Our thesis: Regular classes, typical children, varied instruction |
||
| Children should have the opportunity to be educated at their neighborhood school. Although reasonable people can make good arguments that some children need to be segregated in order to be educated, we believe (and research studies such as the one conducted by Project WINS and cited on page 5 of this paper support this viewpoint) that all children with special needs should be educated with their non-handicapped peers in regular classrooms. We know that it took many hard-working parents and advocates many years to establish the right of every child with developmental and other special needs to a public school education, but the work is not yet over. School administrators, teachers, family members and students | There is only one criterion for inclusion. … life
itself. • Marsha Forest (O'Brien and Forest, Action for Inclusion, 1989) |
must work together to help inclusive environments evolve. With effective planning and redistribution of resources, proper supports can be provided and curricula adapted to allow all children to be educated together in regular classrooms at their neighborhood school. By highlighting Georgia’s performance and describing resources that are available for change, we hope to share the vision and information to help make our schools more inclusive for everyone. |
Thousands Are Excluded From Regular Classes in Georgia |
||
| It is our experience that students with substantial disabilities (and especially students with greater degrees of mental retardation or mental illness) are essentially excluded from regular classes at their neighborhood school. It is also our experience that students with the most severe disabilities tend to be more segregated and isolated. For all practical purposes, the special education system that has evolved in Georgia frequently operates as if students with special needs must be separated from typical students in order to have their educational needs met. | .... in the field of public education, the doctrine of “separate
but equal” has no place." • U.S. Supreme Court Brown vs. the Board of Education, 347 US 483 (1954) |
Of the 1.4 million students in Georgia aged 6 - 21 there are 165,453 students with an IEP, 11.8% of the student population. Looking at these 165,453 students around Georgia we find that 71,817 of them are in regular education classes for at least 80% of their school day. That leaves 93,636, or 56.6% of these students being pulled out of their regular education classes and into other settings for 20% or more of their day. |