Special Needs Students By: Andrew Robinson

“Special Needs Students” can be a difficult demographic to define. At a very basic level, they include the children at the two “ends” of the developmental “spectrum.” Yet, this also includes ESL students and minority students; and the funds needed to operate different programs. So, how do charter schools cater to these students in contrast to regular public schools?

First, let’s look at the exceptional students. In most public schools, special classes are set up for those children s who are either struggling, or are more advanced. Very often, these are good classes, but they are not without their challenges. First, there is often a stigma associated with them, and children are very sensitive about teasing. They don’t want to be known as “slow,” dumb, retarded, or, at the other end, a brainiac or geek.

Another issue to consider is socialization. Students who are struggling academically have enough to worry about; if they are deprived of interaction with children their own age, it can have a very negative impact on their ability to develop necessary social skills. The same is true of children who are gifted. For them, studies are much easier, and people will often treat them as little adults because of this. Sometimes a school’s gifted program will be nothing more than putting an advanced child in a higher grade. Again, this can take away from their time dedicated to socializing. A gifted eight-year-old integrated with twelve or thirteen-year-olds will not have the same social skills and interests. The only thing they have in common is school and their intellectual level. Over time, this can lead to a child at ease with adults, but incapable of dealing with their peers. Ultimately, this means a child deprived of a childhood. As any adult knows, that is a precious, brief slice of our lives, and one not to be wasted.

This is where charter schools can excel. In most cases, they leave exceptional students in a class with their peers. They will then evaluate the child and develop an IEP (Individual Education Plan), which will outline, according to the laws of the state, what they need to help them in school. The school’s Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teacher will then attend each class to work with these students. The ones that are struggling will be given remedial work to help them catch up; while the ones who are more advanced will be given extra material to challenge them. Thus, each student is properly educated, and they are still able to learn necessary social skills.

Some charter schools are set up for the purpose of providing ESE programs. They may deal with children with different levels of autism and have special labs to help them with learning and physical activities, among other features.

ESL students are often a special challenge for schools. The student’s parents are asked three questions, and if the answer to any one of them is a language other than English, a further assessment is needed. The first of these questions is: What was the first language your child learned to speak? The second: What language(s) does your child speak at home? And third: What language(s) is/are spoken in your home?

The results of this assessment go into the child’s IEP, and may necessitate them being taught in another language. This is known as a “Sheltered ESL Student,” and it can present difficulties for the school. Getting a teacher who is multi-lingual can be difficult, particularly for some of the more rare languages. With people moving to the United States from literally all over the world, the range of languages spoken is only increasing. Staff of Lake Eola Charter School in Orlando, Florida, however said that, by law, the school must provide an education to every child based on their IEP. Regardless of the language that is required, it is the school’s responsibility to search for a teacher who can provide this service.

Another issue remains: funding. Charter schools, on a whole, are in a rather precarious situation. On one hand, a charter school has the freedom to determine how they spend their funds, and, in exchange, they have a high level of accountability when it comes to student performance. On the other hand, charter schools are woefully under funded. On average, they get 25 percent less than a regular public school of similar size. This often results in the parents being called upon to pay for school trips and outings, and to help with various fundraising activities. We have all seen the school fairs where kids sell cookies and arts and crafts supplies. For some charter schools, these are nearly a monthly occurrence.

Finally, in terms of minority students, charter schools abide by the same standard as any public school: they may not discriminate against any child. Some schools have been criticized for having too few minority students or for having too many of one nationality. Charter schools always strive to have a student body that is truly representative of the community within which it is located. In fact, Bill Gates has toured the country extolling the virtues of charter schools as a means of helping minority students. He has seen the trouble that many such students face in inner city schools, and has spoken to the incoming presidential administration about greater expansion for charter schools.

In conclusion, charter schools offer a means for all children facing “special needs,” whether it is remedial help, accelerated education, overcoming a language barrier, or overcoming a racial barrier, to get the education they need to be prepared for their future. Today, we are facing the greatest economic hardship since the Great Depression. To pull our economy out of these doldrums is going to require new thinking, thinking “outside the box,” as they say, new investment, and new industries. For that, we are going to need every child educated to their full potential. This is not a problem likely to be solved with a so-called “quick fix,” but with long-term investment in education, industry, technology, and many other aspects of society. Charter schools can be a significant part of that American Renaissance.