Fair Education Act for Children with Learning Disabilities:
Many children nowadays are falling behind in schools due to learning disabilities that are not being addressed a serious issue or treated the way they should be. Children can suffer from autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, Language Processing Disorder, APD, ADHD, or ADD and attend a public school that does not fit their needs, with teachers who don’t understand how to teach them. They are lacking in treatment and attention that will guide them into being as successful as they can be and meet their true potential. In addition, the school systems themselves do not provide fair treatment to them or their parents by neglecting their issues or failing to give them the special attention they need in order to catch up with other students. Kids in this category can go to the wrong school that doesn’t pay close attention to their needs and are just treated as an unmotivated or bad student, rather than someone who needs additional help. Throughout my initial research, I looked into the AFC (Advocates for Children) organization that helps children with disabilities get into the correct school and or get the correct education that fits their needs. This organization also helps fight legal issues for children being treated unfairly in the New York City Education system. I found that programs helping this cause are extremely necessary in society. Children with disabilities are integrated into the same classrooms in 43 percent of countries. Studies show that mainstreaming improves learning outcomes for children with disabilities.
The Department of Education shows that the dropout rate of children with disabilities in decreasing over time, but what they fail to represent is how high those numbers were in the first place. In addition, this data does not include students that were “discharged” from the school system, which would have almost doubled the rates on the chart. Discharged is referring to kids who “left to enroll in another education system” but this category also includes children who have aged-out and kids who have died before completing their education. Many of the discharges should be counted as dropouts, proving the inaccuracy of data.
This policy: Fair Education Act for Children with Learning Disabilities, creates equal opportunity and fair treatment of all children in the New York City Department of Education system regardless of any learning disabilities they may have. This policy is applicable to all New York City residents within the education system including all educational staff members or members working inside of a school building such as teachers, teacher assistants, security, lunchroom staff, etc. All departments need to follow the rule equally, due to the fact that anyone working inside of a school can come in contact with children who may suffer with some type of learning disabilities or physical disability. The parameters of this act include: the equal treatment of all students, no discrimination within the classroom, or any school areas, and the assurance of safety and comfort for all children in attendance of a school or university within the City of New York. If a staff member inside of a school treats a child with discrimination based upon their learning disability, they will be immediately punished and it will be treated as a fireable offense. All teachers have to give fair attention to those with the learning disabilities for example, treating a child who is falling behind due to a disability in a fair and helpful manner rather than punishing them for not working as hard as other children or not finishing the work given to them. This act protects those who suffer and their education could suffer along with them. They are protected from getting a lesser education and or educational experience due to their learning disability. The New York City Department of Education is responsible for reinforcing this policy and have to take action in the case of a violation of it by someone in the educational system. Once there is a violation of the Fair Education Act for Children with Learning Disabilities, they department of education has to make the judgement call on what the punishment is deserved for the action of discrimination towards a child who is suffering from a learning disability. The punishment can range from a suspension, expulsion all the way to being fired. The staff within the educational system needs to be held accountable for missing the mistake of mistreatment of those who deserve the same fair and equal treatment despite the fact that they may need extra help and or attention to be caught up with all of the children who are not suffering from the same disabilities. Overall, this policy is meant to act as an aid and speak up for those who cannot do it for themselves and make people liable for the mistreatment of children who have varying severities of learning disabilities in the context of the education system.
