Hi Dave,

Well, I read the article and thought I must have missed something. So I searched on raises, salary, pay, etc. and didn't find anything about "no raises for special ed teachers"

Closest I could find was: If schools fail to meet those targets, they risk being taken over by the state or private companies; teachers can lose their jobs To which my response would be that the state or private companies would still need to hire teachers!

Yes, the law needs some tweaking. A balance must be struck between setting and measuring performance standards and exemptions. I recall reading that many schools were reclassifying students as "special needs" to get around some of the standardized testing and that's not a solution either! Having more "special needs" also brings in more educational dollar. I use the quotes not to detract from the very real needs of a small percentage of children, but to emphasize the way this term has been ever expanding to the detriment of all.

One thing that struck me was this supposed victory special ed kids won when mainstreamed, but now they acknowledge many can't perform in such environments. Can't have it both ways. AFAIC, it's time to reconsider this whole mainstreaming issue. Many kids would be far better served in dedicated learning environments with specially trained teachers. Even one or two kids who can't reasonably be expected to keep up can dramatically reduce the level of learning of an entire classroom.

Lots of this comes from the necessity to implement a one-size-fits-all policy that comes from a big government federal bureaucracy.

Evie Happy