It threatens inclusionary gains made under Act 230 since 1990. It redirects limited school funds to solve temporary daily and weekly crises and diverts time, energy, and resources required for more comprehensive, long-range school improvement efforts. At the same time, the diminishment of traditional standards of civility and legitimate adult authority in U.S. culture has not had a salutary effect on our schools and has only added to the challenge for educators. Baseball players spit on umpires, basketball players choke and threaten their coaches, and we often witness these acts repeatedly in our homes, thanks to media replays. I am not advocating turning back the clock and re-segregating students by categorical need, even if we could.
Every child deserves to be taught in an optimum learning environment.
We ourselves must take the vital first step, however. We finally must jettison the notion that teaching and managing behaviorally-challenged students effectively in a mainstream classroom is a responsibility which we always can and must do alone. The wise second step is to contact the BEST project at the Vermont Department of Education. BEST's acronym stands for Building Effective Supports for Teaching Children with Behavioral Challenges. They have organized after-school trainings for parents and teachers together.