Will Special Day Classes Get Left Back?

In California the education budgets have been trimmed, cut and shaved down to bare bones.  Schools receive less and less money for books and materials, specialists, administrative staff, buses, and much, much more. Now there’s talk of closing down the Special Day class.

Special Day classes are typically smaller than the general education class. They have 10-12 students, a full-time, trained aide and a special education teacher. Every student in the class has an IEP (Individualized Education Program). Their curriculum is basic and emphasizes life and social skills as well as daily living. Needless to say, the special day class is quite different from the general education counterpart.

In my third grade class at De Laveaga Elementary School much of September is spent working on such social skills and creating a class community. I do this by playing team-building games, painting, taking field trips, appreciating beautiful literature and requiring that students make an entry in our own class fair.

Some educators call these activities “fluff” but I’m a firm believer that this is essential in creating a strong base for a great school year. Their fluff is my Red Bull.

Special students would do just fine in my class until September 30. They’d fit right in because I encourage my students to value and appreciate each other’s differences. We all learn to get along with one another inside the classroom as well as out on the playground. Rules, guidelines and boundaries are established. Eight and nine year olds LOVE rules.

Children need to feel safe to learn. If they feel safe, they will trust their teachers and peers enough to ask questions. They will realize that we’re all very different and we all don’t excel in every academic and social area.

But what happens on October 1? I’ve got plenty of tricks to pull out of my hat after teaching for 21 years, but I don’t have a Special Education Teaching Credential. 

Now I’m starting to panic. How would I meet all students’ needs in my class?

As it is now, in my class I have 22 students whose reading levels start at pre-primer (kindergarten level) to fifth grade. And the state is proposing that we toss in a few more students with learning disabilities?

There’s got to be some master plan, but they haven’t shared that with the teachers yet. They probably won’t divulge the big secret until September when we’re in full swing opening up for school in the fall. That’s a dirty trick, if you ask me. Teachers are so busy prepping for our own “Opening Day,” we don’t have the energy to fight a crazy decision made by management who have been out of the classroom for the past decade.