Teachers who work with the children make the recommendations about referrals because we are the ones who work closest with them. So now we are handing it over to a "centralized team of experts" who know what programs are available. How about letting the schools keep their CASEs and educate THEM about what our options are. Now we will have people who have never even met a child making decisions on his/her behalf.
We need to be honest with ourselves and realize and admit that when our children come to us from such severe deficits, there are going to continue to be learning challenges. Classifying a student with Learning Disabilities should be excluded as an option is there are economic, societal or environmental factors. Yet that is exactly what happens in so many cases. As was said earlier, intervention between ages 0-4 is critical. A shift in values toward prioritizing the acquisition of a quality education also needs to occur in our urban communities.
Re: “Frustrated board wrestles with special ed”
Teachers who work with the children make the recommendations about referrals because we are the ones who work closest with them. So now we are handing it over to a "centralized team of experts" who know what programs are available. How about letting the schools keep their CASEs and educate THEM about what our options are. Now we will have people who have never even met a child making decisions on his/her behalf.
We need to be honest with ourselves and realize and admit that when our children come to us from such severe deficits, there are going to continue to be learning challenges. Classifying a student with Learning Disabilities should be excluded as an option is there are economic, societal or environmental factors. Yet that is exactly what happens in so many cases. As was said earlier, intervention between ages 0-4 is critical. A shift in values toward prioritizing the acquisition of a quality education also needs to occur in our urban communities.