BM>  CB> The changes the House made today in the Individuals with 
BM> Disabilities
BM>  CB> Education Act (IDEA) will begin to untie teachers hands.
BM>  CB> legislation promises teachers the help they need to deal with 
BM> disabled
BM>  CB> students who are chronically disruptive, violent, or who bring 
BM> drugs
BM>  CB> or weapons to school.
BM> 
BM>  I know you are only passing this on Chuck but this is one of the
BM>  times that I think Shanker really has his head up his arse
BM>  The changes made will help school districts to further degrade
BM>  services to disabled children - 
    Several classroom teachers from New Jersey personally told me of how IDEA 
(and similar state legislation) had made their working conditions 
near-impossible by making it impossible to expel disruptive kids as long as 
they were designated "emotionally handicapped", even if the kid brought a gun 
to school.
    Reform of IDEA isn't about degrading services to disabled kids.  It's 
about remedying the problems teachers face when "emotionally handicapped" 
kids cannot be disciplined like every other kid...and then are a constant 
disruption.  (You should have heard from the two teachers from New Jersey!)
BM>  jobs??  And...I strongly resent, as I'm sure many others do, his
BM>  imputation that only disabled students are chronically disruptive 
    "Emotionally handicapped" kids aren't the only discipline problems.
    But as things now stand, they have near-immunity from the rules faced by 
every other student.  They cannot be disciplined as readily, and that makes 
their problems much worse than those posed by their "normal" classmate who 
can be expelled.
BM>  CB> The AFT is pleased that the bill also eliminates some of the 
BM> current
BM>  CB> incentives to litigate disputes unnecessarily.
BM> 
BM>  Protections for children with disabilities are being gutted in the
BM>  name of the almighty dollar!
    No.
    IDEA reform just means putting the "emotionally handicapped" kid in the 
same position as his "normal" classmate in the discipline process when the 
two are accused of some misconduct.
    "Normal" kids don't have any real ability to appeal discipline for 
misconduct unless discrimination is involved.  Why should just being 
designated "emotionally handicapped" grant special rights?
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