EdnaKrabappel
Chicago, IL
Female, 32
From ’03-‘06, I was a special education teacher in Philadelphia as part of Teach for America. I taught children with mild to moderate special needs (primarily learning disabilities, attention deficits, cognitive disabilities, and behavioral problems) in grades 2 - 8 in all academic subjects. I saw a lot of things and learned a lot...especially the art of patience.
(1) Mandatory preschool for all children. The importance of early intervention to identify and address children's learning and social-emotional problems has been established in research. Despite this, there remains a lack of access to education for young children who may need it the most. (2) Equalized funding for public schools. I would abolish the current property tax-based system and provide additional funding for public schools in low-income communities. Otherwise, there is very little hope of making any significant impact on the achievement gap between children in high-income and low-income communities. (3) Improvements to the process of assessing children with special needs. Most children with special needs are still required to take state and district assessments (high-stakes tests) based on their chronological grade level, despite the fact that they may be 2 or more years behind their peers academically. This testing is a complete waste of time and tax-payer money and provides utterly useless information about the child's skills as it is designed to measure their progress based on standards which are beyond their current program of instruction.
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When the parents and the school special education team disagree a legal Due Process case ensues. Parents and school officials sit down with a mediator, and then an Administrative Law Judge if mediation doesn't work, and speak their case - complete with witnesses, experts, and lots of research and documentation of similar cases. This costs A LOT of money for everyone involved, but given that their pockets are usually deeper, schools often prevail - regardless of whether they're in the right or not. It's more common for parents to sue schools because they're unhappy with the IEP team's recommendation rather than the schools suing parents. While the adults fight it out, the child's current placement must be maintained, even if it's woefully inadequate, until the proceedings are finished. So while one side always wins....I'd say the child typically loses in these situations.
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No. Typically I received IEPs (Individual Education Plans) for my students within the first week of classes. The IEP is a legal document which describes (in varying detail) the student's disability/ies, areas of strength and weakness, their current level of performance in areas of deficit, academic/behavioral/social goals for them to achieve throughout the next year, and their specific placement in a special education and/or regular education classroom. I was legally mandated to uphold the requirements of the IEP and help the students reach their IEP goals, providing documentation of their progress over the course of the school year.
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I sobbed at the end of this movie. It was heartbreaking to see the parents and children become so engaged in the hope for a better education and a better life, only to have their fate decided by a lottery drawing. I don't know if more charter schools is the answer - we need more GOOD charters, not just more charter schools - but I hope that Race to the Top and other education initiatives help increase access to quality education for ALL students, not just the children whose parents can afford to pay for it.
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Good question! In my time teaching in Philadelphia I saw some pretty crazy stuff. Physical fights and generally bizarre behavior were not uncommon. The craziest thing I personally witnessed was a child threatening me and some of his peers with a pair of scissors. He was affected by schizophrenia and heard voices. When he was not in his medication his symptoms were quite bad and he often accused peers and I of saying things we never said. He rarely responded violently, but he was also somewhat alienated by his peers, and on this occasion he seemed to hit a breaking point. It was very intense and scary, but luckily no one was seriously injured. And I learned my lesson - only safety scissors in my special education class after that! I kept the big scissors locked in my desk drawer.
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It is a choice and, in my opinion, anyone who teaches special education likely has a lot of patience, caring, and a belief that with the right help, anyone can enjoy school and find success. For me, the decision was part idealistic and part practical. My mother was a teacher's assistant in a special education classroom while I was in elementary school and I would come to visit her often. Her patience and caring for the students with which she worked was inspiring to me and I was proud to have a chance to work with students in a similar way. I truly believe that school should be a place that all children enjoy and want to come to, so I found teaching special education an opportunity to help students who are struggling academically or behaviorally. The practical part of my decision was the fact that there was a greater need for special education teachers and so it was easier to get a job in the school/community I desired. I don't know if this is a larger trend or if it's still the case now, but when I was seeking a job, there was a high need for special education teachers.
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I have not personally had this experience as a teacher, but since leaving the classroom I have seen this in my administrative roles in schools. There are definitely children who have special needs which cannot be met adequately in a traditional school setting or special education classroom in their public school. This is where private schools come in - private therapeutic schools provide very small classes (5-10 students) with severe disabilities or behavioral problems. Some of these schools are residential and students live on the premises, while others use bus or taxi transportation. Students in a public school who need such a placement are typically placed in these VERY costly schools after much careful decision making and debate. Taxpayers foot the bill for these placements, so schools often try to meet children's needs within the public schools whenever possible. One sad thing to note is that it can be very difficult for students to transition back to a traditional school after attending a private therapeutic school, so placing a young child there may mean that they'll never attend school with their non-disabled peers.
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