Government Fails Special Needs

-


A headline on the front page of The Southland Times on Saturday was Schools 'fail' special needs. The article (under a less emotive heading on Stuff) described how parents of special needs children were leaving Southland because they felt their children were not being well served by Invercargill schools and teachers. One mother claimed that her 7 year old son was also being deliberately excluded. While the article did suggest more training and resourcing for schools was needed from the Ministry the implication was that it was the schools and teachers in Invercargill that were failing the children.

I have already written a number of posts describing how this Government has deliberately favoured private schools with extra funding and under-resourced low decile schools. I angers me when yet again schools and teachers have the finger pointed at them when doing their best in an under-resourced environment where the profession no longer has an influence on Government policy. Teachers are desperately trying to hold together our crumbling public education system while at the same time receiving the majority of the blame for the holes and gaps that are appearing.

This is my letter in response:

The Editor
The Southland Times

Dear Sir

I always feel uncomfortable when I see headlines like the one in Saturday’s paper, Schools ‘fail’ special needs. Such headlines appoint blame on one part of our system while the reality is more complex.

Accommodating children with special needs in a class of 25-30 children requires a lot of skill, patience and often specialist knowledge. Having professional support available to teachers and schools is crucial.

While the numbers of children with high needs are increasing, the funding and support available has not kept up with demand. When the Government cut the Ministry’s funding by $25 million it had negative impact on Special Education Services through a reduction of staffing and resources.

When the Government disbanded Supplementary Learning  Support (SLS) it put an extra load on our Resource Teachers for Learning and Behaviour (RTLBs) and they now struggle to cover the shortfalls from SES and the SLS role.

There are also financial barriers to parents and schools from less affluent communities to access Government funded special needs support. Consequently affluent private schools now capture the largest share of special needs funding and Kings College was able to provide special needs support for 24.4% of their students sitting NCEA last year.

The Government has also closed health camps and residential schools for high needs children and even tried to close Salisbury School illegally. 

Our education system should be an inclusive one and all children deserve a fair go and the best possible start in life. To enable this to happen we have to ensure that the professional support and resources are provided where it is most needed.


Party voting Green will be a vote for properly resourcing schools and teachers and ensuring that education funding goes to the children who need it the most. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The US is actually unique for not valuing life!

-
Image
"...that’s what sets America apart from every other country; we value life. That is what makes us unique.” - Sarah Sanders There is a high level of delusion operating in the White House. The stream of mistruths that come out of President Trump and Sarah Sanders' mouths are clearly blatant lies but millions of US citizens believe them. With daily diets of Fox News and living in a very insular culture , there is little that challenges these false perceptions of US "greatness".  When comparing the United States of America with most other developed nations it becomes clear that it probably places less value on life than most and doesn't compare well with many developing countries too: If the US really valued life then it would abolish the death penalty, it is the only Western Country that executes people under law ( 23 people were executed in 2018 ).  If the US really valued life then it would have an equitable and universal health care system. The cur
Read more

The Destruction of New Zealand's Public Education System

-
Image
In 2008 New Zealand was internationally ranked in the top seven for educational achievement, and when you compared us with other countries that were also culturally diverse and experiencing growing inequality, we were extremely successful. At that time our Early Childhood sector had received a much overdue boost in funding from the Labour Government after being underfunded (as a % of GDP) compared to other OECD nations for years. The sector was working towards a target of having 100% qualified teachers in all centres. We were also in the process of implementing a new National Curriculum and a complementary curriculum for Maori ( Te Marautanga o Aotearoa ). Teachers were excited about putting all their energies into the new ideas and approaches that were espoused in these co-constructed documents that had taken around seven years to review and write. Evidence, research and practitioner input had created something that would allow us to prepare New Zealand children to become
Read more

ANZAC DAY REFLECTIONS

-
Image
I find ANZAC Day creates a dilemma for me, consequently I rarely attend dawn parades. I fully support people recognising the human cost of wars and remembering family members who lost their lives on battlefields. A grandfather of mine fought in WW1 and was gassed in the French trenches, which compromised his health for the rest of his life. His wife (my grandmother) lost her young brother in WW2. The sacrifices and human costs of war should never be minimalised. However, while speeches at ANZAC parades are full of statements promoting peace and the futility of war, those who campaign hardest for peace, promote nonviolence and call for weapons reductions are often treated like criminals. Anyone who dares to mention our own war crimes or that of our allies are generally shut down or demonised. It has become a sort of cultural heresy to question the reputation and glorification of the ANZACs.  I would love to see greater balance in how we talk about war and properly recognise those who ha
Read more