A group of parents are not happy about the decision to discontinue separate classes for their children. On washingtonpost.com
A plan to phase out Montgomery County's secondary learning centers, programs in eight middle and high schools that teach special education students in separate classes, is meeting with determined resistance from parents.
County school officials say their goal is to move hundreds of moderately disabled special education students closer to the academically rigorous classrooms that serve other students, a concept known as inclusion and embraced in schools across the country.
Of course, federal law mandates that special education students be instructed in the least restrictive environment. This provides students with access to challenging curriculum. Each special education student has an individual education program (IEP) that follows them as long as they are in the program. The IEP is very specific about the goals of each student and the hours of special education the student will receive.
Some of the parents want to continue to have their children in separate classes because they feel that this is the best placement for them.
Jim and Kristin Link, for example, have already tried placing their daughter in a regular classroom with an aide assigned to help her; "she was horribly embarrassed by that," Jim Link recalled. "She knew why that aide was there, and the other students knew why that aide was there. It was a mortifying situation for her."
Perhaps parents and children should be given both options. Mainstreaming isn't for everyone. If a particular setting really seems to work for a special education child, it would be a shame to remove the student from that environment. Maybe a separate class is that child's lease restrictive environment. Come on Montgomery, keep the special in Special Ed.