Sept 8, 2017, Iowa City Press-Citizen: Hemingway: Iowa City school bond does not address technical, special education http://www.press-citizen.com/story/opinion/contributors/guest-editorials/2017/09/08/hemingway-iowa-city-school-bond-does-not-address-technical-special-education/644320001/ I am deeply concerned about our special education program in the past five years. Due to serious violations of law, the Iowa State Department of Education intervened in 2016. They will continue to oversee our special education program for two more years due to past deficiencies. The racial disproportionality we have in the use of seclusion rates is alarming. The need for proper facilities to handle growing special education needs are not specifically addressed in the general obligation bond language despite increasing special education needs. The absence of a specified commitment in bond language to special education facility needs, such as conversion of seclusion rooms to calming rooms, shows a lack of concern for our present and future special education students. Let’s plan for it, let’s budget for it, let’s bond for it, let’s build it. "So let it be written, so let it be done."
Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.