Are families with disabilities still American families?

 Are families with disabilities still American families?

 

Later this month, the President is expected to unveil an American Families Plan to help American families through the economic downturn of the pandemic and to make life better going forward.  Notable by it absence are any updates to SSDI- Supplemental Security Disability Income benefits that are available to individuals and married couples with disabilities.

SSDI is available to people who are disabled or become disabled.  Eligible individuals must be under 65 (when they would qualify for Social Security).  Currently about 8 million Americans with disabilities receive a maximum federal benefit of $794 a month, married couples can receive up to $1,191 per month.  Some states supplement this allowance with state funds.

There is a strong congressional press to tie the amount to both the poverty level and to inflation so that finite amounts would be taken out of the rules.  Essentially this system is how regular social security works.  The members of Congress who support this move, want the benefit to be 100% of the federal poverty level and for an individual’s asset level to be adjusted upward with inflation.  Because the asset limit is not indexed to inflation, individual assets cap is operationally lowered each year.  Additionally, current rules lower benefits for individuals that receive other government assistance such as food stamps or shelter from a friend or family member. They would also like the married couple benefit to be double the individual benefit if both members of the couple quality.  Currently two individuals with disabilities who live together without being legally married come out ahead of the game on income.  The President backed these changes in the campaign but so far he has left them out of the American Families Plan which focuses on paid family leave, child care and other domestic issues.

The reality is that nothing is free.  If businesses are required to give paid family leave, that income will need to be made up through higher prices, lower overall wages and/or fewer employees.  That reckoning needs to be taken into account with any increased benefit.

So it is with increasing benefits for individuals with disabilities.  The entry point of the discussion is: should people with disabilities receive federal funds (our tax dollars) to assist in their support.  If we agree that they should, as we have agreed, then the next question is how much support?  That is a question being answered right now.  Are families with disabilities American families?  If so why are they not being included in the proposed legislation that supports other American families.

That's not the half of it

 That’s not the half of it!

 

As of April 19 all adults and teens over 16 are eligible to receive the COVID 19 vaccine.  If enough people accept the opportunity, we will reach herd immunity by early summer and life will be good- or will it.

Since the pandemic began, children and adolescents have higher rates of anxiety, depression, and stress and even more specific issues of addictive internet behavior (Education Week, March 31,2021).  The CDC has reported that the percentage of children 5-11 visiting emergency rooms for a mental health crisis has risen 24% in the last year. Among 12-17 year-olds, that percentage of increase is 31%.  It is a good thing that with the vaccine we will all be fine, except that we won’t.

Experts tell us that the mental health impact of the pandemic is just beginning and will be with us for years to come.  There are significan differences between those students attending school in-person, hybrid and totally remotely.   First of all, kids need other adults beside their parents to turn to for guidance.  For students that is usually some respected/loved adult at school.  In fact, 84% of the students attending school in-person say they look to a teacher for that support.  Yet with all virtual teaching only 64% of students still feel they have that support from a teacher.  This situation is particularly true for low-income kids.  

Our country already does not treat mental health needs with the same intensity and support as it does physical health.   Some health plans have been forced to include mental health services.  And even plans that have the service, it is generally dramatically less strong than for physical health.

Many older students in communities without the technology supports for online learning have just “evaporated” from the school system.  Public school enrollments are down dramatically.  In higher income areas, those kids have gone to private schools.  In lower-income areas, those kids have gone to the streets.

We are going to need many more social workers, guidance counselors, pupil personnel workers in our schools once we are back in the school buildings.  That is expensive and with public school enrollments down, that will mean less money for schools to do anything.  Some school districts are bragging because they plan on keeping teachers they no longer need with decreased enrollments.  That money could be better spent on mental health professionals for the students who have stayed with the public schools.

Unfortunately, there is no vaccine for mental health issues and no great clamor to develop therapies.

The vaccines are great but they are only our hope to win half of the battle.  It’s the second half that is going to be a great deal harder.

 

Is Good Teaching Like Pornography?

 Is Good Teaching Like Pornography?

 

Justice Potter Stewart in 1964 as part of a Supreme Court decision said that while he could not define hard core pornography, he knew it when he saw it.  Some folks will tell you that teaching is the same thing.  They can’t describe it so therefore there should be no pay based on merit BUT we all know great teaching when we see it.

Folks who say that are only half right.   We all know great teaching when we see it AND it can be defined.

Teaching is both an art and a science.  The science is the easy part.  Good teachers match method to the way the child learns, not to the latest and greatest magical way to teach.  There is no one best method to teach reading to all kids.  The independent variable in teaching is the way the child learns.  So, any “perfect” method will only be perfect for that group of students who learn that particular way.  The rest of the kids will be in the “third” group and we all know what that is regardless of what it is called.  Reading, math and writing are the core academic areas and a technically good teacher has enough methods in her tool kit that she can use those tools that match the child’s learning traits.   Science and social studies are supporting academic areas.  We teach them for the basic reasons that well over 50% of local budgets go toward providing a free public education to all who want it.  The major value of social studies is to assist children to understand how we got to where we are in the world.  The idea being that if we understand how we got here we won’t make these same mistakes twice.   The purpose of social studies really has nothing to do with the chronology of battles and wars, unfortunately that is how we teach it.  Our present state of politics clearly shows we are not teaching government and civics at all.  The point of teaching science if for kids to understand our physical world.  We have totally lost track of that too.

Demonstrating the science of good teaching definitely makes for good teachers.

But we are after GREAT teachers and that is where the art comes in.  People can be taught the science of how to be a good teacher.  They cannot be taught the art of teaching because the art of great teaching comes from the heart.  The great teacher sees each and every child as an individual.  The great teacher values and respects every child and will manipulate the learning experience so that each child is successful at that child’s level and interest.   The great teacher wants to be remembered by every child as the second most important person in that child’s life- right after the parents.   Will the great teacher be able to achieve that?  Nope, but that should be the mission.  Great teachers make sure kids feel great coming into that classroom.

Schools and school districts should make sure every teacher is good.  They should do their very best to have as many great teachers as possible and get out of their way so they can be great.  Because just like pornography, we all know great teaching when we see it.  Those folks who can’t, at minimum, be good teachers need to go into a less important line of work.

Private Schools want to discriminate.

 Private Schools Want to Discriminate

 

Private schools insist they are private and as such they have the right to discriminate.  That makes sense to me.   So private schools in Maryland openly refuse admission to children who are homosexual.  Some of the schools also do not accept the children of homosexuals regardless of the orientation of the children themselves.

Other schools say they admit children of color but in practice offer admission to few to no children of color.  Some openly say that they will admit children of color providing they are not expected to “lower academic standards to do so”.  

In higher education the discrimination is even more open.   Schools of the religious right argue that their religious beliefs forbid them from offering equal opportunity to gay and lesbian students. So they do not consider them for admission.   Organizations that support the rights of LBGQT students are not allowed to be official student organizations or have access to any of the student organization resources regardless of the orientation of the members.  Others do not allow students who are transgender to remain in the school.  

A national group, Teach Coalition, is ramping up to get local reimbursement for up to 50% of the health costs for their students.  The schools of Teach Coalition are religious right Jewish day schools.  These schools do not admit students of other faiths.

Is all this discrimination ok?  In my view absolutely.  After all- they are private institutions.
But are they really?   Baylor University, a school that openly discriminates against gay and lesbian students, receives upwards of 43 million U.S. tax dollars a year.  Other colleges and universities that are more overtly religious institutions also receive large amounts of tax dollars.  Private schools in Maryland receive state funds for books and other instructional materials.  

Non-public special education schools in Maryland must have clear non-discrimination policies as they should.  After all, they receive the bulk of their tuition from state tax dollars. 

Why are these other private schools allowed to freely discriminate while still eating heartily from the public trough?   I have no issue with private schools discriminating.  My issue is when they do it with the U.S. taxpayers dollars.   Discriminate all you want, just do it on your own dime not mine.