Education Department dilema

Once again I have coverted a Facebook post into a blog entry. There have been mixed reactions about President Trump shutting down the Department of Education. My only fear is what will happen to IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). W e will see what  happens


 Here I am listening to all the noise about the future education in this country. I've heard parents, from those who fully endorse the public education to ones who home school. I;ve heard from teachers who of course hate the idea to students who have excelled in carter schools. Now you're going to hear from ME, a former student who survived special education, was fully mainstreamed, but lacked to confidence to continue to college. You've heard stories how I had great high school experiences, which I did, but the previous eight years before high school were pure hell. I went to a pub lic school that never recognized I had a brain. My mother fought them tooth and nail for them to provide me basic services.. Literally one of the richest school districts in the state refused to provide me the tools I needed to succeed. They needed t o be forced by a court to provide me with the education I deserved. It burnt me out and sadly crushed my desire to pursue further education. The US Department of Education partly helped make that possible. However that was almost thirty years ago. Sadly THAT department has long since gone. They lost their focus, they lost their goal. They made PARENTS the enemy. Instead of focusing on HOW child learn, they are too focused on WHAT they learn. As someone whose mother fought tooth and nail for me, seeing PARENTS being treated this way makes me ANGRY. I'm angry because after being out of school for 25+ years, I would think they would have learned their lesson. BTW the "they" ARE NOT TEACHERS. I h ad some great teachers who challenged me and really tried to help me. Unfortunately I was too angry at "the system" to take advantage of that help, and I paid a VERY steep price. Maybe instead of fighting the change, people should contribute to the change> I will end with a famous quote about special education: "Instead of asking 'How smart are you?' We should be asking 'How are you smart?'

This is not a "rant against public education". Public education is vital to the future of this country This is a challenge to the public education system, parents, teachers AND STUDENTS to do some real soul searching, find out where we're going wrong AND FIX IT If t hat requires money, fine, I'm all for it. However invest it in pro grams THAT WORK! Do some analysis to see what works

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