NCLB - Don't leave the children behind, let them drop out on their own

I have to admit that when it comes to public education I have been pretty ignorant.  I spent from Kindergarten through 12th grade in a parochial school.  When I was younger and got into trouble at school, my parents threatened to send me to public school.  I didn't know anyone who went to public school or any true facts about it; but I had heard the media talk about how bad things were and the adults my parents were friends with, also talked about the horrible public school system.  That threat was enough to scare me into straightening my act up.  I didn't know if things were as bad as everyone complained, but I wasn't willing to risk finding out.

Now here it is, 18 years after I graduated from the only Catholic high school in my town, and I am pursuing a degree in education at the University of South Alabama.  I started out as a Secondary Education - Math major.  I have always loved Math and I want to be a teacher and felt if I could help students see how much Math can be enjoyed, and explain it to them, so it is no longer something feared, then I have succeeded in my life.

All education majors at USA must complete 16 hours observations at the school of their choice, early in their educational degree.  My professor suggested that we chose a school outside of our normal comfortable element.  Considering any public school would be outside my element, I had numerous schools to choose from in my area.  I visited a local high school 2 times a week for an hour and half each day.  I observed in the last block of the day for several different Math classes.  I had spoken with the vice principal and requested a class that had students that were having difficulty with Math, as this would be the type of class I would be interested in.  She had warned me that, these type of classes usually had behavioral students in them, but I was not deterred.  Each week the classes were a bit more disruptive than the week before, until I reached my fourth week of observations.

The teacher for the fourth week had forgotten I was arriving and wasn't completely prepared for me, neither were her students.  We walked outside the classroom and into the hallway and she gave me the same warning as the vice principal had given me, as well as the cryptic messages the previous teachers had given me about this class.  This class was described as "the worst class to ever attend this school."  Even the students in the class predicted that after spending time in that class, I would no longer want to become a Math teacher.  Undaunted I did not waiver in my pursuit of classroom reality.

Reality was exactly what I got.  Not only in the classroom observations, but in my college education class.  No one wanted these students anymore.  They were the "worst of society" and just like the school had done to them in this isolated classroom, society wanted to push them out of view and forget they existed.  While I admit these were not the type of students a typical teacher would choose to be in her class: they were habitual late, disruptive, argumentative, sloppy, unorganized and seemed to lack basic intelligence.  Yet over the next few weeks as I was able to get to know these students I realized they were:  hiding their illiteracy behind their argumentative behavior, eager to learn and understand, respectful when treated with respect, ashamed when they produced offensive behavior and average normal high school students.

These students that society wanted to forget about because they were never going to amount to anything and would never make a difference in this world, made a huge difference in my world.  I ended up with over 30 hours of observations by the time the semester was over, many of those hours I didn't log for my class requirement.  On my last day of observations, I informed the class that their predictions they made on my first visit were correct.  I was no longer pursuing a degree in Secondary Education Math.  The previous day I had submitted my paper work to change my major to Special Education 6-12th.  Then threatened that I hoped to be completed with my degree just in time for their senior year.

I have one my semester to complete of my core subjects and then start my 1st of 3 block series in the Fall of 07, as long as everything continues to run smoothly.  While I am still learning about the public school system, I am convinced that the view on special education needs to change.  These are not students that need to be cast aside, nor do we need to force them into regular classrooms all the time.  Special education students need just that, a special education.  Like I have learned this year, it needs to be the least restrictive enviroment that is APPROPRIATE for that individual student.

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