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View Point
System makes life
hard for special-ed
teachersWITH public school teachers talking about going on strike, this might be a good time to comment on teacher accountability.
It is perplexing how closely public discussion seems to identify quality education with teacher competence. However, the quality of public education really depends on school administration. Teachers are actually helpless, even if they try to improve things.
All over this island, most parents of special-education students have their children segregated into separate classes. These are called resource rooms, but this is just the first piece of misinformation.
A resource room would provide extra training in specific skills -- but that is not what these children are being given. They are actually being pulled out of the most important subjects, language arts and math, and are given watered-down versions of them.
The special-education class that I teach has 19 students in it, ranging in age from 6-10 and is divided between two teachers. The students have an amalgamation of non-average behaviors and abilities.
Yet my school's officials tell parents that there are only seven students in the class and that it is somehow "less distracting" than a regular class.
Administrators further mislead parents by telling them that their children will be receiving individual instruction and that this arrangement will magically catch their children up to grade level.
Most parents are savvy enough to realize that their children would be better off in regular classes with some kind of support.
They would receive the full curriculum. They would socialize with non-disabled peers. They would not be as stigmatized. They would have the possibility of a favorable prognosis.
However, school officials falsely tell parents that this is not beneficial. The variety of false arguments are imaginative:
And, of course, there are the falsehoods that individualized instruction is provided in the separate class, and that this would not be possible in a regular setting."It is bad for your child's self-esteem to be in a regular class."
The district itself has a defensive attitude toward parents and the court. District officials advise principals to talk parents out of regular-class assistance.
What can teachers do, and what happens to them? In my case, I first discussed things amicably with my principal, but he replied, "We don't necessarily have to obey the letter of the law."
HE then engaged in defamation. He altered Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and forbade me or parents to revise the IEPs.
I reported this to the Felix Monitoring Project, the feds, Board of Education, attorneys, the state Attorney General's Office, etc. They all said, "Sorry, not our kuleana."
The principal started a witch hunt to try to find something to discipline me for. The district is helping him.
One parent who received his defamation made a threatening phone call. Apparently, the principal is trying to claim that I am going through all this trouble just to reduce my workload, which hardly seems plausible.
It's the wild, wild west. Truly, a teacher is alone.
Parents, look out for your children. Have an advocate at every IEP meeting. Do not have a trusting relationship with your school, but one that is respectful, cooperative and watchful.
Do not be afraid of litigation, if necessary. Only then can you assure an appropriate education for your child.
John Mussack is a special-education
teacher in the Windward area.