Reply to Elementary schools falling apart?

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Elementary schools falling apart? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There are two large contributing factors.

First, in the past SPED students were separated from genpop.  While it was terrible for the SPED students, it was good for the gen pop.  We have now swung too far in the other direction.  We have now incorporated the SPED students in the gen pop.  While that is good for most of the SPED students, there are some SPED students who are too far outside the social norms that teachers can handle and we are requiring the teachers to keep them there.  I have a child who was in a class with one of these way too difficult SPED children and at least every other day, the students had to be evacuated from the room when the child became violent and the teacher was not allowed to discipline or restrict the child.  The other 22 children had to them go and sit in the hallway while a SPED teacher was brought from another assignment to come and deal with the child.  The other 22 children lost valuable learning time repeatedly for this one child.  We need to be able to find a middle ground.  Incorporate the SPED students into the gen pop, but when some children because a danger to the teacher and other students, they should be removed from the general classroom and and alternative learning plan needs to be developed for that child.  This bending over backwards to accommodate is not at all fair to the larger population of students who have to deal with these children.  Now the policies towards SPED children are often dictated at the state level and not at the county/school district level.  This needs to be addressed by the state school superintendent, but it is not political advantageous to do so.

Second, entitled parents have become worse.  I know several MCPS teachers who have said that they have a lot of problems maintaining discipline in classrooms because the attitude of the school district is now to cave to whiny entitled parents.  Children are children.  Teachers try to discipline them and the child complains at home.  In the past, many parents would try to then deal with the situation at home, teach their children manners, teach them how to cope and move on.  Now, many of those entitled parents demand meetings with the teacher and/or administration and complain about how their little snowflake was treated in class.  And the administration is caving to them and changing the way that teachers deal with such children and restricting teachers from maintaining discipline in class.  My friends tell me the number of difficult parents has been on a steady rise for some time now and there is no evidence of it declining.

So, MD state needs to address the SPED problem and there needs to be a way to curb the overentitled parents for the situation to change.[/quote]

+1
Both these are the biggest issues and teachers’ live won’t get better until they are both dealt with. [/quote]

If a child becomes violent and starts throwing things every other day, that does not seem to be a good arrangement for that child.  If it should happen to be a child who deliberately acts out, then it’s a disciplinary matter.  I think it more likely that it’s a desperate cry for help, in which case keeping them in that same situation is cruel.  If it’s a child going through a specific crisis, there needs to be some sort of procedure to get them help (counselor, nurse, social services, etc.).  If it’s a child with special needs that we anticipate having problems, there should be a plan in place that is adapted until the child is not driven to lash out.  I’m no expert.  Surely those who are experts might have recommendations for best practices.  Whether that’s separating them from their mainstream peers for part or all of the day, giving them a pass to the counselor to use when necessary, giving them an individual aide who can take them to the gym to run off excess energy or to take them to a room where they can lay down for a while and listen to soft music, etc.  I really don’t know what the answer is, and I suspect it may vary according to the individual child.  What I do know is that the current arrangements aren’t working for the children who are becoming violently upset, it isn’t working for the children who are having their education interrupted and are being traumatized, and it’s not working for the teachers who are struggling just to keep everyone (including themselves) safe, let alone trying to teach.

There’s a quote that says, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.  Isn’t it time to stop the insanity and try something (anything) different, and adapt as necessary until we find a way to help those with special needs who are suffering under the current system, and consequently help everyone else, as well.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics