Sunday’s Providence Journal featured a front page story about a partnership between the city of East Providence and Bradley Hospital. The program establishes classrooms in neighborhood schools for students with significant needs who would otherwise be bused to Bradley. The article’s author, Alisha Pina, celebrates the program as a win for everyone. Children go to school with their siblings and friends in the neighborhood, and the district realizes substantial financial savings in these troubled times.
Classroom teachers will tell you they are supportive but cautious of such programs, and for good reason. We should make every effort to educate kids in their neighborhood schools, and as federal law requires, do so in least restrictive environments. But we cannot succeed without significant special education support.
Budget cuts have left districts looking for new ways to save money. “Mainstreaming” of children with special needs has at times been instituted to cut costs. Placing children with special needs in regular classrooms with minimal support will save plenty of money, but is a disservice to all children in the classroom. Without the support of special education professionals, special needs students will require a significant amount of the classroom teacher’s time, depriving other students of the attention they need.
Most classroom teachers would champion an integrated program with the proper support to ensure all students succeed. When full-time co-teaching becomes part-time, or when districts replace special education teachers with instructional assistants, the mainstream model becomes one of cost savings rather than providing what is best for kids.
The Bradley partnership in East Providence sounds good. A significant number of professionals, both from Bradley Hospital and the district, are included in the model. Parents and classroom teachers should be vigilant in ensuring the district maintains the full-time support needed.
Nowhere in Pina’s long article did we learn the opinions of any East Providence classroom teachers. Because of this, we should remain cautious.
