The Observation Deck

Gary thank you for sharing your experiences as a child with special needs. I am so grateful to hear how schools used to be and I can tell you whole-heartedly that students with special needs today get amazing resources and are very fortunate to get mainstreamed. While my older son does still have some classes in a resource room he has several regular classes too and I don't think he ever feels like he's being punished for his needs. And my youngest son has been able to be in a regular class for 3 years now with assistance from an intervention specialist. He is able to be around "typical" kids which not only helps him but helps them to have compassion for others. As a parent I am so grateful for all the work special education teachers do for my kids and I have seem many miracles with them in school.

Thanks Danielle,

Yes, things have certainly changed for the better, and thanks for sharing your family's experiences.

I think that one of the reasons that I was a successful special needs teacher for all those years was that I had gone through those kinds of experiences as a young man. As well, my students were able to see a "success story" in my own life, and that certainly helped me to face the next day, as well.

I hope that I was able to make a difference in quite a few lives, over the years.

I do have a "Back To School" funny/bittersweet column coming out next issue in the Observer, but for now, there are a couple of serious points to be made here, that I still think are important.

Firstly, never take special services for granted. As you have seen posted here, there are those who would do away with those services, or with public education itself, for a variety of reasons. Whether those reasons might be economic, sociological, philosophical or whatever, they need to be constantly addressed and revealed for being what they really are.

Secondly, just a somber reminder to all who read this...

... that special needs people are real people. They (WE!) have rights, and they particularly want to be comfortable with the rest of you. THERE IS NO DISGRACE IN BEING DIFFERENT! (unlike what so many movie and literature portrayals have often tried to show in the past- Just think about THAT thought for a moment, and you will be amazed at the examples that will come to your mind!)

THERE IS NO PUNISHMENT FROM GOD involved in being different. (as some superstitious people may surprisingly still believe!)

In fact, it is often a blessing in so many ways.

REMEMBER that YOU TOO can become "special needs" in a heartbeat at any time. whether from a stroke, heart condition, fall, or some other malady. You may be "Mr. Independent" today, but tomorrow, you may be screaming for every special service that you can find, when that shoe goes on the other foot...

...just offering a word to the wise here...

And by the way, THERE IS NO DISGRACE IN BEING LEFT-HANDED EITHER. As a lefty, I can assure you all of that fact. DO NOT force your child to change their hand preference.

To equate an institution such as Gallaudet University with a concentration camp demonstrates a shocking lack of grace, and an inability to think through your position.

To argue that a public education system is fundamental to democracy ignores the history of this country, which functioned as a democracy for scores of years without any public education. Even today I would question whether voters read anything about the issues; they probably spend more time watching and listening to their favorite talkers and screamers, and vote as they are told. Do you know anyone who has actually read a party platform; I don't. We need education to provide a competitive workforce, not to make democracy work.

The question of whether any group should be mainstreamed or not seems to change with the wind. And it should because there are good points for and against mainstreaming.

I wonder what we should do about the gifted (concentration camp!) program. There have been changes, certainly, but generally my kids were plucked from their neighborhoods and separated from their friends, to be isolated in special classes. I've often wondered what happens to the least gifted child in such a program; does he think he's a loser? He would probably be a star if he had been left in the regular classes.

I admit that I am critical of current educational systems, because they are mired in an expensive and wasteful mode of having a teacher in front of a class. I firmly believe that the best students are largely self-taught, but that all students could learn more efficiently from well crafted computer applications, supplemented by team sessions led by a teacher.

The best model of educational efficiency I have seen was a multi disciplinary course called Western Civilization. We met in an auditorium where one of the teachers lectured on his specialty. Then we met in small seminars with our assigned teacher (who would most likely be from another discipline) and discussed the lecture and what we had read. The next lecture could be from another teacher, from another discipline, and then we would meet in seminar again with our assigned teacher, who was more like a coach than anything. That was many years ago, before computers came on the scene. I would replace the auditorium lectures with an application that would take you through the material, testing as you went, and taking you back over areas where you were having difficulty. That is one-on-one teaching, something that is just not available in the current schools, and would make better use of our teacher resources as they led the seminars, and perhaps even helped create the applications.

We need education to provide a competitive workforce, not to make democracy work

Will--- I desperately hope that you will retract that statement.

Stan

Will,

Sidestepping Stan's point for a moment...

As a historical point, from this state's founding, a parcel of every surveyed township was set aside for a public school. Ohio was historically at the forefront of public education. William Holmes McGuffey, of Miami University, pioneered a reading curriculum as early as the 1830's.

First of all in response to your posting, quite honestly, you might be surprised at how many points that you and I would probably find absolute agreement with; individualized and self-directed, and yet guided study being one of them. Tim's posting on the Montessori system reminds me of how much I value that particular philosophy of learning, as well.

The lecturing teacher at the front of the room is an idea that, like all educational ideas, may have a time and place, but must remain but one of many techniques available to educators, especially these days.

As far as the particular university you mentioned, I certainly said nothing at all about it, and therefore would not want to be accused of having a lack of grace in that respect. In fact, I would certainly agree with you that there are hundreds of private schools, like the one you mentioned, that deal with special needs students very successfully indeed, and in no way would be considered to be "concentration camps". At the same time, any segregation of a person having special needs going out from the general population needs to be carefully considered for obvious reasons. Eventually, one has to learn how to deal with the rest of the world, and a segregated environment might either hypothetically run the risk of either being too sheltered, or too draconian. As you indicated, there is no real agreement on mainstreaming and the pendulum does swing in every direction from time to time.

As a matter of fact, when these standardized tests came down the road, at the IEP conferences, due to many of my students reading years below grade level, I sometimes encouraged that the student be either excused from participation or be provided with a reader, only to be told by the parent that they wanted their child to take the test in the normal way, so as not to be singled out as being different by his peers. (even though the child might not have been able to read half of the questions)

In fact, that's the whole concept of an Individualized Educational Plan. (IEP) What fits for one student will not work for another.

So in short, I do, very MUCH support special schools as being a valid option for special needs students, although my philosophical preference would be that they be educated as much as possible with regular-ed students. (at the same time being very aware of that choice sometimes having the potential to be a difficult road to travel)

Please note my exact quote, Will. I said that students should not be segregated "any more than would be absolutely necessary". For some people, I believe that a special school would certainly be appropriate and necessary.

Your point about segregating the gifted child is equally interesting. A number of years ago, the concept of "basic classes" disappeared when they were challenged in court as potentially providing an unequal education... yet the "gifted" classes were able to continue.

I suppose when I was thinking about the connotation "concentration camp" I thought that it would imply being where a person would NOT wish to be, surrounded by people similar to each other, and in some way being different from the mainstream....so I suppose that one's personal choice of educational setting would be very important.

Choice was not, unfortunately, always possible in the past, and my thoughts were very much about those times...

So I guess the question is still out there about segregation of any kind...whether gifted, challenged, or whatever....Is segregation of people, into categories, something that we, as a society desire, and who makes that decision to do the segregating?

By the way, one-on-one education and instructor communication is increasingly possible, and in fact practiced in public schools these days, thanks in part to the computer. That has also allowed for increased mainstreaming possibilities for students coming from the entire continuum of ability levels.

Stan Austin wrote:Bill--- I did notice but didn't really pay attention. When you take a government action to presumably illustrate a certain fecklessness, then apply elementary school flash card multiplications to exaggerate dollar amounts, and then link those dollar amounts to some unrelated projects (some of which you philosophically objected to), then I just sort of add that to the sort of illogic that calls for elimination of public education and demands accountability for public education as posted by other similar visionaries.
But, I do appreciate your thinking of me, Bill!
Stan

Stan, if a company employs 1,000 people at a cost of $75,000 per year for wages and benefits then those employees cost that company $75 million per year. It may be elementary school flash card math but there it is.

Building roads and bridges and other infrastructure is a basic function of government.

Overtime governments at all levels have increased the number of people employed by government while decreasing the amount spent on infrastructure. Unfunded pensions, gold plated benefit packages and ever higher salaries are pushing State and Cities to the point of bankruptcy.

The next political battle will be between the political elite who feed off the system and the rest of us. You know, the one who pay for the system.

Will has a good point regarding education. Socialism, Naziism and Communisim, the butchers of millions , were founded and nurtured by the educated classes. Pol Pot was a very well educated killer who dreamed of "remaking" society. I don't think it a coincidence that he had his defenders in the UN and universities.

Tom Friedman of the New York Times thinks we need to be more like Communist China. He is very well educated and writes for the Times so he must be right.

Then there are people like David Anderson who think it should be a crime to teach your children to read:

David Anderson wrote:Regarding your opinion to close the Dept. of Ed., how about these two steps instead: First, declare illegal all private and charter schools. Then, assign students to public schools within a geographic zone, crossing city boundaries, via a random lottery.

Bill---- You're building a good case for Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman to take over the reins of government!

Then there are people like Bill Call who would refuse public education to anyone who would cost more than $8,000/year.

My comment about what to do to fix public education was actually a Warren Buffett paraphrase. Thanks for taking the bait, Bill.

This isn't a response to any one person. I haven't been on the deck for a while but I think there is a huge disconnect between what we all believe a "public education" is for.

Will says "competitive workforce" is the goal. This would be one view if success is mostly measured by GDP.

Others say "to ensure democracy" and in our current system that would be a way of identifying all our groups and trying to give equal voice and treatment (vis a vis a grouping of "types" of people and then making sure all groups are getting the best education).

But in reality - what public education gives us - is simply THE public. In other words - you are not just educating the children so they are more knowledgeable or productive in an academic or economic or even socially responsible way.

Public Education shapes the general public of tomorrow - and how it handles problems and how it measures "success". In fact I would say that the only thing that our current form of public education is dependable for is creating more public education advocates/professionals to defend it. Even if you disagree with it - you have essentially been apprenticed to fit into that model and all your changes are just rearranging deck chairs on the ship.

So it makes sense that whether you teach or simply support the schools - you cannot imagine how different it could/should be if we were to look at it as a means to the end of creating our future "public". And anyone talking of alternatives or complete-reengineering is treated as CRRRRAAAAZZZiEEEEEEEE because people defend the current system at its core.

To aliens from another galaxy - the world of public (and 90% of all private) education looks like a weird twilight zone of our public society where groups are identified and the keys to liberty are shaped nicely for each group. And that institutions trump individuals and discipline/control is necessary part of life.

The real public is a much greater place than what we have been putting our children through. It would be great to see that change in my lifetime.