$pecial Education

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

If Americans despise one thing it is the establishment of a set of "special" rules for others. In part this is why I have always hated the term "special education". There is nothing "special" about "special education". In fact I would maintain "special education" is merely different and far too often an inferior education.  All those who fall under the rubric "special education" are not special at all. So called "special education" students are instead merely different from the norm. They do not learn at the prescribed rate or cannot physically navigate the educational environment. For me, this would have meant I had to use the "special bus"--though no such bus existed when I was a kid. For others, "special education" can mean a host of different things. Hence the federal government has required all public schools to offer "special education" in the form of an IEP, Individual Education Plan. This is far from perfect but a vast improvement over the bad days. Those bad days involved barring children with disabilities from receiving a public education. Yes, as late as the mid 1970s students with disabilities were not legally entitled to a public education. People like me were deemed a fire hazard or our presence alone was too upsetting to other children. Millions of people with a disability were denied an education and shunted off to institutions. In fact I tell people had I been born in 1950 and not 1960 I would have been sent to an institution and would have never received a formal education.

The history of discrimination directed at people with a disability is virtually unknown outside of the disability community. It is simply not part of secondary education and is rarely taught at the university level. The resulting ignorance on the part of the general public has consequences for so called "special education" students today. Specifically, parents and the general public deeply resent the money spent on "special education". Opposition to "special education" is rampant. For example, in last Sunday's tabloid the New York Post published a short commentary by David Seifman. In "$pecial School Bus". Seifman wrote that the NYC Department of Education will spend $100,000 transporting a single student with severe disabilities to school. According to Seifman, "the student has debilitating conditions that require an advanced life-support ambulance, specifically one operated by Park Avenue Ambulance, which will be paid as much as $96,100 to cover his rides during the 10-month school year". I have no idea if Seifman is correct in his assessment of the cost or condition of the student in question. But I do know what the general public will think. Why the hell are we spending $100,000 a year to transport a kid to school who needs an ambulance with advanced life support? But wait it gets worse--or more expensive. According to the Department of Education, the child in question has been transported to school via ambulance since 2005. In 2010 alone the cost of transportation was $161,200 for this student. Seifman goes on to tell readers that costs for the 55,000 "special education" students amount to a staggering $712 million in 2010 and is projected to cost $805 million dollars this year.  These sort of numbers makes an accountant blanch and parents screech in horror. I can just hear parents now: "My kid has to bring his own supplies to school and we spend over $100,000 to transport one kid to school via ambulance! What a waste of money".

Who do we blame for the great expenditure of money on one "special education" student? The Federal Government. Seifman writes: "its only one case but demonstrates how the city is caught between a rock and a had place when it comes to special education, which is governed by state and federal mandates that the city has no choice but to follow, regardless of cost. A student's individual education plan dictates services he or she will receive, and that includes transportation". Let me translate this sentence and its implied meaning: if it were up to me and anyone else with an ounce of common sense I would cut out transportation for this student in a heartbeat. This sort of expenditure is nothing short of wasteful. Spend this money on the "normal" kids who are ignored and under funded by the school. If you think I am being particularly jaundiced I beg to differ. I went to plenty of school board meetings and I noted an immediate pattern--when it came to cutting the budget the first line item eliminated was anything and everything related to improved wheelchair access, transportation, and "special education".  

What no one wants to discuss is the long range consequences. What happens if we cut "special education" to the bare bones? What happens to students who learn they are second class citizens who we have no investment in educating? What sort of life will these students have? Will such students think they are destined to be unemployed for their entire lives? Will they be happy for life long hand outs? I would contend we cannot afford to provide an inferior education to so called "special education" students. If we do this, we will have a perpetual underclass of people who will need life time supports. Just how much will that cost taxpayers? Essentially we can invest in education or invest in institutions to house a multitude of people for their entire lives. We can listen to people like Seifman who cater to the lowest common denominator or we can learn from our past mistakes--like barring people with a disability from a public school education.
 

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