Mainstreaming Disabled Kids Isn’t Cheap, Easy

A recent federal order will mainstream 35,000 disabled children from special-needs classes into regular classes in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Studies have shown that most physically and psychologically disabled students make faster progress when they share at least some classes with nondisabled peers. But critics charge that sometimes these students are disruptive in class and demand a greater percentage of the teacher’s time and attention.

KATHRYN MACLAREN spoke with a teacher about what the court order will mean in her classrooms.

*

PAMELA MILLER

Teacher, John H. Francis Polytechnic High School, 18 years’ experience

*

I never would want to see a student who wished to be with the mainstream exiled [to special education classes]. Mainstream students need to learn how to react with people who have disabilities; however, we shouldn’t teach values and character issues at the expense of the disabled students’ self-esteem.

Also, I am not evaluated on the improvement of my students’ character but rather on their reading and writing scores.

Many students act very appropriately to disabled students, holding doors or helping in other ways. However, many students are verbally cruel or physically take advantage.

The list of things to make this work must be long, from ramps to adult teacher aides in each classroom.

I think that sometimes the learning-challenged students are the least mature and the “biggest bullies” in the classroom. Teachers can’t be watching them every minute of the day.

I don’t think that this affects the truly motivated and high-achieving students. But every teacher only has a finite number of minutes in class. Should that time be spent on behavior problems or teaching subject matter? The easily distracted and undermotivated children will get even less attention while I deal with children who have attention deficit disorders.

I am rated by how much I increase my students’ scores on standardized tests. In order to achieve higher scores, I need to be able to spend more time teaching--not have my time splintered further than it already is by students who aren’t behaving in class.

I am often asked how private schools do such a good job on a smaller per-student budget. One of the many reasons is they do not have to take students they cannot accommodate. Public schools will have to do a lot to accommodate all the different disabilities.

Many of the older schools have two-story buildings. It would be very expensive to build elevators and staff them with personnel to ensure that only those who need them use them. What would happen in an earthquake or fire when elevators couldn’t be used?

At Poly, each teacher changes classrooms during the day and vacates while off-track (on vacation).

It is a very complex schedule. I might be in a bungalow with two steps when a student in a wheelchair is assigned to my class. Someone’s schedule must change. I am the only A track health teacher, so the student would have to wait until I was assigned to a room with a ramp or the whole class would have to change rooms.

In all I do not think it can be done easily or cheaply.