To do anything else, they argue, is to segregate these students and, therefore, to discriminate. Society, they say, needs to see these children as people, not as freaks. And, of course, no one could argue with such a sentiment. The often enlist state bureaucrats and state boards of education, who usually prove to be eager accomplices. The game plan involves constant pressure on both the legislature and the judiciary.
Advocates lobby tirelessly to pass favorable laws, and they threaten local districts with lawsuits.
Against such resources, local districts, which often have difficulty meeting their payrolls and buying test-books, usually capitulate. The result is a situation in which a teacher totally untrained in the special needs of such a child will now bear the primary responsibility for his education. But the likely reality is quite different. Even when all disabled students have been clustered together in special education classrooms, the number of teachers trained to serve their unique needs has been small. Now, with these students scattered in classrooms far and wide, that talent pool will be stretched even further.