Quote:
Originally Posted by golfing eagles
So what?????? Why should any school hold back the best and the brightest to cater to the lowest common denominator????? Do we really need to "mainstream" behavior problems and autism into the same classroom and track as students that are motivated to learn and excel???
Here is an example from 25 years ago in Central NY: A mother successfully sued the school district to "mainstream" her daughter into a regular classroom. The problem was that the "student" was so developmentally disabled that she was non-verbal, no bladder or bowel control, unable to even feed herself, and was breathing through a trach that required suctioning every 3-4 minutes by the full time nurse that accompanied her, also paid for by the district. Why?? So "Mom" did not need to babysit her daughter or pay for help during school hours. And of course there was absolutely no potential for this unfortunate girl to learn anything.
Believe me, the other parents were outraged, their kids were in the lowest performing classroom in the district, and many kids did not want to go to school because of the stench. The teacher had the highest absentee rate in the district as well.
So I don't care how "enlightened" people feel about "mainstreaming" problem children---it is a BAD IDEA. There are plenty of special programs for such kids
|
What a non-response to my post. Did I say anything about mainstreaming? Did I advocate for having a student in a classroom who is disruptive. I did not so don't put words in my mouth. What I said, since you didn't read carefully, is that Charter Schools are cherry picking students and leaving the difficult students to the real public schools. Then members of a certain party love to point out how Charter Schools do such a better job of having well behaved classrooms and higher graduation rates.
Well of course they do when you won't admit problem students. West Point has better behavior than Florida State and a better graduation rate.
Then we get bombarded with comments about how we should stop paying teachers as the product they produce is no good. We should cut funding for public schools because Charters do it cheaper. We should vote against school funding in districts that depend on it. All part of an intentional or unintentional plan to destroy one of the bedrocks of America, a free education.
And to answer your question. I do not support the mainstreaming of students who do not demonstrably benefit from it and whose mainstreaming interferes with the ability of the other students to learn. We should go back to Special Ed programs, SBD classes, etc. where very well paid teachers, speech therapists, OT, PT etc, who are equipped by training and inclination to teach these more challenging students work their magic. And we should require all school systems to provide these programs and not leave it to the local taxpayer to approve.
Lastly your example of a specific child being mainstreamed fails the smell test. At least your assertion that she was mainstreamed so her mother didn't have to babysit. If that child were in a special class and not mainstreamed mom would have had no "babysitting" responsibility either. So don't accuse her of things that did not motivate her, if your story is even real.