At 06:02 PM 3/6/2012, Jordan wrote:
>[WS:] Actually, they make a distinction between learning disability (e.g.
>Down syndrome) and emotional disability (e.g. AS or autism.) >From what I
>hear from my wife, the latter are much harder cases to work with,
>especially that behavioral problems are often coded as "emotional
>disabilities."Â Public schools, especially those in wealthier
>neighborhoods, often do this to get rid of disruptive students whom they
>cannot legally expel. My wife works in an ED program in a low income
>school (by choice, since she prefers not to deal with rich people who feel
>entitled) and says that most of her students' problems originate in their
>households and communities (usually some kind of abuse or neglect), but a
>typical school response to those problems is "more discipline."Â Teachers
>who try a non-confrontational, non-disciplinarian approach with "problem
>kids" are often seen as wimps by their peers and administrators, and often
>can result in negative evaluations. Wojtek I worked in Special Ed and
>regular ed classrooms (public and private) from preschool through high
>school in various capacities for about eight years in Hawaii. I've also
>spoken to special ed teachers on the mainland and overall it's not that
>different. I could write a book about the dysfunction of the overall
>system, but in lieu of that, here are some comments that might contribute
>to some of the lbo-talk discussions: At least in Hawaii, kids with the
>kind of "emotional disabilities" Wojtek describes - namely, poor kids from
>poor neighborhoods, some with completely fucked up family situations, and
>almost all in public housing - are warehoused in special ed. Some of
>them are there because they cannot meet the basic skills level of regular
>ed, some because regular ed. teachers did not want to deal with them at
>all, some because their teachers (rightly and wrongly) felt threatened,
>some simply because they had too many absences. It was frustrating and
>sad (to say the very least) to see bright kids waste away in horrible Sped
>classes - and I'm talking about 30% of many classes. I remember standing
>at the windows - barred from the inside and out - with one of these
>kids. He grabbed the bars smiling and comically mock screamed, "let me
>out!"Â There is so much truth in humor... Even though I wasn't supposed
>to, I advocated for the brighter kids to get "kicked out" of Sped into
>regular ed. Even though many regular ed classrooms were lacking, the
>kids had a slightly better shot of being intellectually challenged in some
>way. I was successful a few times. Sometimes the kids seemed happier
>and would even seek me out to ask me questions about class - or at least
>not totally stifled with busy work. Never ending, mind numbing worksheets,
>filling in unending blanks, and multiple choice circles...There are myriad
>subtleties to all of this e.g., there were a couple of good teachers in
>the bunch but the structure of the system was even against them. The
>best teachers I came across either left or planned to leave because of the
>onerous paperwork they were required to fill out everyday and the IEP
>meetings they had to attend and or organize - and of course because of the
>constant assault on their pay and benefits. I'll just leave it at that
>for the moment. The truth is, the chances of even those kids I "helped"
>making it all the way through high-school with anything to show for it are
>slim to none. Special needs kids are included in the standardized test
>scores. This is insane - and it helps schools fail the NCLB standards,
>moving the whole privatization process along at a steady clip. The last
>school at which I worked was going on it's third year of non-compliance
>(there was another term they used that escapes me at the moment,
>"non-performing" or something) and in talks with private contractors (from
>the mainland of course) to come in and "help."Â Of course they were
>legally required to take that step. The Confessions of a bad teacher
>piece: There is a lot to say, but I'll just focus in on one thing to
>elucidate a systemic problem. Surprisingly it sounds like he doesn't
>understand that the bureaucracy does not want to be bothered by special ed
>- or really by students in general. "I know that after she began throwing
>things, I sent her to the dean’s office. I know that a few days later, I
>received notice that my lesson had been rated unsatisfactory because,
>among other things, I had sent this student to the dean instead of
>following our school’s “guided discipline†procedure." He committed
>one of the biggest sins of the system but didn't quite understand why. He
>annoyed the level of bureaucracy above him. The dean had to see, talk
>with, and deal with the kid (usually they are simply sent back to class
>right away or the next day). This sin was well understood by the
>teachers I worked with. Of course, this leaves them without any real
>support from above - and if kids really act out or do something "bad,"
>they are suspended. Talk about motivation! They can actually get away
>for a week or two! But I digress. The role of the teacher is to control
>the classroom and keep the students away from the upper echelon - and this
>is a big one: avoid lawsuits at all costs. There is a fear that runs
>through all Departments of Ed and the fear of lawsuits is a biggie -
>especially when it comes to special ed. But I don't think it is just
>about avoiding lawsuits. The fear is spread throughout the system on all
>levels. It is used to control. For example (and I'm not saying this is
>a good thing, but) if that teacher sent one kid to the dean on a daily
>basis, they would find a way to get rid of that teacher because that
>teacher was not able to "control his classroom."Â It is a fear of rocking
>the boat, of disrupting the "functioning" system, of stepping out of
>line. Of course this goes for teachers that want to experiment at a high
>level as well - remember I'm not talking about schools in wealthy areas,
>but much of this applies to them as well and gets into those areas of
>indoctrination and control, etc... To go slightly off topic for a sec. I
>worked at feeder schools for Punahou and worked with many of their
>students over the years - and actually at a Punahou sports program one
>summer. To my mind, the Punahou experience was the main influence on
>Obama, and people tend to quickly gloss over it when they consider why he
>is who he is. He is the product of one of the most elite schools in the
>world. While it has gotten a little more diverse since he attended, it
>is still about as exclusive as you can get. Some of the parent
>discussions I've overheard there could easily have come out of the mouths
>of any colonial elite of the last couple hundred years. The whole place
>is privilege. Just because he lived in an apartment and worked at
>baskin-robbins means absolutely nothing. He was indoctrinated by the
>upper class and serves them well today... Another slightly off-topic, but
>germane fact:Â While I was at the last big public school a couple of
>years ago they began bringing in drug sniffing dogs. I'm not mentioning
>the round the clock security that all schools have or the huge - massive -
>ROTC presence...Again this is at one of the biggest public high schools in
>Hawaii that has one of the biggest populations of kids from the "hood."
>The teacher's union in Hawaii sold them out a long time ago. I watched
>the whole furlough process forced down their throats. It's too long of a
>story to rehash, but suffice it to say, they were offered a huge pay cut
>with more work or massive layoffs with more work left for the people who
>survived. Most didn't even know the negotiations were going on with the
>state until they were almost concluded. Then they were shown the deal and
>encouraged to take it. I worked for a private agency that contracted
>with the state, so I took the pay cut as well. Of course I didn't have a
>union, but same result... Well, hope this contributes something to the
>discussion. Aloha, J ___________________________________
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