children out of school in america - University of Tennessee Digital ...

over again for four or five years. u8a In Montgomery,
Alabama, classes for educable mentally retarded
children in junior high were offered for the first time
in 1972-73. It was not until 1973-74 that the first
senior high school special education classes were
instituted. Holyoke has only one class for emotionally
disturbed children ages 10 through 12. It is
located at Highland Elementary School and serves
only that district's more affluent population.
Quality. Many purportedly educational programs
for handicapped children are in fact custodial and/
or recreational.
In Floyd County, one former mental retardation
worker said that the County's classes for educable
retarded children were "purely babysitting. The
teachers are primarily trying to keep the kids busy."
He characterized the two classes for trainable retarded
children in the County as "pretty good" to
"terrible."89 In Somerville, a Neighborhood Youth
Corps worker referred to the special classes in one
school as a "dumping ground for slow learners" and
alleged that children stay in the program three or
four years, learning the same things over and over
with no options open to them. 40
Many of the school districts we surveyed said they
provided home instruction (often referred to as the
Homebound Program) for students who are either
physically handicapped or so emotionally disturbed
that they could not attend regular classes. Many of
the children who actually received these services
had only short-term illnesses. These temporarily
disabled children often filled the workloads of the
few available home teachers. Students with longterm
handicaps which kept them permanently out of
school received fewer home services. When given,
home instruction was, on the average, an hour per
day, two or three times a week. Students who
depend on this form of instruction for their continuing
education are not only deprived of participation
in significant educational activities such as
science laboratories but also may suffer from limited
or no contact with other children. They also must
8a Interview with a school official, Somerville, Massachusetts,
who asked to remain anonymoCs.
89 Interview with a person in Floyd County, Kentucky who
asked to remain anonymous.
40 Interview with Jean Luce. Neighborhood Youth Corps
(Out-of- chool). Somerville. Massachusetts, 1112/73.
100
go to school a much longer period of time to earn
enough credits to qualify for high school graduation.
Contributing to their poor quality is the inferior
status most special education programs occupy in
the eyes of too many school officials, teachers, parents
and children. The principal of Portland High
School sees a role for a new vocational school to
train the EMR students for "simple maintenance
work, sweeping floors."4l In Springfield, the itinerant
learning disabilities program is often restricted to
those schools where there is available space or a
free room or alcove or closet. Since the schools
where Puerto Rican children are concentrated are
extremely overcrowded, there are no itinerant learning
disabilities teachers there.
School officials complained most about a lack of
trained personnel for special education classes. One
school official we interviewed said he phased out
two classes for emotionally disturbed children at the
end of 1972-73 because "we can't find teachers who
can handle these kids. I walked into one of those
classes one day and Twas so discouraged ... if anyone
from the public had seen it. ..."42
In Georgia, 40 percent of the teachers for EMR
classes are not fully certified to teach such classes. 48
Many Sumter County, South Carolina officials said
that hardly any colleges or universities have training
programs for special education. "The legislature
keeps expanding the requirements."" Lack of trained
personnel is a main problem restricting expansion
of special education programs. This complaint was
echoed it] the District of Columbia where one official
said many children in need of special education were
not being served because of the limited number of
good qualified special education teachers.4 S Mont-
4t Interview with Walter Hansen, Principal, Portland High
School, 10/25/73.
42 Interview with an official. Portland, Maine, who asked to
remain anonymous.
48 This figure was confirmed by the Director of the Division
of Special Education in Georgia in an interview with a
CDF staff member, August 1974.
44 Interview with Dr. Hugb Stoddard, Superintendent, of
Schools, R. E. Davis, Direclor of Special Services, and W. T.
Lavender, Assistant Title I Coordinator, Sumter County
No.2, South Carolina, 1121/74.
45 Interview with Julian West, Assistant to the Assistant
Superintendent, Washington, D.C., 5/23/74.
4(' Interview with Martha White, Special Education Coordinator,
Montgomery, Alabama, 11\0/74 and 1/1\/74.