A recent court case where a federal judge ordered Atlanta Public Schools to pay for the private education of a misdiagnosed student is just one of many of the victimizations of public school students that happened on a regular basis. When Mr. Draper was in fourth grade, he was evaluated to be mentally retarded, and so they did not teach him. It turns out that he is merely dyslexic. This happens far too often.
- My oldest stepsister had an injury that affected her speech as a baby. She stayed in Special Ed programs her entire school career. Still, she managed to teach me how to read when the schools would not. I distinctly remember my mother discussing with many parents of my sisters classmates that they felt their child did not belong in Special Education classes.
- When I was in Kindergarten, I was quite shy and refused to cooperate on an entrance exam. I was put in a Special Ed class for first grade. After being spanked by a teacher who hit everyone in the classroom for being ‘bad’, and my mother’s violent reaction, I was re-evaluated and found to be advanced.
- My son’s 3rd grade teacher put my son in a class for extra help (with Special Ed kids) and told me he was getting gifted instruction. I found out sometime after we had started homeschooling about the lie. My son is quite advanced for his age.
- I have a nephew in public schools right now who is mildly attention deficit. I feel that all he needs is a diet change to do better in school. The schools think he should be in a special education program and are refusing to mainstream this very bright child.
Mr. Draper who is now 20 years old was awarded $34,150 a year to attend the Cottage School, a private school in Atlanta, so that he can get a proper high school diploma and get into college. It is possible that a civil rights case will follow.
Many people I have spoken to say that such cases only happen to black children. While the cases I mentioned above involved black children, I do not know that to be a fact, but I would guess that the victims are disproportionately black. It is no wonder that the fastest growing homeschooling population happens to be African American.
Related Articles: On Being an African American Homeschooler
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