Inclusion
Perspectives on Parenting©
by Nancy Lambert Davenport
Nancy Davenport's Column:
For Richardson News 02-06-00
Copyright Nancy Lambert Davenport 2000
"They Are Kids First"
With trepidation, Jennifer's parents enrolled her in the neighborhood public
school last year. In spite of Jennifer's disabilities, she had a good year with
excellent teachers. She spent most of the day in the kindergarten class with
part of the time in the special education classroom. Because it was a
successful year last year, her parents were at ease when they sent her off to
first grade in the fall. She now has classmates who have known her well for a
year and a half. In addition, she knows the cafeteria workers, the janitor, all
the teachers and the students, not to mention the principal and other staff.
Jennifer's parents bought their house in the neighborhood because the school
was good. They considered it fortunate that the special education classes for
the area were right down the block from their house in their neighborhood
school.
They were notified this week that those special education classes will no
longer be located there. They, and Jennifer along with them, will be moved to
another school on the other side of the district. Instead, all the English as a
Second Language (ESL) classes for the district will be located at Jennifer's
school.
Jennifer is not in our school district, but this could happen here because we
still have a few centralized programs (classes in which students with similar
disabilities are brought together from many schools.) Educational placement
only for the convenience of the administrators is never good policy. This is
not in the best interest of any of the students-with or without disabilities.
When all the students with mental retardation are lumped together at one school
there is a skewed number being assigned to regular education teachers for
inclusion. For everyone's own good, most students with disabilities should be educated
in regular education classrooms. With a centralized program for kids with
disabilities, it will be difficult. The same goes for ESL classes and other
specialized education classes. It doesn't work having them lumped together and
moved around for the convenience of the district. If Jennifer's district had
assigned all the kids with disabilities to their home schools in the first
place, there would be no problem for her now.
Our school district has learned the hard way that students who move often from
school to school do not thrive. In our case, we learned this from the kids
whose families hop from apartment complex to apartment complex looking for the
lowest rates or the best deals. Their children as result have to change from
school to school with each move, never making friends, never getting into the
groove of learning, never gaining a strong support system, and never feeling
they belong.
Our kids with disabilities are no different. They need to stay put -- in their
neighborhood -- with people who know them and who are their friends. It's an
important part of learning and growing.
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