A student did more than bring drugs to school one day. First,he was high. Second, he had sold "squished up pills" he had in his bag, and third, he had paraphernalia to measure out and distribute more. The Administration asked the Special Education staff how they could have allowed this to have happened? What could they do to keep this from happening in the future? What could they do to help the student? The staff was without answers.
This situation begs the question: Who's problem is it when a student brings drugs to school? I eluded to the fact that the student was in special education; so was the student whom he sold the drugs to. The students made a choice, regardless of their disability, to break the law; yet administration is asking the teachers if they worked to prevent the situation. Educators are now being questioned, and in some cases reprimanded, when students do the wrong thing. Bureaucracy, procedural inconsistencies and a lack of continuity leave a teacher in the position of dealing with students on their own within the classroom. This issue, however, is beyond the classroom. The students made a choice that resulted in their arrest and eventual prosecution but because the students are labeled "Special Ed" some how the onus is on the educator.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Money
I will be posting an education paper on this topic but I felt it needs commenting now. An administrator at my school sent all special education staff an email. The subject: Who wants MONEY????? The message:
Hey guys-
I know time is valuable, and budgets are tight. There is $250,000 available to be given in grants. Please take some extra time, and apply. It should not be too difficult to get the money. If you need things for your rooms, money for CBI so students can get community based instruction, software you think would be helpful, school supplies (white boards, organizers, etc). Please consider as our students can only benefit if we supply them with more resources.
If you are to take this email at face value, you can see that money is available for supplies and we are being given a chance to tap into that resource for the good of the students. However, the problem is the line "Please consider as our students can only benefit if we supply them with more resources." Special programs are in place for the litany of classification we can place on a student. The CBI (Community Based Instruction) program is funded by the state and is available to any special education student that qualifies. Software cannot be purchased, nor can books, programs, or other tangible supplies without approval from the district. That would be fine if it weren't for the three to six week approval process.
Bureaucracy, over-spending, and a continued lack of resourcefulness doesn't do anything to foster student growth because the system itself is broken. Until we fix the system, no amount of spending is going to provide for students any better than what we are already doing.
Hey guys-
I know time is valuable, and budgets are tight. There is $250,000 available to be given in grants. Please take some extra time, and apply. It should not be too difficult to get the money. If you need things for your rooms, money for CBI so students can get community based instruction, software you think would be helpful, school supplies (white boards, organizers, etc). Please consider as our students can only benefit if we supply them with more resources.
If you are to take this email at face value, you can see that money is available for supplies and we are being given a chance to tap into that resource for the good of the students. However, the problem is the line "Please consider as our students can only benefit if we supply them with more resources." Special programs are in place for the litany of classification we can place on a student. The CBI (Community Based Instruction) program is funded by the state and is available to any special education student that qualifies. Software cannot be purchased, nor can books, programs, or other tangible supplies without approval from the district. That would be fine if it weren't for the three to six week approval process.
Bureaucracy, over-spending, and a continued lack of resourcefulness doesn't do anything to foster student growth because the system itself is broken. Until we fix the system, no amount of spending is going to provide for students any better than what we are already doing.
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