Special Ed Teachers on Strike: Not Good
Teachers in Grundy County (Illinois) are set to strike on Monday and parents of special needs kids are worried about the impact on their children, the Herald News reports. The county’s special ed teachers are employed by a cooperative. Negotiation for a new three-year contract “hit a wall” in December over salaries and a federal negotiator has been called in. A letter has been sent home to parents stating that, “if the teachers go on strike, efforts will be made to serve special needs children, but for those children with higher needs it may be difficult to find substitutes and the children may be required to stay at home until services can be provided.” Says Angela Hebrink, whose 4-year-old autistic son has learned to talk and whose tantrums have significantly decreased since attending one of the county’s autism program,
“If they require kids to stay home they are denying their right to a free and public education they are entitled to (by law).”
In the school districts where we have lived, there have been no teachers’ strikes—I’m not sure what would happen to Charlie (who does have so-called “higher needs”), who relies on the basic routines of schools to help him through the days (especially these doldrum days). But I certainly also think that teachers—who are with Charlie day in and day out—need to receive fair compensation. Certainly the administrators and those who are in charge expect to receive such for doing their job.
Tags: asd, asperger, autism, autism spectrum disorder, children, Family, mothers, pdd-nos, Psychology, strike, students, teachersRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Education, Legal Issues
7 opinions for Special Ed Teachers on Strike: Not Good
Cliff
Feb 3, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I think not good is the generally correct usage for the circumstances. Hard to know what to do, though.
Cliff
Kristina Chew, PhD
Feb 3, 2008 at 4:53 pm
I know that “not good” was rather a simplistic thing to say—-but if teachers were adequately compensated in the first place and had enough supports and training, perhaps (perhaps) such disputes would not arise. But I suspect I’m not sufficiently realistic to say this, but always hopeful.
laurentius-rex
Feb 3, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Double plus ungood might the ungodly say but therein lies a canal of wurrums an entire zoological collection of aphoristic mastications on the morality of plurality.
Maddy
Feb 3, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I’m pretty biased myself, as I think that Special Ed teachers should be paid way over and above the mainstream teachers. Burn out in the teaching profession is already high, but higher still for Spec Ed teachers who generally have superior skills, more dedication, indeed a true vocation for teaching.
Best wishes
Daisy
Feb 3, 2008 at 6:21 pm
In our state, strikes are prohibited by law. Instead of striking, we end up with teacher burnout and people leaving the profession because our salaries are limited by law, too.
KimJ
Feb 3, 2008 at 7:34 pm
A planned strike would not offend me. I understand the issues with teachers’ pay and work conditions. There is usually enough warning when there is a strike.
I did blow a fuse over a sick out this fall. The school psychologist sent home a memo to Special ed parents on Thursday that the teachers would not participate in the sick out but the busses would. Then the teachers called and said they were calling out sick. (all after school hours the day before the planned sick out)
So, there were no special ed teachers, subs for the regular ed teachers and conflicting information about the transport.
I blew a fuse over it and called the superintendent because the district was instructing parents to send their kids to school anyways. It was mass chaos in the whole city with kids being herded in cafeterias and gyms and playgrounds. They were showing movies, letting kids leave, asking parents to come pick them up early. Just a mess.
Marla
Feb 4, 2008 at 12:53 am
I can’t belive what Kim J had happen. I have never heard of a sick out. That would be terrible. All teachers are not paid enough. That is for sure.
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