Why are people so hostile towards schools ?

Question

I'm a special educator and take pride in the fact that I know and follow IDEA law. I am in love with my job and take my role as an educator very seriously. I am, and have been, case manager to many satisfied students (and satisfied parents!) I also know that most, if not all, of my collegues do the same.

Why is it that people who have had a bad experience with special education at some point in their lives feel the need to come onto these boards and answer every question that is asked with responses that instantly jump to "the school is breaking the law" or "what the school is doing is illegal?" These responses are often peppered with erroneous information or information that could be deemed erroneous because it is state specific.

It's offensive to me that the attitude is that schools don't want to provide services to students in need. I've never EVER had this experience and I am an actual special education teacher! Thoughts, anyone?

Answer 1

All you have to do is go to

www.wrightslaw.com

www.reedmartin.com

www.specialedlaw.blog.com

www.wallstreetjournal.com

http://www.schwabwas.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/Y...

to see why people feel this way. It is no secret of all the horrors of special ed in public schools all across the country.

You are a very rare jewel and thank you so much for that. I am a member of MANY groups, boards , etc that deal with this type of thing and I have NEVER heard of a school that does it RIGHT.

Most times when a teacher and/or parent  says they are 'satisifed' ,  they later learn the truth which is the administrators are wrong and the teachers and parents blindly believed everything they were doing.

I wish there were more caring teachers out there like you. All you have to do is search around on the internet a bit to learn of all the special ed horror that goes on all across the country.

Answer 2

Because the public school system has become impossible to navigate, and quite frankly, I'm tired of school teachers acting as adjunct childhood physiologists.  More to the point, the public school system often oversteps it's bounds with it's "We know better" attitude.  I'm sure your more than qualified and an excellent addition to your school system but public schools do not have the financing or the time to adequately deal with these children.

Answer 3

I'm glad you do such a good job. I'm glad that you've never had the problem. But as an advocate for most of the state I live in, I very RARELY see this happen. What I have seen is dozens of school districts who are noncompliant, and even more schools in which the teachers and principals really do not know the state policy and procedure, much less federal law. And regardless of state policy, if it denies any of federal law, than it *is* illegal.

It's ironic that you would mention 'satisfied parents'. We have a lot of parents come in who were blindly satisfied with their services because they were not aware of how much more their children could be receiving. I was one of those parents, which is why I advocate now.

From what I've heard, that is much more common than a teacher who does know all the laws and follows them specifically. Again, I'm glad that's not your experience, but you shouldn't be offended, because the truth is that our country is full of schools that still lock their special ed kids in a closet for 'behavioral strategies', or kick them out rather than teach them, passing the buck, so to speak.

Answer 4

The public school system is a complete mess... Too much resistance from teachers unions to actual reward and consequence for teacher performance, too much blind control by federal agencies, too little care by EVERYONE about social aspects and environment for students, too many parents dumping kids to school fro them to raise... That is why - we expect miracles from a system that is not set up to perform

Answer 5

The system is also full of advocates who misinterpret the law, make unreasonable and illegal solicitations and misguide vulnerable parents into an adversarial relationship with the school system.

Personal agendas plague the school system from unsavory advocates and attorneys.

I have been in meetings where advocates have held themselves professionally and have been in meetings where the advocates create a circus atmosphere.

Is the advocate concerned for the good of the student and family or meeting their own needs and personal agenda?

Too often it has been the latter.

Schools are not perfect, families are not perfect, government is not perfect and healthcare is not perfect but no where else is the attacking allowed to manifest so severely as it is against the school systems.

Schools are designed to educate, not rehabilitate. We have moved too far from education.