with special needs have exactly that, special needs. They need to be taught special life skills to help them assimilate into society. Transportation is one of these life skills. So why can't the district use this as a teaching opportunity for these students? Why not teach them how to use the public transit system to get to these events? I still know of special education adults who "hate the bus" and won't make it to classes just for this reason. Why do they hate the bus? I don't know, but perhaps if the school taught them this skill to attend a special event where they would meet new students, they would be more likely to participate in events on their own as adults by using the public transportation system.
Kim Bane from the district cites 2 reasons in the article for eliminating the program. Her first reasoning is the time of the events, often during the school day which takes away instructional time. Her second reason deals with inclusion.
Let's start with the second reason, inclusion. While it is important to include all students in activities at the school, this is already common practice. The special education students are always encouraged to attend and participate in all school activities. They haven't changed a policy to suddenly allow these students at activities they weren't permitted to attend before. Meanwhile, the schools are already part of the national trend of inclusion at the school on all levels, so these students are interacting with their peers in the traditional classroom daily. In fact, this past year I witnessed an honor student who worked in the resource room with special education students and was talking to one girl about whether she would be attending the basketball game later that night. This special education student who is in a wheelchair was planning to go. Plenty of inclusion going on at this school and bonding between peer groups. So in my opinion, the inclusion argument is moot.
Going back to the first reason, missed instructional time, the article notes that these students are pulled out during the school day for 2 hours, 4 times a year for these activities. Not a huge loss in instruction time, especially if you know that in special education courses it is taught that recreation and leisure activities are something that need to be taught to special education students. Therefore these could be considered additional parts to the curriculum in providing opportunities for these students to meet new students from across the district. Furthermore, let's add up the number of hours that sports students miss from instructional time to drive to a game or meet. Do you think it would exceed 8 hours in a school year? What about that missed instruction time?
In my opinion, this isn't about instruction time or inclusion. So what is it all about? Money. Plain and simple. Special Education students often require special transportation because of their needs. The article does mention this, but it seems to get lost in the controversy and focus of the issue. Students with special needs have exactly that, special needs. They need to be taught special life skills to help them assimilate into society. Transportation is one of these life skills. So why can't the district use this as a teaching opportunity for these students? Why not teach them how to use the public transit system to get to these events? I still know of special education adults who "hate the bus" and won't make it to classes just for this reason. Why do they hate the bus? I don't know, but perhaps if the school taught them this skill to attend a special event where they would meet new students, they would be more likely to participate in events on their own as adults by using the public transportation system.
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