In the Mainstream
If you don’t pay attention to such things, you may not have noticed the political opposition to mainstreaming disabled students that came to light after the election. Mainstreaming is the term for allowing disabled students to have classes alongside their able bodied peers, not segregated from them in a special classroom. It is staunchly opposed by Jeff Sessions, who believes mainstream disabled students are the primary cause for a decline in civility in classrooms. To understand where I am coming from, I spend 1% of my total time in school per year pulled out of class for visual services. My school year is 180 eight-hour days.
The first time I saw his quote, I raised an eyebrow. Could he really be talking about a straight-A student? The kid who offered to give instrument care lessons to the middle school band? The principal horn of the school band, the district band, and the local youth symphony?
My second reaction was anger.
What the heck? I’m not a behavioral problem. I get all my work done. I respect my teachers to the best of my ability. The freaking superintendent of the school district called my mom to congratulate me on my musical performance at a music festival.
Here is a quote from actual an school report I have received (emphasis mine):
Maddie’s current grade for the year is 95%. Maddie has a great work ethic and a strong determination towards her own education. In class, Maddie is very alert and follows directions well. She never poses a behavior issue, and is always cooperative/respectful. Maddie is a positive presence in my class! She shows strong reasoning skills that allow her to perform well in the area of mathematics.
So, why shouldn’t I be included in classes with my peers, Mr. Sessions?
If I was not mainstreamed, I think that I would be bored to tears. I would not get to be in band, my favorite class, nor would I (likely) receive materials that best suit my academic level, which is AP classes. My school, which does have a special ed classroom, does not have the teachers for, nor the infrastructure, to hold AP classes for one or two students; and I’m absolutely sure the teachers in that room haven’t been trained to give me the AP European History class that I’ve been waiting to take for the past two years.
As for my band performance, it would be over. I am the current principle in the District Band. Last year, I won my part at All State Wind Ensemble and was awarded a spot at a conference for the national region our state is in. Unfortunately, I can only participate in those festivals as long as I am a performing member of my school band/orchestra. At these festivals, I have made so many friends, played so much great repertoire, and learned so much. In fact, I am considering being a musician because I have had so many great experiences playing at a high level. If I was to be segregated, those competitions would no longer be an option for me.
On a side note, my band director would probably fight Sessions all by himself for trying to take me out of band.
Finally, I would also lose my friends. Being disabled certainly sets me apart, and indeed, making friends has been difficult. However, I know I have good friends at my school. I have a lunch table which I actually really enjoy sitting at, someone who always jumps to be my partner in German class, and a group of friends which I sit with every day when I come into the building. If I was segregated, those friendships would likely dissolve and it would be difficult to make new ones. I lost a lot of friends when I first got my IEP. I don’t want to lose more because I am affirmed to be so ‘other’ that I cannot even sit in their classrooms with them. I already had to fight to have my device usage respected in class by my fellow teachers and students as a middle school student. I don’t want to fight to take an AP test or be accused of using my disability to gain an advantage.
(By the way, my school makes students meet certain academic competency standards to take an AP class, so the question of whether or not I belong there was decided with my guidance counselor and my prior report cards when I made my schedule.)
Kids can be cruel, they say. The system, I believe, has the potential to be crueler.
Putting me by myself won’t solve Sessions’ “decline in civility” problem. How about looking at these issues instead and working on making schools more inclusive?
EdWeek has a good list of real reasons American schools are failing, compiled by actual teachers:
- Lack of parental involvement
- Schools close frequently, leading to…
- Overcrowded classrooms and not enough resources
- Technology-related distractions
- Lack of recognition of different types of learning styles and intelligences
- Not enough money for schools
- Teaching methods don’t match the times
- Poor college prep
- School to prison pipeline
- Gender gap
Forbes has one more: The standards teachers are held to are too low
Slate also has more: American children view school as a way to socialize and their classes are too easy (also, not enough focus on teaching non-cognitive skills, like grit.)
I’ve read several articles now, and no one has cited “disability inclusion” as a reason American schools are failing. You can google it yourself. As for a lack of civility in the classroom, I say that this is a result of children not learning to properly respect adults. I do not mean this as in “You are an adult, let me bow down to your surely superior wisdom,” I mean it as in, “You are talking, and even though I would rather read, I am listening and taking notes, or at least pretending to be attentive. I do not have to agree with everything you say, but you’re a human just like me, so I will treat you with respect until I have reason not to.” I think America has more of a respect problem, with our appreciation of savage burns instead of polite rebuttals and this “You don’t own me, so don’t tell me what to do” attitude that pervades popular culture. Quite simply, people refuse to treat others as professionals and become incensed when they are not treated as professionals in return or are told that their behavior won’t fly. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle of disrespect, and I don’t think it can be conquered by making a law or striking one down.
If a “decline in civility” is your biggest problem, how about trying to leave a legacy of people who respect other — including people whose views, genders, heritages, abilities, and other qualities differ significantly from your own? If education reform is your biggest issue, how about looking at countries whose students achieve and attempt to adopt features of their schools into our own?
Thank you for reading.
