I'm spending Spring Break in a small town about an hour southeast of Dallas in the Glorious People's Gunocracy of Texastan. It was fun to see Spring happen around us as we drove south, and very fun to be outside playing while it was snowing in Kansas City.
My two sisters that live here are teachers, and the nature of their work - both of them are in Special Education - reminded me of an extremely important aspect of public education, something that is mentioned at times but isn't emphasized enough.
You see, almost without exception, the public school system - any district, any town in the country - will accept and attempt to educate a child.
ADD/ADHD? That child will be accepted and taught.
Down Syndrome? That child will be accepted and taught.
Physical challenges requiring a wheelchair, a walker or other devices? That child will be accepted and taught.
Bipolar? That child will be accepted and taught.
Borderline Personality Disorder? That child will be accepted and taught.
Abusive home situation? That child will be accepted and taught, and if teachers or other officials even suspect the abuse, they will notify the police and child welfare services and will continue to provide a safe environment for that child to learn while they go through the transition from abusive family to foster/adoptive care.
Hungry? That child will be accepted, taught and given food, even at no cost to the child if necessary.
It just doesn't matter to the public school system whether a particular child is a well-behaved genius - or somewhat disruptive genius - a perfectly average child in every way, or someone will an emotional, mental or physical challenge. That child has a place in the public schools and will be taught to the best of that school's ability.
The public schools take this so seriously that they require additional education and training for the teachers that take on the challenge of teaching kids with serious problems.
As we continue to debate education - for as long as this nation lasts and beyond - we must always remind people that public schools do this while private schools - even those publicly-funded private abominations called 'charter schools' - can pick and choose their students. Further, we must always bring to bear the fact that part of the reason conservatives hate public schools so much is the fact that everyone, regardless of ability (or their parents' status) is accepted in public schools and educated to the best of their ability. Conservatives fight public schools because they - unless it's their own children under discussion - don't feel that it is their responsibility to help those with physical, mental or emotional challenges. They don't feel that society has any responsibility to them at all.
Conservative opposition to public schools, no matter what flimsy excuse they've come up with recently, is always due to the same sick, twisted hatred that infuses every other decision they make. That's why every school 'reform' idea that comes from them, if not rejected out of hand, needs to be viewed with extreme suspicion.
