" I agree 100%. School has always been a source of torment for some, and now more than ever there seems to be an escalating element of violence like never before as well. Special education students struggle enough with their studies, without the threat of harrassment and aggressive behavior. Elminating that stress should be provided without a doubt. "

" In addition, many of the students that EIASE handles are ones with behavior and truancy problems as well. EIASE has more effective ways of dealing with these kids that the high school doesn't employ. Many of these children would be very disruptive to teachers and regular students. I think if parents knew the behavior problems that would now be tossed in the mix with their own kids, they would be furious. "

" Great letter Melody! Imagine what the cost to the Mattoon School District would be IF they try to pull out of EIASE. What is not understood by most people is the hearing impaired services provided by EIASE. This program is amazing, the students of Charleston have been attending school with HI/Deaf children from elementary thru high school. They are used to seeing educators, faculty and staff signing or learning sign to communicate with these children. This helps create a positive influence for the hearing students who then see past the difference and see the students.

The big issue is interpreters for the HI/Deaf students. It is a State and Federal Law that the school provides Certified Interpreters. Two problems here are 1. There is a great need for CERTIFIED "Terps". 2. The expense of hiring certified interpreters (one for each student) far exceeds the out-of-district tuition Matton now pays. 2. Mattoon cannot refuse to send the HI/Deaf students to Charleston and the HI program EIASE provides. Which is probably why you haven't heard much from the HI/Deaf community. They/WE/I know this is fact. "

" Very nice letter. I have to agree with what Pumpkin said. I have two children both have special needs both recive special education services both are in classes that are "self-contained" because my children are better served by those types of classes. Every child with special needs is diffrent I have known parents who have special needs children whose children can do very well with partial or even full inclusion while other children like my children seem to do much better in self-contained classrooms. Melody you are right though about the mixing with other students, my daughter has classes with other students who are in "regular education classes" such as Art or Music she has lunch with other students from these classes as well, but her primary "core classes" are self contained special ed. This situation seems to work out well for her. My son attends school at the wonderful Franklin DDC which is the best enviorment for him. I will say that the special education services in this county are a lot better than they were in our hometown. I think that both parents and educators should want to set up students to succeed. Each child's situation does need to be evaluated on a case by case basis of course. Ed I was not aware that the EIASE handled behavior and truancy problems as well, I think that we hear a lot more about behavior problems than we did decades ago when many of us who are now parents were in school, we have the knowledge now how to work with these students to help them succeed in school, when in past years schools didn't know what to do other than just give up which only hurt the kids in the long run. Pumpkin you also make a good point about the harrasment students can endure as well being the victim of harrasment from peers has led some students to make some tragic decisions as we have seen with tragedies such as Columbine which broke hearts across the country including mine. I feel that we need to do anything and everything we can to make sure that our special needs students get the very best services possible in order to "level out the playing field for them" we need to set up all of our children for success. I also want to add that many of these special needs students are a lot smarter and more capable than some people give them credit for. "

" There are some good points in Ms. Smith's letter, but it does not present the entire picture. There is a misconception that students receiving services will just be dumped back into the regular schools with no consideration for their needs. This is not the case. There will be off-site locations for some students, and some will be better served in regular schools. The individual needs of the students will be first and foremost in the minds of all who will be involved in the decision-making process.

While I agree that students should feel at ease in their educational environment, I also feel that they must be educated to the very best of their ability. Educators for Mattoon CUSD#2 care about these students, and they will do their utmost to take care of emotional as well as educational needs. With students being "out-sourced" to EIASE, there is no control of their education, and that is unfortunate for the students.

The EIASE program with which I am most familiar is TLC (Treatment and Learning Center). Because several districts are served, the teachers cannot teach the curriculum of the home school to each student. Reintegration becomes extremely difficult, and the student is more likely to stay at TLC which is unfair to students. I have seen students sent to TLC who could have stayed in their home school if given the proper support. Once they get to TLC, they become comfortable with the less demanding curriculum, and they often develop more severe behaviors because it is more acceptable in that environment with that group of peers.

The purpose of our educational system is to aid in preparing students for the future. TLC is unable to provide vocational classes which would greatly benefit students who will be entering the job market in a few years. Many TLC students are quite capable of going to college, but without the rigor in the high school curriculum, college classes may prove to be a much larger challenge than it otherwise would be.

Placing the responsibility of education CUSD#2 students back where it belongs is a good step for kids! I truly believe the benefits will far outweigh the risks! "

" Taking parents rights to punish the child with a slap or spanking is what has caused most of this TLC crap. When I was in school you got your azz swatted not sent to a easy school.Give the parents and schools back those rights and TLC will drop away. "

" Rohn my daughter is a former TLC student, the school does more than serve children with "behavior issues" My daughter has severe ADHD as well as other developmental delays. When we moved here the schools in our hometown just did not have programs in place for Learning Disabled Students for students in Kindergarten. So my daughter was labeled as having "behavior issues" and attened TLC from Kindergarten through the end of first grade largely due to the face that she was so far behind her same age peers. Nothing that I did caught her up but the TLC school got her to a level that she could go back to the regular schools. I know that many kids have issues that are results of their conditions or can have behaviors as a side effect from some medication they may be on. Sometimes there are other issues at work rather than " a parent having no rights to spank their children" "

" What was the premise of the last change in direction shift on special education?

What suddenly suggests they are actually any more committed to the long haul, than they were just a few years ago?

Many aspects of some special ed needs are best served by basic continuity. Every couple years having some fickle thinking epiphany driven mood swing, is often counter productive and very expensive. They already threw the baby out with the bath water, and then rented out the bath tubs.

This likely has to do with head count funding or accounting models. Instead of getting spending more responsibly in line, they simply want every possible number, to account for, rather than students to effectively educate, making the best use of time, money, and resources. "