Letter to Legislators

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?