gifted self contained but no LD self contained

My 4th grade son started school this week in a class of 34 children, no aide, no class size limit, and piles more in the office clamoring to get in. Typically, four to five new children are added throughout the year (doesn’t this make you want to move to Florida). He now goes to resource room for an hour a day for language arts. I did get the school to agree to remove him for a subject (eg., social studies, science) rather than language arts so that he can have the writing instruction the other students are getting.

Still, it all got me thinking about whether he will survive in this environment with his current skills. So I started asking questions. Turns out there is no LD self contained classroom at his school (ESL specialist told me they would have to start one if it was determined that it was the least restricted enviornment for him—how likely is that!!) but I know there are gifted self contained classrooms. Got talking to my colleague whose kids are both in self contained gifted classrooms at another school. She told me 1. schools want to keep the gifted kids because the bring their scores up. 2. the parents of gifted kids are very proactive in getting what they think their kids need.

Now I make quite a fuss about my son but did strike me that I have never been to a single ESE PTA meeting. Honestly, none of the topics have ever interested me and I saw no point, given my overwhelmed life. But now I am thinking that besides the obvious benefits to the school of catering to gifted kids at the expense of sp. ed kids, we may be less organized. Perhaps it is because we have liked to think that this LD business is a temporary state. Or maybe is it because we are so overwhelmed with coping with our own child that we have little energy left for activism.

And do you have any ideas about how to survive this environment? I have already hired a tutor for reading/writing.

Beth