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School Committee Presentation 28 October 1998 |
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School Committee Presentation 28 October 1998 |
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I would like to start by first thanking you and Ms. Calmes for this opportunity to talk with you about Special Services from the parent and PAC/SAL perspective. There is a story that I have included in your packet that compares having a child with disabilities to planning a trip to Italy, only to get on the plane and land in Holland instead with no way to get to Italy. The story goes on to discuss how you go through the stages of adapting with new guidebooks and learning a new language, to finally coming to acceptance and appreciation for the beautiful country that Holland is. This story really exemplifies for me that disability is not a sorrowful or wrong place, it is just a different place.
For the parents of a child with a disability that trip to Holland may occur at birth, during the toddler years, pre-school, beginning elementary, and, unfortunately, sometimes in the middle school years. That trip happens when your child fails to develop and learn "like all the other children". But one thing that story fails to mention, even when you are in Holland instead of Italy, you are still in Europe. What I mean by that is that although your child may not learn the "traditional" way, they still can and need to be educated so that they may "to the best of their abilities" become part of the independent world of adulthood. Just like the general education population, our children come to our schools with a broad range of abilities from the child with moderate to severe special needs to the child who is gifted and learning disabled. It is their abilities that will help them succeed in this world. And the difference will be their educational opportunities and the level of expectations that are set for them and how they are nurtured to succeed.
To build an inclusive educational community, you must envision the triangle. The triangle is the strongest geometric building form. Each side represents a part of the community, without one part, the triangle does not stand. The sides of our triangle are one the students, two the school personnel, and three the parents/community. All three must work together to bring this community into reality. And each side needs the educational components to allow them equal participation and equal opportunity.
The education of our children counts. Studies show that strong inclusive educational services for children with disabilities increases the educational outcomes for all students in the schools. Those middle children, the ones who don't qualify for special services, but who are not learning effectively, or are missed because their disability is so hidden, do not as easily fall through the gaps when all children are supported effectively in education and when the learning outcome expectations includes all students. Isn't that what the mission of Lunenburg Public Schools is saying about all their students? That they shall become well educated life long learners. Should a child with disabilities receive less of an education by virtue of his disabilities, or should we as a learning community be nurturing the potential of that child the same as all students by providing the services and supports that will strengthen their learning, make it meaningful and build productive citizens.
As an advisory council, we work with you by being present and available at all your meetings, and indirectly by working with the superintendant, the director of instruction, and the building principals in building the partnership for our shared vision of an inclusive educational community. To that end, we are working within the schools and with parents to open up the dialogues to include all children. Building based management sometimes does not allow for development of services that allow seamless flow between buildings in the education of these children. To achieve our goals of an inclusive educational community that meets all childrens needs, we have and will continue to educate ourselves as to the system that is here first, then to how it fits together. We will continue to work in parnership to identify the areas that are working well, and the areas that need improvement and how to plan for that improvement and make it happen.
A broader perspective of PAC/SAL's role includes providing informational and educational resource for parents regarding special education and disability issues. Through this working with parents, we are able to keep abreast from the parent's perspective how special services is working in our schools. Although most of the training programs we provide are directed to parents, we haven't been afraid to get involved with the teachers, as shown by the professional development day we developed with administration and sponsored last year and our participation on the IEP Task Force. This year we are focusing our training programs more directly to the parents, though our programs are informational and available to all. Parents need to have access to the information that will assist them in becoming and being effective partners and participants in their child's education and educational planning. Our training programs this year include Basic Rights, Evaluation Assessments and Curriculum. We participate in the Multi Cultural Festival as it directly correlates to our objective of community education and awareness. Through the Kids on the Block and other awareness activities, we hope to expand the school community's education and awareness regarding the diversity and specialness of children with disabilities. Through our newsletters, we link this together for the community. Our blueprint for our work consists of four basic components. We provide support, education, direction and partnership. These components have different forms depending on which part of the community we are working with, but the basic principles remain the same.
Specific programming is done outside of the school committee due to education reform. However the school committee provides the road maps to the schools through their policies and funding support. Through your support of a strong policy of education for all that means all, we have the opportunity to change. Change will not come from the State House or even the White House. It comes through grass roots efforts at the local level. Special Education was not supposed to be a separate educational system. By building our inclusive community, this will become a reality at least here in Lunenburg. We are excited about the changes in thinking and education that are starting to happen here and appreciate being part of this. All children will benefit from these exciting changes.
The changes happening in special services is described well in this parable from an inclusion web site:
Beyond Programs: A Parable
By Michael McCarthy
In the beginning, there was placement, and lo we were happy when it happened,
as placement was not mandated for adults who happened to experience severe disabilities.
And so we said, this is good.
And placement multiplied and filled the earth.
And then, we said, let us make programs, which focus on serving clients.
And clients were defined, and labeled, and grouped according to their labels and assigned to programs based on their labels.
And programs created services for each label, and state agencies developed unit costs for each service.
And programs prospered and multiplied, and we said, this is very good.
And as programs prospered and multiplied, a cry arose: Let us evaluate these programs to see how good they really are.
And program evaluation, state regulations, quality assurance, compliance plans, and other program measures were created.
And they multiplied and filled volumes.
And in those times, a person arose who was a client, but who was also a prophet, and said:
And there was a long silence.
And lo, everyone realized that they must look beyond their programs.
But they were troubled, and they asked:
And the prophet replied:
In your packets from PAC/SAL, I have included information that I think you will find helpful about our work. Please remember we are available and willing to work together with you and the entire school community.
