Watching the demise of our public schools, and the dissolution of special education services, we see a common ploy that takes place within local school districts. Naomi Klein in The Shock Doctrine wrote about how, after Katrina, elderly and ailing–free market Guru–Milton Friedman, with help from the Bush administration, used the NOLA devastation to shutter […]
Language that Frightens Parents and Teachers of Students with Disabilities
The recent report about special education from Washington State is not alone in its use of frightening language about what is happening to programs for students with disabilities. Many states are using the get tough talk, following Arne Duncan’s lead. And there are many parents who no longer accept the idea of special education. They […]
Seattle’s Demolition of Special Education: Making Way for Common Core
The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in shadows of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped. —Hubert H. Humphrey Every student achieving, everyone accountable. —The Seattle […]
Tricky Business in New York Special Ed. and Maybe Where You Live
By Monica Kennedy Kounter I am a parent of a special needs child, a certified lay advocate, and I have a Master’s of Science in Early Childhood Education. I have been fighting Common Core on the behalf of students with disabilities in New York State for a year now. I am a relative newcomer to […]
Bill Gates’s and the Ed. Reformers’ China/Special Education Disconnect
Bill Gates and other ed. reformers praise China, Singapore and Korea as having the highest test scores in the world, of course, better than the United States they will tell you. What they fail to say is that in America, public schools teach everyone—students with disabilities too. Students who come to school with learning disabilities […]
Using Students with Special Needs to Privatize Public Schools
Education Week came out with an article pondering a serious question. How can you have special education charter schools and still call it inclusion? HERE. I wondered, were the school reformers going to do the following: Return or ramp-up the old model of resource and self-contained classes within the traditional public school system? Pull together […]
Commiserating on How Gifted Students are Ignored by Educators, Policymakers and Those Who Should Care
A post I did almost a year ago about Common Core and gifted students has been receiving renewed activity lately. HERE. HERE is another. I wondered what was up. Why are gifted parents digging into the archives? I realized school for many has been in session for a while now and for parents, including parents […]
Do Public School Students Need Special Ed. Anymore?
Do we need special education anymore? Some parents might say no—that a regular class with high expectations, possibly some support, is all that is necessary. Arne Duncan has stated that students with disabilities should rise to the same level as other students. He has called for a “major shift” in how special education students are […]
Robin Williams and Lessons to Be Learned About Kids with Mental Illness in Public Schools
I have been reminded that Robin Williams died of a particularly severe neurological disease called Lewy Body Dementia. This is not a psychiatric disorder, so it is incorrect to associate Williams to mental illness. Unfortunately, this is an older post and the title is stuck. Still, the information about schools and mental illness I hope […]
How Backward Reforms Waste Time and Hurt Students with Special Needs
We should be beyond this in America. Every school district should be providing parents public access to top notch regulated education services, including utilizing cutting-edge research for all students, and especially for students with disabilities and/or our gifted and talented young people. Right now many teachers and parents are fighting to get decent services from […]