Keep Options Open for Disabled Students

The inclusion and mainstreaming of disabled students are a part of federal law that has been conveniently overlooked by California schools for many years now (“L.A. to Integrate Disabled Pupils,” Jan. 31). A disabled child’s right to be integrated into the general education classroom has been (pretty much) confined to a legal right for disabled children whose parents can afford an attorney.

This should be viewed as a long-overdue civil rights victory on behalf of the disabled children. Unfortunately, many parents with mainstreamed or included children have come to realize that “inclusion by exclusion” is the result of dumping special-needs students in classrooms and playgrounds without appropriate supports and facilitation. If the school district is going to finally try to comply with the law, then it should give those students and teachers every opportunity to be successful.

Linda M. Gilmore

Long Beach

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The students who attend special education campuses in the LAUSD have a variety of severe disabilities. They require a supportive learning environment that assures them a quality education as well as a community that guarantees them safety and respect. A special education campus is able to offer students with mental retardation and various other severe disabilities an educational opportunity as close to a general education experience as possible. This is accomplished in an environment that promotes independence, an individualized education plan and dignity.

On a general education campus my students would be placed in a more restrictive learning environment. They would lose the freedom that a special campus offers them. The students I teach are nonverbal; they are unaware of danger and dangerous situations. On a general education campus they would require constant teacher supervision--at all times--on the playground, in the hallways and in the restroom.

The closing of special education campuses could take away parents’ rights to choose the most appropriate educational setting for their special-needs children. We need to keep the full continuum of options open in order to provide an appropriate educational experience for all students with severe disabilities.

Roberta Mann

Special Education Teacher

Van Nuys