Chicagoist: Teacher Suing Because Violent Student Wasn't Expelled

Kaonashi

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:11:50 -0600

This teacher AND the child both lost out this year. It's obvious this child needed something more than the special ed classes offered at this school, and it's equally obvious that the school went with the cheaper solution for THEM, without considering the consequences for the teacher, the child, and the other children in the classroom. Sadly, this isn't uncommon. Part of the problem lies in the fact that a lot of school districts make no distinction between the needs of different disabilities (nor do they care) and they want the cheapest solution. So you get situations where kids higher on the autism scale who are bright get placed in "contained" classes where they are bored to death and getting the crap kicked out of them, kids who actually need services who aren't getting them, kids who shouldn't be mainstreamed getting mainstreamed anyway and last but not least, kids who are "discipline problems" getting dumped into special ed classrooms because the school "doesn't know what else to do with them" and because they don't give a damn about the special ed students in the first place. As a result, special ed teachers who spend a great deal of their day breaking up fights instead of teaching. Of course, any teacher who is actually good at their job and actually gives a damn about the kids will immediately goes off to greener pastures (either at a private day school or a therapeutic school) because they will eventually get tired of having their hands tied behind their back and drowing in a sea of administration bullshit. I've seen Special Ed teachers go into their own pockets to buy things for their clasrooms and students because the money earmarked for their department "got lost." Some school administrators don't even bother to lie and tell teachers "Well, we put that money in (whatever) department. It's not like your kids are going to learn anything anyway." And if you think the teachers get a rough deal, try being a parent navigating this crap. I'll bet dollars to donuts that this mother has tried to get her child into a more appropriate setting for ages. If you have a child with special needs it helps to be well-off; the best environment for your child to learn and thrive is going to cost you 35+ grand a year. And unlike other private schools (where you can get some sort of assistance) it's an out-of-pocket expense.

Ingrid

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:22:55 -0600

This is a subject that really sets me off. I agree that teachers get a raw deal, it's a shame that the good ones are so mired in regulations and administration that just doesn't care. I hate that I raised good, kind children who would regularly get physically and verbally abused at school by other students. It's not fair that in order for your child to be in a safe, learning environment they have to take honors or accelerated programs. My first introduction to the public school system was when my son went into 9th grade. That's when I learned that you have to get them into honors programs. That first year there, several of his classes were abysmal. It seems like those teachers spent more time disciplining unruly students than they did teaching. This just makes me want to EXPLODE. When I think of the fact that my kid is not getting valuable information, information that he'll need on an SAT someday because of the punks running the classroom I want to spit nails. The kids who really lose out are the ones who get just average grades, are good kids and cannot get into the honors classes. They are stuck with the jerks who control the class with their disruptive behavior and monopolize the teacher's time. I am totally, 100% against corporal punishment, but we are now living in a society where kids learn very quickly that they don't have to take personal responsibility for their behavior. They get away with murder in the classroom and the good kids in the class pay now and society pays later because we have overpaid administrators who are afraid to enforce any kind of disciplinary measures.

champ

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:45:21 -0600

More and more students are getting mainlined. In the Chicago public school system they call it "least restrictive environment" by which they mean the main classroom. This makes it really hard to get students evaluated for special education or in special education classes. I too taught in the Chicago public school for a year. I had a violent student who I tried to get into a therapeutic day school. I found out later that it is nearly impossible to get any student into a therapeutic day school. It just costs too much. It actually costs less to assign an aid to sit by the student in a regular classroom which does nothing for the classroom disruption, and is horribly unfair to the other students in the classroom. But it all comes down to money. No money is sent to the schools. It's only 5% of the federal budget and Illinois is one of the worst states in the nation as far as school funding is concerned.

Albanyparkour

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:39:32 -0600

I worked in education for one school year. ONE. I was a teacher-librarian. The system was nauseating. Teachers with smart lesson plans, great backgrounds and lots of excitement for the job get GROUND INTO DUST by a beauracracy that is far more interested in status quo than teaching students. Tenured teachers who would arrange their schedules to get in by 10am and out by 2 (regardless of how it screwed other teachers) administrators who would wander through classes like explorers on some alien world and then make all manner of odd recommendations ("Have you thought of buying used and second hand books for the library?" No...not at all, I've just been doing that since day one.) And the lesson plans themselves, shaped like keys for the locks of standardized tests. NCLB was all that mattered. My school all but shut down for three weeks to get good marks on the tests. Those kids learned more about standardized test guessing than math, science or history.

irritablevowel

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:30:48 -0600

Normally, I'm the first to complain about our litigious society, but in this situation I completely applaud the teacher. Good for her! As parents act more and more like spoiled children throwing a tantrum, administration have begun to act more and more like overindulgent grownups who give the parents what they want as long as it shuts them up. Unfortunately, someone has to pay the price, and that's the teacher. Teachers have been sitting quietly for years, keeping faith that the powers that be will watch out for them, but it's become increasingly clear in the past decade that is not happening. If you wonder why 50% of all teachers quit the profession within the first 5 years, this willingness to throw the teacher in front of the bus has a lot to do with it. Fear of parental legal action has increasingly held schools hostage. FINALLY someone is turning it around. Finally someone is saying that the teachers can play the legal game too. They are professionals, not doormats or punching bags. Maybe the threat of legal action from *either* side will create a balance that forces districts to actually create a solid,thoughtful, fair policy.

Slaphappy

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:02:29 -0600

Yet another example of how fear of the costs associated with litigation have allowed society to collectively lose its values and common sense.

Albanyparkour

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:44:13 -0600

I can't recall the name of the documentary, Teaching Isaiah perhaps? It was about a developmentally disabled child who was "mainlined". The footage documented his year in a typical classroom. It was horrifying. The kid regularly assaulted other children. And I mean, ASSAULTED. Like raining down blows on their heads. They had to fight him off. The kids learning to "manage" the kid but you could see the struggles these kids had. The boy was bigger than them too. The teachers and aides got struck regularly too. The kid was simply wild. The documentary tried to frame it as a success, but I'd wager those kids were weeks, if not months, behind because of the boys constant tatrums. I don't believe that developmentally disabled, mentally handicapped kids should be in "normal" classrooms. It sounds cold and cruel to say, but if I saw some big kid pummeling my child I'd yank them from school so fast you'd see smoke. Teachers already get a shit deal. Making them deal with children who violent and in need of intensive care helps no one.