I am a special ed teacher with my masters in LD and an add-on certificate in Cross-Categorical. My county has decided to return all students to their home schools this year. Currently, I am serving students in LD, OHI, and EBD, which are my usual case load, and a grouping of students with which I have been able to be successful in previous years.
In addition to students with the above exceptionalities, the new policy has me also serving students with Autism, Down Syndrome, and Orthopedic Impairments, all during the same time period as my standard case load. My numbers do justify a parapro, but the position has not been approved by the county, and it’s been over a month. I’m not teaching right now, just doing my best to touch each student for some meaningful time period each day. I feel like the best I can hope for is to keep the attorneys at bay.
I love teaching, but that’s not what I’m doing right now. My students do not stand a reasonable chance of making the progress they deserve in my current situation. My administration is very supportive, but in a huge county they’re pretty small potatoes.
I’m just questioning why I’m here. I do have other options that would be less emotionally draining for me, and therefore much better for my family, but then I’d be leaving these very special students who I could help, under reasonable circumstances. I know I can’t fix each and every student, but it’s so hard to know that circumstances mean that I can’t even help those whom I should be able to.
I’m really tired and don’t expect any solutions to these issues, but is inclusion and LRE creating the same stresses for others? When do you say it’s time to move on?
Re: When do you say it's time to move on?
I understand your frustrations. I am an occupational therapist working in a large school district. The district has decided to take back some of their more severely disabled students from outside agenicies. Unfortunatley, they have not hired enough professionals and paraprofessionals to accomodate the extensive needs of the students. My caseload last year was so large, I found little meaning in what I was doing. I felt as though I was just barely covering a mandate. We, as a OT/PT department, decided the only way to change this was to go to our union and negotitate a new contract with a limit on caseloads. This year the district has hired 3 more therapists and our numbers are still a bit high, however it is definately more manageable. I guess my advice is to weather the storm and bring these issues up at your union meetings. Also, I believe frustrated parents and numerous complaints really were key in getting extra help this year. Good Luck
My heart just aches when obviously highly qualified, motivated and caring teachers like yourself feel overwhelmed at the futility of the system. Obviously these students desperately need your intervention. I can offer no solutions but possible alternatives would be to continue working with these students within a free-lance or private setting. Or maybe you should be the one filing the lawsuit!