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Elementary School-Aged Kids
Do you know many SPED parents? I have a SN child (non-violent) and have gotten to know a number of parents over the years with kids with issues like absconding from the classroom, violent outbursts, meltdowns, etc. and know multiple families who have fought for special placements for their kids. It’s a battle. It’s frustrating and heartbreaking. I know 2 families who finally after YEARS got their kids placed in a private school like a PP mentioned. And 2 others who ended up leaving public and footing the bill for a private school on their own (which they’ve admitted they are lucky they can do). But not every family can afford this. The only parents I know who don’t want special SPED rooms are those whose kids can absolutely be in a mainstream classroom. We shouldn’t be sending kids out of the regular classroom because of minor issues like stimming or difficulty paying attention. Also, SN are so varied that just dumping all the kids with and IEP in a class together makes no sense. One of my kids has speech issues … would you relegate him to a SPED classroom? |
Why is there such resistance to pay for private school on their own? Why is the school on the hook for it? Plenty of people choose private schools over public and there's no expectation that someone else foot the bill. Kids only get one shot at school why waste time dithering if you can afford it but are too cheap to pay for the best school your child needs? It's messed up. |
You would be wrong. France has 2x the rate of employment for people with disability that US does. They also have employer quotas. US has poorer outcomes. |
Most people simply can’t afford a private special needs school. It’s not cheap. Fairfax County has, what, 30% FARMS students? Which is on the low side for the big school systems around here, MCPS, PGCPS, and Alexandria City have more. And then there’s the matter of a lot of the private SN schools don’t actually accept kids with serious behavioral challenges in terms of violent behavior. They’re more geared toward kids with learning disabilities, mild ID, and mild-moderate ASD. Sometimes there’s not a ready solution even if you have money to throw at a problem. |
And what kind of jobs are they in? Those kids don’t end up in university-bound tracks, and it's very hard to switch tracks. |
OK, but PP's example was a family or two that could afford it. But still wanted to fight the schools. What is with this stubborn resistance at the expense of their kids? They sound like selfish cheap a-holes who aren't really looking out for the child's best interests. |
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My DD went to preschool with a little boy for years. We've been to his birthday party, playdates etc. So I've spent some time with the kid. Nothing really out of the ordinary.
He doesn't go to the same ES at my DD (schools are by town here and there are multiple ES per town) but I heard that he started having intense behavioral issues in K. Flipping desks and the like. I've talked to the mom since then and she's doing everything she can. But this isn't about her parenting. With this many children showing extreme dysregulation, maybe we should question what ES looks like and why? My heart went out to her. My oldest kid has had a long road in school, albeit with much less extreme behaviors, but still bad enough that he was discussing suicide as an option by 3rd. Once again, I knew he could be challenging, but preschool never saw any real issues. But once K hit, he was the "bad kid." And boy did he buy into that for awhile. I think we're getting somewhere now, but again....it hasn't been easy. I know this is an anonymous board, but damn, this is why the internet is a terrible place. As Taylor would say: "karma's gonna track you down." |
You obviously have no idea how much SPED-focused schools cost, and likely grew up in relative wealth. The vast majority of people could never dream of paying for these schools. |
Are you serious? Do you live in a bubble? You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip. The majority of families do not have tens of thousands of dollars to spend. It’s not a resistance to paying. It’s an inability to pay this amount of money. The fact this isn’t obvious to you means you’re very out of touch with normal families. And the inverse argument could be made toward families in mainstream classrooms. If they aren’t happy then shouldn’t they pay for private if they want their kids to have their best shot of education? |
Isn’t is crazy that people having kids couldn’t even afford to pay for their school unless it is free. |
Being able to “afford” something is relative. These are not very wealthy big law families. I’m sure paying this tuition is having ripple effects on their savings, ability to support other children, etc. It seems natural families would want to see what assistance they can get before committing to hundreds of thousands of dollars over the long term to paying for private. That is a humongous sum of money for people. |
So what? Lots of people can and do prioritize private school education. Why not these families? |
No it’s not crazy. We have these things called tax dollars that go toward paying for these things called public schools that our government has decided every child has a right to access. Your line of thinking is that only the very wealthy should have children with us dystopian and frankly horrific. I hope I don’t know anyone like you IRL. |
Why not the other families in class? |
Again, PP said they could afford it. And they eventually did. But, after years of pointless fighting. What a disservice to their kids. And plenty of people do pull their kids out of schools because of rampant behavior issues. And they pay for it, gladly. Where have you been? |