Mainstreaming in Public Schools

The following (bold my comments) is from an article on about.com that disucssed the reasons a child may be "fired" from daycare.

I include it here because it summarizes a similar dilemma faced by too many public schools today: being forced to accept handicapped children into their classrooms in order to satisfy the demands of parents of handicapped children they those children be treated the same as children who are not physically or mentally challenged.

You describe your son as "high spirited." Others say he is out-of-control and a huge distraction in the classroom. Or maybe you think your daughter is sensitive and a little shy; teachers say she shrieks in the corner all day and won't interact with kids or adults. When a request for a conference comes, you learn the shocking news. Your child is being kicked out of child care at the center. Can child care providers do this? In a word: absolutely, and more are beginning to take these drastic steps to ensure the best quality environment for the majority of kids overall.

....

All parents have the right to have their child in a positive environment that allows kids the ability to grow socially and academically, and be free from stress or bodily harm, and all children have a right to feel safe in a positive environment. A child who is literally out-of-control and is constantly exhibiting destructive behavior, hitting or in any way assaulting other children, or refusing to obey rules, is the prime reason for termination. Day care and in-home care settings do not have mandates for being required to care for a child who is a threat to him/herself and others. Child care providers must consider everyone's needs, and the happiness and overall family satisfaction in the care experience. And, sometimes, letting a discipline-problem child go is the right solution.

I am a compassionate person and I believe that no child should be denied mental and physical stimulation, the right to experience childhood. However, when that one child requires 50% of the attention and time of the teacher, it denies the rest oif ther 20 or more students those childhood experiences.

There are advantages to handicapped children interacting with those who are not, and vice-versa, and that should happen -- on a limited basis. All can be a part of vital, safe learning environments and benefit from knowing one another and learning to acceot one another. But putting disruptive children in with the others can lead to resentment and hostility on both sides -- and to whose advantage is that?

Few question the right of all children to a strong education. But there are ways to ensure that without forcing educators and students to "endure" the demands of unreasonable and selfish parents.