Aug 21, 2018, Tehachapi (CA) Times: New suspension program slated to start this year in Tehachapi Unified School District http://www.tehachapinews.com/news/new-suspension-program-slated-to-start-this-year-in-tehachapi/article_ac6cca7c-a592-11e8-8add-cb0ed22da3a7.html Students at several schools within the Tehachapi Unified School District may soon be placed into a new program if they are disruptive or show negative behavior in the classroom. It's part of the district’s approach to help students recognize bad behavior, make amends and reduce overall suspension and expulsion rates. The Alternative to Suspension program will be provided by Blue Water Educational Consulting. … Students in the program will be in a separate classroom with a teacher for up to 30 days. A series of steps to help students improve their behavior may include student surveys, apology letters, commitment cards and other ways to "own" their previous unacceptable behaviors. This includes a plan for the student after they leave the program, Tyler added. The program will be implemented at Jacobsen Middle School, Tehachapi High School and Monroe High School. It is also the first program with training and curriculum that will be used to help students with discipline issues. Staff will also receive training on the program, said TUSD interim superintendent Paul Kaminski. … The program doesn’t come without a price. The training for students and staff with monthly meetings from the company costs $31,000 for one year, according to the approved 2018 contract agreement….
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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.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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