City schools do special ed right?
Apr 30, 2008 in Education
Teaching Special Education in the Philadelphia suburbs gets you used to the idea that only one thing must suck more than urban education these days: urban special education. Out of all of the horror stories I have seen or dealt with, the best must be the student that was held back in third grade three years in a row. He was never tested for special education services. Even after the parent specifically requested testing. They signed a permission to evaluate, and still no testing. This child was going to be 12 years old in a class with children 9 years old, and nobody thought that was something to be looked into. When he came to our district, he was tested immediately and, unsurprisingly, he had a learning disability. The only thing that makes the story more sad is that within a year they moved back into the city, where I would imagine he continued to receive the same standard of service.
That long-winded warm-up brings the surprise: Seattle looks like it’s trying to do some good special education.
As a task force begins this spring to revamp Seattle Public Schools’ approach to special education, it’s likely many classrooms around the district will begin to look more like Eckstein’s. The details haven’t been worked out, but in general, the district will try to deliver services to the students instead of bringing the students to the services.
While that program isn’t right for every kid, I think it would be right for a lot of kids. My school district, in response to the Gaskin case, has moved a lot of students into more regular ed classes, which has overall been something that seems to please most people. We still offer classes such as my own which are more self-contained. We have some learning support teachers going into classrooms, but I’m unaware of a true team-teaching model such as the one mentioned here.
The article mentions the biggest problem with this program: it costs a lot. Two teachers in a classroom adds to the expenses very quickly. But, unfortunately, there’s not many cheap ways to do special education, especially if you want it done right. My class right now has myself, one teaching assistant, and two personal care assistants. Split those costs among 10 kids, and we’re throwing the per-pupil cost way off track for the district. The only way they save money in that scenario is by paying the assistants far too little for what they do. But that’s another post for another time.