Parents of disabled students push for separate classes
November 26th, 2007Mainstreaming trend doesn’t work for all; Backlash in New Jersey
Here’s another critique of educational inclusion by Robert Tomsho on the news pages of the Wall Street Journal.
As policy makers push to include more special-education students into general classrooms, factions are increasingly divided. Advocates for the disabled say special-education students benefit both academically and socially by being taught alongside typical students. Legislators often side with them, arguing that mainstreaming is productive for students and cost-effective for taxpayers.
Some teachers and administrators have been less supportive of the practice, saying that they lack the training and resources to handle significantly disabled children. And more parents are joining the dissenters.
[Some parents of students with autism] believe that mainstreaming can actually hinder the students it is intended to help. Waging a battle to preserve older policies, these parents are demanding segregated teaching environments — including separate schools.
Parents say typical students shun their children. New Jersey debates the appropriateness of segregated school settings.
See earlier Tomsho stories here.
Our RSS Feed
November 30th, 2007 at 9:07 am
The Wall Street Journal has been on a roll, depicting students with disabilities as the pariahs of education. The cases are so far-fetched. Why don’t they ever cover the flip side, or investigate the education system that leads to these breakdowns? No, it always the kid’s fault. It’s very clear that someone there has a huge axe to grind.