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

themselves. Stumbling blocks are put in the way of
teachers who deal with special education."81 The
Assistant Superintendent for Special Education in
the District of Columbia said he felt that special
education was a dumping ground for the students no
one wanted to deal with in the system. 82 School
policies and practices seem to exacerbate the stigma
involved in being called "special" rather than sensitively
reducing its emotional burden to the child.
For example, all of the districts we surveyed (except
Washington, D.C.) placed a large proportion of their
educable mentally retarded children in separate
classrooms, although these students were often able
to join "regular" students at lunch or for some
classes like physical education.
Trainable mentally retarded children went to
separate schools or classes in 13 of the 17 districts
we visited. 8a Davenport, Iowa places both EMR and
TMR children in totally separate facilities. 84 In
most districts, children with learning disabilities or
speech, hearing or sight problems were more apt to
be removed from regular classes for only part of the
day for special instruction.
In at least four of the districts we visited (Cambridge,
Floyd County, Richland and Denver),
schools give special education children different
diplomas and report cards than other students receive.
In Montgomery, Alabama, the Special Education
Coordinator was unhappy with the elementary
report card used for special education classes. She
80 Interview with Helen O'Brien, Reading Consultant, Portland,
Maine, 7/19/73.
81 Interview with Charles Brinkman, Director of Special
Education, Regional Education Center, Massachusetts State
Department of Education, Springfield, Massachusetts,
8/15/73.
82 Interview with Merle Van Dyke, Assistam Superintendent,
Special Education, Washington, D.C., 3/7/74.
83 See Appendix N, Table n, for a description of the types
of special education programs offered in the districts we
visited.
84 Denver, Richland County No. J, Davenport, Portland,
Autauga and Montgomery all had cooperative arrangements
with other agencies or organizations by which they
educated trainable mentally retarded children, at least at
the elementary level, in facilities apart from the regular
school system. Floyd C{)unty had two schools in which
it had only TMR students enrolled. In three of the districts
studied - Canton, Hancock County and Sumter County
No. 2 - the public school system made no services available
for trainable mentally retarded students, not in its
own schools nor through cooperative arrangements.
mentioned that the report card is larger than the card
other students get and that the grading system is
different.85 In some places, the District of Columbia
for example, special needs children are assigned to
private schools which are not accredited. The
quality of services they receive is questionable at
best and destructive at worst.86
Some officials recognize the stigma problem and
are working to alleviate it. A Springfield school
psychologist said that "the Learning Disabilities Center
has been trying to educate people throughout the
system, including the central administration, that
'learning disabilities' is not another name, just less
stigma-ridden for emotional disturbance."87 A Springfield
principal says that many of the children who
are identified as having learning disabilities have
been identified that way to say other things without
stigma. He also says since the inception of Chapter
766 (the new state special education law) many of
the names or labels identifying children have been
changed to reduce the stigma. 88
Once misclassified, children are often segregated
in inferior programs which stigmatize and cut them
off from their peers; once placed, they are trapped
indefinitely, sometimes permanently, with no or negligible
benefit. A Cambridge official said that before
the current special education director came, "children
[placed in special education] could never get
back in regular class. "89 Another Cambridge official
said "once a child is classified as needing special
education courses [he] never get[s] out." He added
'" The report card for secondary special education students
had recently been revised so that it looked like the card
other children get. Imerview with Martha White, Special
Education Coordinator. Montgomery, Alabama, 1/10/74
and 1/11/74.
86 CDF attorneys recently filed suit to stop the practice of the
State of Louisiana "banishing:' certain handicapped children
to various institutions in Texas, many of which are
alleged to provide substandard and sometimes harmful
services. Gary W., el. al. v. Louisiana el. al., Civil Action
No. 74-2412, Section "C", (E.D.La., filed September 3,
1974),
81 lnterview with Katherine Gott, Supervisor, and Edward
Burgess, School Psychologist, Learning Disabilities Center,
Homer Street School, Springfield, Massachusetts, 12/10/73.
88lmerview with John O'Malley, Principal, Lincoln School
and Jefferson School, Springfield, Massachusetts, 12/6/73.
89 Interview with Ruth Young, Head Social Worker, Children's
Developmental Cemer, Cambridge, Massachusetts,
1/17/74.
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