[michiganmoon]

No. I am clearly talking about special education and NOT alternative education. That is pretty insulting that you think a TEACHER doesn't know the difference. Also, my current district has no alternative ed. At least half of the kids in special education at the two schools that I have worked at really should not be in special education. Special ed isn't really looked down upon the same way it was. When I was in High School it seemed like just about anyone would be ashamed to be in it, now any kid who is lazy tries to get into it because they see the accommadations kids in special ed get. I have heard kids bragging in the hallway about getting into special ed or about to get into special ed.


"Or, how it's so easy to get in."

For instance MORE THAN 20% of students in my regular ed classes are special ed kids and the solid majority are just lazy and should not be in special ed. There are seriously a large amount of special ed kids who are in it simply because they choose to not do work and when they do work they do a good job of it. I work with a lot of them every single day. These kids even are blunt about it and will tell me and other teachers "I have sped rules, I don't have to start this assignment until next week," when we give time to work on an in-class assignment in class due at the end of the hour.


"If these 'lazy' students are in Special Ed it's partly your responsibility as an educator to speak up then."

Actually at my old school a lot of teachers did about some of the kids. The response was, well the parents want them in sped so the kids will have an easier time and we get extra money $$$ as a district.

For instance, I want to make it clear that I am not talking about the truly needy. I help a kid with Williams Syndrome, I once spent literally 20 minutes trying to teach him the difference between a capital 'T' and a lowercase 't' and he still couldn't get the difference between T and t. He truly needs help and the school district pays extra money to bring in someone to work with him one on one every class and myself one on one with him one of the class periods. But a lot of kids in special ed aren't like that.... They could do well and then join sped and use it to enable themselves to be lazier.

[Schaumburger]

Of course I'm sorry you feel insulted.

It sickens me that you have experienced those types of conversations in the hallway. It detracts from the genuine cases where special education is appropriate. All I can say is maybe write about your experiences to the public pulse or opinion sections of your local news papers. If you can get wind of this to concerned citizens that there's a possibility students are abusing the system things may change. Its a real concern when the school is advocating for this type of behavior. It's unacceptable that 80% of your students are lazy and not genuinely learning disabled or impaired. I can't attest to this, but it wouldn't surprise me school districts are getting creative these days -- I hear its cutthroat.

Is special education a district concern? If this is the fact, this will explain why I'm disagreeing with your statements. I assumed special ed was similar or same in the entirety of Michigan. I've experienced the systems of GR, Kentwood, Godfrey-Lee, and Wyoming in Metro Grand Rapids. In these systems special students are usually caught early so your not seeing HS students suddenly special. It's probably not a good idea to apply one experience to all, especially because Grand Rapids is renowned in the midwest for its special education program.

[GreatLakesGuy]

Siberia. Do you have a better link for tha amount spent on students? The little graph you showed was not very informative and didn't say it was for Michigan or adjusted for inflation.

[Siberia]

Originally Posted by GreatLakesGuy

Siberia. Do you have a better link for tha amount spent on students? The little graph you showed was not very informative and didn't say it was for Michigan or adjusted for inflation.

Cato Research Briefing Paper from http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp-025.html Graph is inflation adjusted, national average. Michigan cost per student is well documented in many articles, including the Detroit Press online, at $7,085 per student (record $7,108 for 2007 fiscal year).

Per detnews.com--->"This year's minimum per-pupil state grant is $7,108, an all-time high."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070427/SCHOOLS/704270392 (broken link)


Per detnews.com--->Daniel Howes: *** is up on fat school funding
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070427/OPINION03/704270359 (broken link)


Per Cato Research article:

When the poor quality of U.S. education is pointed out, we are frequently told that more should be spent on the government schools. But such claims are fallacious. Since World War II real (inflation-adjusted) spending per student has increased about 40 percent per decade, or about doubled every 20 years (Figure 2).(6)

Figure 2 Inflation-Adjusted Spending on American Schools

http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/brie...bp025-fig2.gif

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Educational Testing Service, Digest of Education Statistics, 1995 (Washington: National Center for Education Statistics, 1995), Table 163







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Simply stated, if one believes that cutting the per pupil cost by $125 in 2007 will "hurt the students", then I guess that society considers the teachers and administrators as the "students" because if one researches where the money goes (the breakdown of the $7,108 "per student"), the system absorbs thousands upon thousands "per student" of this so called "per student" taxpayer based school funding. Yet how could a politician pull the emotional cords of Americans if they knew the facts...or called the funding something less emotionally dramatic, instead of "per student" how about "per teacher" instead? Fear sells...the children will suddenly stop learning, become instantly mentally handicaped, and thus start beating up elderly folks on all the streets of Michigan due to not having the intelligence to hold a common job after dropping out of high school. Yes, YES, YES!!!...such is the fate of Michigan IF the "per pupil" costs are reduced $125 in 2007. Makes for a very lucrative story for our new age American media circus...LOL

Siberia