They
Don't Belong in public school? I beg to differ. It was stated in the article that a lot of these behavior problems were results of their disabilities.
Every child deserves an appropriate education placement at public expense. It is a right afforded to every child and that right is paid for with their parents tax dollars.
A one on one aide for each of these kids? Whose going to pay for that?
The school district. If they do not have an appropriate placement then they can pay for a private school for these kids. School districts do not have the legal option to say that they can not afford an appropriate placement. They get money for all of the kids in the district and they have to educate all of them. Also they receive more money for the kids on IEPs so they can give them individualized services. They have to dig deep though and make the right decisions with their money. It is a big job but it is their job to do it.
Think of a school district like a family. Every child in their district is one of their children and they have their paycheck (tax money) to support them. They have to attends to the needs of all of their children (and put the wants last) and some children that are disabled or have serious problems will need more. Just like how a parent can not kick a child out of the family or neglect them because they are disabled and cost more than their other kids ...a school district can not do it either.
What teacher signs on to be bitten, kicked and fought & have things thrown at them by her student on a regualar basis?
Not a regular education teacher which is why they have special placements for these children (not closets though, that is not an appropriate placement) and special teachers. If the child is really out of control then they should be in a different placement then a regular education classroom of course. They need intervention and time that a teacher can not give them in a regular education classroom with 20 plus other students. There are teachers though that Do sign on to take care of these kids and get them the help that they need. God Bless them.
After reading the article though it seems that a lot of these kids actions were sensory issues (head banging, hitting themself, etc) that escalated into agression because of lack of structure (being locked up for long periods in time outs?...ugh, kids with disbilities need MORE structure then other children)
and abuse. These type of kids are usually so frustrated in school because of their own disabilities and inability to easily communicate that abuse, negative reinforcement and humiliation from teachers can send them over the edge.
What about the OTHER children in the class trying to learn?
If a child is so much of a distraction that the other children are affected then the school should have a plan in place. If they do is another story . Also a disabled child has to be in the least restrictive environment so that means that a school district can not just shut all these kids away jsut because they have a disability. A one on one aide is an effective way for a child that needs more help to get help without distracting the teacher. Sometimes though they have to be removed from the class and into a smaller and more restrictive environment with more teachers and aides that can give attention to all students. These teachers sign on for this job and are trained for this job. If they do not like it and do not have the patience for it than they should look into something else or be moved to another place before the abuse a child. I would walk out of the school before I abused a child like these children were abused.
I do believe though that you have to be involved in your kids education and advocate for your child if you have a child with a disability. I feel for the parents but I have to wonder how it got this bad. Maybe I am just lucky though. I work at my childrens school occasionally (and did full time for a while) so I have always have had the ability to "spy" on their classrooms. Thank God. If I ever had an inkling that something even remotely like this was going on in my son's resouce classroom I would pull him from school with a 10 day notice so fast and if the school disagreed I would take them to due process without thinking twice. The lawyer would be worth every penny (or should I say thousands of dollars
).
Sorry so long... I will get off my soapbox now :blushing: