Did you just realize?

Did you just realize??

Did you just realize that where you are and what your doing is important to someone? I did. Every step I take these days is very carefully measured. Impactful when you realize that you are who you say you are. You affect others by words, body language and everything you do. My advice is to watch yourself. Carefully, you are responsible for how you treat other people. In the news, I read about something that I think is very wrong. In Meford Oregon, the school district has excluded a group of 15 special needs children from moving to the new high school. I was shocked when I read this. In this day and age when IDEA is fully recognized how can this be true? Medford superintendant Phil Long has been quoted as saying " That the old building has more opportunities for the steps children and is being remodeled and has more opportuinities for the STEPS kids."

I would like to respond to this statement by saying that the opportunities are exactly the same. Does that mean that the children who are at the new school have less opportunities? Superintendant Long has stated that busing the STEPS kids would be too expensive so they should stay at the old school. I wonder does keeping an entire school open, heated and staffed for 15 children less expensive? Does busing the children from the alternative school to interact with the STEPS kids not expensive? This is blatant discrimination. Lets call it like it is. These children are being segregated. Superintendent Long is hiding behind alot of words and his budget. Children with disabilities need and have a legal right to attend their neighborhood school with their peers. It is widely recognized that special needs students need typically developing peers to learn from. These children are segregated thus losing opportunities to develop. Bus them wherever you want Superintendant Long, it is still discrimination. Hide behind your own discrimination. But mark my words- The law will still be the law no matter what you call it. This issue is not about opportunity or a building. It's about the children. Stop calling them the STEPS kids. They all have names. They all have hopes and dreams and capabilities. They all deserve to be equal.

From My little Corner
Lisa O