The Ethics of Special Education in Today's Public Schools - Research Paper Example

?Vocational Ministry Paper The Ethics of Special Education in Today’s Public Schools: How the Lack of Resources Affects School Compliance and Accommodation Requirements for Students with Special Needs. Introduction The education of young people is a career path which is full of many challenges for a dedicated teacher, administrator or assistant. One issue which is becoming very critical at the present time is the need to make adequate provision for those students who have special needs. After several decades of progress on this issue, we have seen fewer students stigmatized by exclusion from mainstream educational establishments, and public schools are now very committed to pursuing policies of inclusion. This good progress has suffered in recent times however, from a growing lack of funds to provide the extra accommodation and equipment that these students need. Financial crisis at Federal government level has seen budgets cut, while schools have to jump over more and more complex hurdles to achieve compliance with any number of new rules. This paper explores this issue of the lack of funding for special educational needs, showing how students’ theoretical rights are not being respected, and what the consequences of this are. It examines the reasons why funding is not forthcoming, and what responses have already been tried. Finally it suggests a creative Christian response to the problem through building closer local linkages between churches and schools. The theoretical rights of students with special needs Most people, if asked directly what they think of special needs education, would support the idea that children should be educated according to their actual needs. There is no problem with the idea of providing this service and all public schools no doubt have every intention of delivering this to best of their ability. There is, an issue, however, which colors the debate on how best to deliver the rights that children with special needs have for an education tailored to their specific situation: “Many of the debates circulating around the concept of inclusion focus less on the children and more on ideology, legal issues or practical ramifications involved. At the heart of much of this discussion lies the issue of money: to what extent is special education defined, or even driven, by financial considerations?” (Osgood, 2008, p. 127) The tighter the financial situation is, the more people push special needs to the edge, and this is the problem that needs to be addressed. The actual deficit in the delivery of students’ rights It is very difficult to measure the extent of student special educational needs, or the level of the gap between what is required and what is actually delivered. One of the reasons for this is that the definition of this category has not been constantly applied over time and across the different states of America. Other reasons include the fact that some special educational needs are more difficult to identify than others, and some vocal pressure groups demand more resources for selective types of educational need (Farrell, 2012). In my experience there is a good system in place for special needs, but the biggest problem is caused by delays in moving from one stage of the process to the next. If a student is diagnosed as needing a particular intervention, or access to particular accommodation, or tuition from a particular member of staff, very often there is simply not the capacity to provide what everyone agrees is necessary. The aspirations of the system cannot be delivered because the funds are capped but the student diagnoses are not. Consequences of the lack of resources for students and for schools The consequences of the lack of resources for students can be very serious indeed. Students only have a limited amount of time in each grade, and every week that passes while they wait for whatever service they need is a precious learning opportunity that has been lost. I have witnessed many parents in tears because schools cannot provide their child with suitable accommodation, and I have seen dedicated teachers and managers very stressed because they know that they are not reaching the targets that they legally and professionally should be achieving. These pressures are very destructive, and the ultimate result is conflict and suffering all round. There is something wrong with a system that causes the greatest suffering to the weakest members of society. Reasons why resources are not forthcoming There are always calls for more funding for education, because, like like healthcare, the needs of young people are huge, and increasing all the time, while government funds are limited and budget cuts are common. Apart from this general background of underfunding which exists all the time, there have been some recent developments which have worsened the budgetary situation of public schools. One major cause is the focus that has recently been placed on the No Child Left Behind Act (2002). In itself this legislation is a very good initiative, because it targets resources at those children who most need support. Many children who have special educational needs have received benefits through some of the initiatives that come with this legislation. The problem is not with the aims and practices that go with the new rules, it lies in the failure to provide schools with the funding to fulfil all of their legal obligations in respect of extra tuition, extra testing, and all kinds of bureaucratic reporting. Researchers who have investigated the effects of the NCLB Act (2002) report that it is placing a great burden on state governments, particularly since new requirements such as offering choice to parents involve considerable extra administration, and in one case a very worrying side effect seems to be the side-lining of SEN: “Yet some provisions of the act and of its administration are causing persistent problems. State and local officials have identified the testing, and accountability requirements for students with disabilities and for students learning English as troublesome and other requirements... have caused administrative burdens with little evidence that they have raised student achievement” (Jennings and Rentner, 2006, p. 113). It seems, then, that the pressure on funding is causing administrators and quality checkers to revive the language of failure and exclusion because of the extra burden that this legislation puts upon them. Activities which are regarded as “troublesome” are not likely to be given high priority, and this is an unintended negative effect of the NCLB Act (2002). Responses which have been and currently are being made As far as I am aware there are many different, but ineffective responses to this situation. School managers try to make a smaller and smaller budget cover more and more student needs. As the funding worsens year on year, there are additional problems of maintenance of existing facilities as well as provision of new ones. Lobbying by parents is one tactic, and I know some teachers speak to their labor unions about the problems of stress. The problem with all of these approaches is that they do not address the fundamental problem of lack of funding in the first place. Arguing about distribution is not going to solve the issue of too little money in the pot to start with. Creative Christian response to the lack of resources for students with special needs The creative Christian response that I would like to propose for this problem is to find a new mechanism for tackling the fundamental cause of the problem: lack of funding. The best way to do this is to find a strategic partnership between each school and a source of support which puts special educational needs at the top of the agenda. The way to do this is for local churches to “adopt” local schools as partners and to become involved in fundraising, lobbying, and helping out in all kinds of professional and volunteer ways. The Christian message is one of love for one another. In the Bible there are plenty of stories about the strong helping the weak, and in our modern society children with special educational needs are particularly deserving of extra love and support. In practical terms this could be organized by the federations of Churches, across denominations, and involving other religious groups as well. By working together, church groups could help prepare paperwork to apply for extra, private sources of funding, and they could use their contacts with government and industry to build more awareness of specific local causes. Churches could each take on a single project, for example, to build a unit, or to provide a service for a certain length of time. Churches often have facilities which are empty during the day, and this, too, could be a solution to accommodation problems in schools, if Churches are willing to share what they have with the children who have special educational needs. Conclusion This proposal has a major benefit for children with special needs. It creates a whole new avenue for ideas and support to flow into schools. Another benefit of the proposal is that it helps to knit the local community together. If there is no immediate candidate Church to help a particular school, as might happen in a socially disadvantaged area, for example, then a Church from one of the wealthier areas could be the partner for that particular school. Christians should be in the lead when it comes to fixing the social problems of our modern world, and that is why I think the initiative should come from the Churches and be set up by Church leaders who have experience in this kind of work from running their own religious organizations. They have the skills for this work and this is why they are the best leaders for the job. [1585 words] Bibliography Farrell, Michael. The Special Education Handbook: An A-Z Guide. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print. Jennings, Jack and Rentner, Diane Stark. “Ten Big Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on Public Schools. Phi Delta Kappan 88 (2) 2006), pp. 110-113. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, Pub L. No. 107-110, §115, Stat. 1425 (2002). Web. [Accessed 25 November 2012] Osgood, Robert L. The History of Special Education. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2008. Print. Read More