The following editorial appeared in the October, 1997 edition of CEC Today.
Should CEC Advocate for Better Working Conditions for Teachers?
Working conditions for teachers directly impact the quality of instruction for their learners. There's no way around it. Load enough kids into a room, extend the age and disability range beyond all reasonable limits, deny the most reasonable funding requests for staff and materials, add a touch of violence, and even the best of special educators become less effective, at best. At worst...well, you've probably seen it. Let's hope you haven't lived it!
CEC has long been an outstanding advocate for the improvement of conditions for special needs students. It's voice is sought out, heard, and respected by many, sometimes by those in power. Generally, CEC's efforts have been directly in behalf of the disabled. Teaching conditions in many schools have become so bad as to negate hard-won advances advocated by CEC and others. It's time for CEC to enter the fray at both the federal and state levels, strongly advocating improved working conditions for special educators. Improvements in working conditions directly impact the learner. At a time when the national political climate seems to be moving away from federal control, CEC must try to reverse that flow. Even under the federal legislation umbrella, the separate states still have widely varying special education laws and regulations. Some states have no binding caseload or class size restrictions. If protection for working conditions of special educators cannot be achieved at the federal level, CEC needs to become active in educating and directly lobbying state governments and legislatures.
What to address? Caseload and class size limits are needed now--yesterday, if possible. Resource rooms are regularly filled with widely varying disabilities, often mislabeled "just to place." Socially acceptable less restrictive placements by misguided but well-meaning psychologists of severely disabled youngsters compound classroom problems. Have you recently heard, "Well, we really don't want to label them ...(insert the severe disability here)... at this point, even though they qualify." Programs are converted to inclusionary with minimal staff additions. The safety of both students and teachers continues to need to be addressed. Funding needs to be increased, and spending somehow monitored to insure funds go where they were intended.
Isn't this somebody else's job?
Teacher's unions represent far too wide a cross-section of teachers and needs to make this a top priority for them. School administrations often do an excellent job of protecting working conditions for special education teachers. Just as often, it is still a dumping ground.
It's time for CEC to finally speak out about the actual conditions in which many special students learn and in which their teachers teach. All too often the reality of well-intentioned federal and state legislation on special education results in little or no improvement in education or teaching conditions. Some reporting changes in the new special education law may actually prove counter productive for those with moderate to excessive caseloads (read that as most of us).
The norm of special education is professional, dedicated teachers unable to accomplish those things they most wish with their students because of crushing caseloads and class size, violence in the classroom, "socially acceptable" purposeful misplacements by administrations and psychologists (ie., "Yes, Johnny's certainly behaviorally disordered, but we'll protect him and call him learning disabled...MiMH," or "Sally really qualifies for MoMH, but our (incredibly overworked) MiMH teacher, Ms. So-and-so, is so good that we'll just put her there." ) and just plain uncaring administrations.
As with the regular classroom, a harried, over-worked staff does not produce as positive results as they could in an improved teaching situation. Special Education is no different. If CEC is to continue being a leading advocate in Special Education, the time is right to speak out for improved teaching conditions for those who are in the classroom with the disabled every day.
After the publication of this article, then CEC President Linda Marsal wrote a proposal for consideration at the national CEC Convention.