THE
END OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter on behalf of the millions
of minority children who have a right to a free and public education in the
state of Michigan. My passion is to
educate and provide children with disabilities with the ability to
self-advocate and become productive members of society. I believe that all children are the future of
our country and global society. Even
though I work specifically with children who receive special education services
I am well aware that all minorities are at risk with allowing schools to open
that are only for profit. This includes
children with different socioeconomic status and different cultural or ethnic
backgrounds, as well as children with various types of disabilities.
The basis of our country was to provide a free and appropriate
education for all children. Minority
groups and politicians have fought for decades to make public education an
equal opportunity for all children. Some
of the laws that were passed include the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Education
for All Handicapped Children (1975), the American’s with Disabilities Act of
1990 and Individual with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997. It is also important to remember the hard
work and dedication that existed to desegregate females and African Americans
in the public educational system.
Several years of hard work in support of equality is
about to become unraveled if this new legislation is passed. I do believe this will inflame our current problems
as a country. I believe welfare and
unemployment will rise. I believe the
middle class will be distinguished and the amount of individuals in the upper
class will not increase.
My personal story is a reason why public education
should not be tampered with or diminished.
At the age of 2 years old I was diagnosed with mild cerebral palsy. I was immediately seen by several school
based therapists in the home and at daycare until I entered a pre-primary
preschool for otherwise health impaired children.
I entered into these programs and received these
services at a very unique time in the history of special education. I began my
education when the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was a decade old. It had been around long enough for educators
to become acclimated to the laws and changes that were required in the world of
education, yet it was also new enough to realize that mainstreaming children
with special needs with other students was a great idea. I was able to attend an elementary school
where a center-based program was still set in place with a wide variety of
therapists and resources in the Lansing School District. It was in this elementary school where
general and special education providers encouraged my determination, motivation
and ability to learn. In fifth grade my
dream was to be a babysitter or day care provider and the educators in my life
told me I would surpass and go above and beyond that goal. These public educators remained in my life as
mentors and major advocates for the remainder of my education and career.
I moved to another local school district where I was
fully mainstreamed. I was on a teacher
consultant’s caseload and received speech therapy twice a month. In sixth through eighth grade the teacher
consultant was not located in my buildings.
It was up to me and my parents to work with general education teachers
to explain the accommodations I needed.
I was able to communicate well and succeeded on the B honor roll. By tenth grade I was in all college prep
courses and without having a laptop with me at all times for school work, I
would have failed. My motor speed was too
slow to take notes and complete tests.
It was my teacher consultant in high school who went above and beyond
her role to get me a school laptop on a full time basis. I was one of the first
students at the time who took a laptop to and from school each day. My teacher consultant also had me enter a
school to work program where I learned about resume writing, interview skills
and job shadowing. My tenth grade geometry teacher stayed after
school on his time to tutor me and a French teacher who had never had a special
education student attended her first Individualized Educational Plan meeting on
my behalf. My parents and I both began
to realize that my success was based on the effort and dedication by both
general and special education teachers.
All of them were public employees and because of all of them I knew I
wanted my future career to be based on educating children with special
needs. My dream was to give back what I
had been offered.
In high school I fell in love with Occupational
Therapy as a profession. I loved the
holistic approach and that the foundation of the occupation was independence in
all areas of life. I was never a great
test taker in high school and it would have been difficult to enter a 4 year
college or university. I began my higher
education at Lansing Community College.
It was a great stepping stone for someone in my situation. It provided me with basic entry level college
courses and multiculturalism and it was close by and small enough for me to
adjust to college life. I began
receiving services through Michigan Rehabilitation Services with a
Rehabilitation Counselor. Like
Occupational Therapy this profession has an emphasis on independence for
individuals with disabilities. Through
these services I received tutoring and counseling to hone my skills as a
college student. I also received
laptops, text books and tuition money for my undergraduate degree in
Occupational Therapy. I transferred to
Baker College of Flint to complete my undergraduate degree. It was not your typical Ivy League school or
Big 10 university however it was accommodating and appropriate for me to earn a
higher education. Many people had doubts
that I could graduate from such a tedious clinical program. The instructors were very hands on, personable
and saw my ability to succeed. In my
eyes, the education I received at Baker College was a better one than I could
have received at a competitive university.
I graduated in 2004, 5 years after I graduated high
school. I interviewed at several
facilities and worked a couple of different jobs before I became a school based
Occupational Therapist in 2007. My first
day of work at Eaton Intermediate School District was also my first day of
graduate school at Michigan State University.
I paid for my master’s degree on my own and graduated with a Master’s
Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling in 2010.
In 1983 the goal of my pre-primary school teacher in
the Otherwise Health Impaired room was for me to be a success during my
education and the rest of my life. At
the end of my undergraduate degree this teacher sent me an email that stated: “you
are a testimony that Early Intervention truly does work.”
Today, the first set of young pre-school aged
children I serviced in Early Childhood Programs are in third and fourth grades. A few of them no longer require special
education services and they are succeeding in mainstreamed classrooms. I feel several of them have a success story
similar to mine based on how far they have some since they were toddlers. Will they all end up at Big 10 universities
or Ivy League schools? Only time will
tell. These children are allowed to aim
for any dream or goal they please. My
hope is public services are still available to allow them to succeed with the
goals they set for themselves. Will they
need trade programs, smaller community colleges and extra services with
modifications? Perhaps. The fact that
these programs and services are available for teenagers and adults makes me
proud to be an American.
I am nothing
but a testimony that public education services should not be tampered
with. I am employed, I pay taxes, I will
buy cars as needed, and I have built a brand new home. I am a young professional spending money at
local venues, stores, and restaurants. I
am successful. The public services that
were provided to me have been nothing but a benefit regardless of what political
party you tend to be affiliated with.
If I would have been born at a different time with
the level of cerebral palsy I have, I do feel my education and life would have
been very different. It saddens me that
if I were currently in school ready to enter the adult world; my future would
not be as bright as it has been thus far. As a politician with power, are you willing to
take that away from America’s future?
