Articles tagged with special needs students

Keeping all students safe

Photo courtesy Stockvault

Photo courtesy Stockvault

Special education is one of the most complicated, misunderstood, and underreported facets of K-12 education. And for journalists, the factors that make special education topics so compelling—the emotions, the politics, and the money (lots of money)—are the same issues that give school board members angst.

Last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Keeping All Students Safe Act (formerly the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act),

 H.R. 4247, a bill that would mandate states and districts to monitor the use of restraints and seclusion or isolation in all classrooms, report actions to parents, and provide better training for teachers.

The bill is strongly supported by the disability community, but also by education groups including NSBA and the American Federation of Teachers, who typically advocate for local control for school officials on such issues. In spite of this endorsement, quite a few school board members are concerned—and rightly so–that this bill would lead to another unfunded mandate and paperwork for their districts.
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Naomi Dillon|March 15th, 2010|Categories: Governance, Leading Source, Policy Formation, Special Education|Tags: , , |

Legislating restraint?

“Do we need anti-torture legislation for our schools?”

That’s the kind of remark that garners attention. That’s no doubt why Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) asked the question after federal officials reported students are being injured-and even dying-when teachers misuse physical restraints to control their classrooms.

It’s tempting to list some of the horror stories cited by the Government Accountability Office and shared during a recent congressional committee hearing.

But the bottom line is that special education teachers, working with increasing numbers of students with severe behavioral problems, sometimes use physical restraints on these children. Sometimes, that reliance leads to injuries or worse.

That’s not to say restraints are always wrong. Although experts agree that alternative techniques to control troubled students are best, restraints are a viable last resort if a child is out of control and there’s a threat of injury to the child, teacher, or other student.

But, according to examples cited by the Associated Press, some teachers have turned to such techniques too quickly, used them inappropriately, or allowed restraints to put a child at risk.

That means your staff is going to hear more about the issue, particularly about the need to improve training, document each incident, and prohibit the use of restraints as a form of punishment.

According to the Washington Post, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told congressional leaders that he’s going to talk to state education officials about the need to address this issue and ” make sure that. across the country, we are thoughtful and we are not doing anything that endangers children.”

Del Stover, Senior Editor

Naomi Dillon|May 21st, 2009|Categories: Governance, Leading Source|Tags: , , |
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