The Choices Parents Really Want for Their Students with Special Needs
Today I want to talk about the choices, I believe, parents want for their students with exceptionalities or students in general.
“Choice,” today, in the eyes of the ed. reformers means having a lot of charter schools, and I am particularly speaking about those designed to make a profit. The owners want to stand on the podium of the New York Stock Exchange and ring the bell.
For parents, it’s likened to having toothpaste options at the local grocery store. If one paste doesn’t work, you’re supposed to be able to try another. Or, if it appears no one likes the toothpaste the company will quit making it. If you have a child with disabilities, the aisle of toothpaste options is pretty slim. And even when you have toothpaste, it might not be any good and your teeth could fall out. I guess that’s enough analogy.
Many of us understand that school options don’t work like toothpaste, that the free market becomes much more complicated where schools and children are concerned. Also, when it comes to real choice, what we see now is more about limitation than it is about choice.
This is especially true when you consider options and special education. The options parents of students with disabilities really want, I would say, have to do with looking The Choices Parents Really Want for Their Students with Special Needs: