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Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Destroying Special Education through Common Core Testing and Funding Cuts

Destroying Special Education through Common Core Testing and Funding Cuts:

Destroying Special Education through Common Core Testing and Funding Cuts



Machinery at a demolition site.


Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. ~Mark Twain
The U.S. Department of Education says higher expectations mean more tests for students with disabilities (with Common Core’s PARCC and Smarter Balance), and college for everyone.
Along with this, we are also watching serious funding cuts to special education services in school districts around the country.
Stop Common Core NYS criticizes recent policymaking that claims there will be fewer alternative tests for students with disabilities. Students will instead be expected to take tests like PARCC and Smarter Balance connected to Common Core–and they will need to be college and career ready.
Decisions surrounding all of this should be between parents and teachers creating the IEP at the school. We know the U.S. Department of Education is overstepping their bounds.
We also saw this coming when the U.S. DOE recently refused to consider the New York Board of Education’s  attempt to lighten the load on students with disabilities when it came to testing. And then there was all the talk a year ago about needing to test students with disabilities and have “higher expectations.”
While the ante is being raised for students with special needs, they are also losing what Destroying Special Education through Common Core Testing and Funding Cuts: