GAO report: Special-needs kids abused in schools

[JTFrog]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/18/siu.schools.abuse/index.html

(CNN) -- Congressional auditors have uncovered widespread abuse of techniques use to restrain or discipline special-education students in U.S. schools, with some deaths linked to the practices, a top congressman says.

The findings are among those expected from a Government Accountability Office report scheduled to be released Tuesday. The report documented serious problems with the way children with disabilities are being treated in public schools, including cases of children being held face-down on the ground.

The GAO report was prepared for the House Education and Labor Committee, which is considering new laws governing what actions teachers can take to rein in disruptive special-needs students.

"I think what we're going to hear from the GAO is that very often, special-need children are subjected to the policies of seclusion and policies of restraint that have turned out to be lethal in a number of circumstances," said Rep. George Miller, D-California, the committee's chairman.

In other cases, children as young as 6 have been locked away "for hours at a time," Miller said.

"What the GAO is telling us is that that policy is fairly widespread," he said. "The state regulations about how to handle these incidents don't exist in about half the states, and in other states you have kind of a patchwork of regulations."

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When I'm done crying I know I'm gonna be enraged. I can't find the words through my tears.

[bobburgster]

1. Hate to say it.....

but the GAO report does not surprise me:( Having taught in public schools I have seen and fought that crap first hand.

[Echo In Light]

2. One compelling aspect of why average people will deny that criminal conspiracies exist is....

...deep seated denial of the evil people are capable of and engage in regularly. This article makes me cringe...but it made me think of that. And you know the schools involved in this are most definitely mired in institutional conspiracy to silence, diminish charges, obfuscate, maintain reputation within their respective communities, etc. Count on it.

[JTFrog]

3. It's disgusting.

I hope some light gets shed in the right places. I have no doubt these schools have tried to cover their tracks.

[Demoiselle]

4. I just caught an interview on TV

One of the morning shows...A woman and her daughter who looked, maybe 10-12 years old. The little girl has Asperger's syndrome. The mother told a terrible story of her child's systematic physical abuse by a teacher...over a period of time, including bashing the kid's head against a wall. Pure hell for the child and the mother, of course. I tuned in late and can't say whether the abuse was committed by one teacher or a series of them. HOW can we even begin to pretend we are a civilized country when this sort of thing goes on! What do we do? Who do we write to? What building do we storm?