Larry Persily’s column on the March 4 opinion page expressed clearly the dangers of shifting education support to charter schools. These schools are truly private schools paid for by the public.
In the late 1990s, I worked as a special education teacher assistant (TA) in a local elementary school. At that time we had two full-time special education teachers and four TAs — staffing needed to provide the mandated education for students identified as having special needs.
A charter school would almost certainly not have admitted those wonderful kiddos on the spectrum, or the severely neurologically affected little guy who needed help to walk and eat, and who needed diapering. The staff also spent countless hours designing specialized curricula for those little people, or the support from speech, language, occupational and physical therapists. Public schools are mandated to serve the needs of a whole variety of children who present on their doorsteps, eager to learn.
And what about the “typical” students? They gained an appreciation for being friends with people with challenges. Many of those little folks exhibited extraordinary kindness and compassion in daily school life.
Shortchanging all-inclusive public schools at the expense of charter schools is a poor choice. All young people deserve the most robust public education we can provide. There is a place for charter schools, but the shining star of our educational system needs to be public schools.
— Sue Ellen May
Eagle River
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