Florida Charters Slam the Door on Children with Disabilities

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1. crazycrawfish says:

   September 8, 2012 at 7:35 am

   That’s exactly right. Thats how reformers can ensure every school becomes a failing school and thus turned into a charter. Not sure what their plan for SPED students will be then.  Probably virtual schools no one will monitor.  Out of sight, out of mind.

   Sent from my Samsung smartphone on AT&T

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2. Linda says:

   September 8, 2012 at 7:41 am

   We are living in a sick, disturbed, greedy, pathetic, sad, disgusting society. Shame on these vultures who could care less about any of our children, except their own. Eventually, their judgement will come.

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3. Jeremy S. says:

   September 8, 2012 at 8:10 am

   From the linked article: “Even in the traditional public schools, not every school is expected to provide every service. About half don’t serve a single child with a severe disability. Instead, they’re sent to neighboring schools with specialized programs.”

   What can the public schools do differently here, so as to be a better example for charter schools? Or is this in fact a good model?

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   • Linda says:

     September 8, 2012 at 8:18 am

     Wrong…we have always had many students with severe disabilities: emotionally disturbed, autistic, learning disabled, oppositional defiant disorder, attachment disorders….districts are bringing these students back from out of distritct placements to save money. We have them all and many are mainstreamed and that is not always the least restrictive environment. Charters will never take them or find a way to get rid of them.

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     • Duane Swacker says:

       September 8, 2012 at 3:16 pm

       I think your last sentence should read “Charters will never take them or [will always] find a way to get rid of them. At least the “will” needs to be in there or else it sounds like your saying that “charters will never find a way to get rid of them”. (Had to add the “always” in just for giggles)

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     • teachingeconomist says:

       September 9, 2012 at 12:39 am

       I find NPR’s reporting to be fairly reliable.

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4. readingexchange says:

   September 8, 2012 at 8:20 am

   “When you have a child with a disability, they tell you where you’re going to go, basically, and that’s it,” Tonya Whitlock said. “They are segregated … and you’re not allowed to go beyond those boundaries. So really, we don’t have choices.”

   Are we rolling back years worth of work which ensured educational equal rights for our disabled children? I remember when Public Law 94-142 was enacted and I was part of the tremendous effort that was necessary to properly implement this law in my school district. It was nothing short of a civil rights movement. Even today, it takes diligence to make sure these rights are maintained.

   I watched with disgust as speakers from both recent political conventions emphasized the importance of education, while both parties are allowing policies which severely weaken the funding of our public schools and are returning us to the dismal state of educational segregation. Our federal, state, and local politicians, educational leaders, and “reformers” should be ashamed.

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5. Barbara says:

   September 8, 2012 at 10:46 am

   Unlike all the school deformers’ claims, this actually IS a civil rights issue.

   I may be plugged into the wrong parts of the organized autism community, but I have yet to hear anything about this from them. Ironic that the general ed community cares more about our kids than our own community.

   Sign me,
   Disgusted Autism Mom

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6. Robin Ruiz says:

   October 15, 2012 at 6:37 pm

   It’s not totally accurate. Private Christian schools here in Central Florida have students with disabilities because often those facilitators call me for help. Some of the private schools do an excellent job accommodating students. What bothers me is the large amount of students who are put in special education because they are Spanish or Haitian-

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7. Robin Ruiz says:

   October 15, 2012 at 6:50 pm

   The Charter schools here in central Florida have students with disabilities . We have charter schools like ” Our Children” that have many spectrum children with different levels of severity. The magnate schools have contracts. Many of our students with disabilities are also on free and reduced lunches , may come from single family homes, and guardians are not educated in learning challenges. The level of support at home is minimal. But they are still my child if they are in my classroom. With all the technology available, students with learning challenges are not given the tools- regular Ed teachers – do not have the professional training to understand how to differentiate their instruction and so we do what we can with what we have!

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