...in some places, could constitute child endangerment. At minimum.

- K&R

for more than a decade. Why is it that Noam gets an audience and we teachers don't?

The corporate megalomaniacs--who've usurped our media, our politics AND our global economy--want a system of public education that continues to churn out factory fodder and service industry drones. They want our children to be totally propagandized, which is quite easy to accomplish since most of us are addicted to the visual media technology that makes propaganda so ubiquitous and glamorous.

It's that simple.

When a problem arises with a school or district, and it is inevitable that it will, since public schools are managed by people, and there is always a percentage of people in the population with problems, there are laws to address it.

Is Connecticut fully funding services for special needs children, or are they being dumped into mainstream environments without the supports to help them cope? What other options are school staff being given, aside from allowing the education of the rest of a class be compromised while the general ed teacher tries to address those unfunded services?

I'd suggest that if "The report also said Connecticut's Department of Education does not have enough resources to monitor schools' compliance", then probably there are not enough resources in place to properly serve the needs of those students, either.

If appropriate placement and services are not funded, and enforcing of existing laws are not funded, is that the fault of public education?

just when i think i can't be shocked...

I understand by reading the article that there are districts where the law is not followed correctly. This should never happen and you don't punish a child for not saying hello. The flip side of this is that every district has children with emotional or intellectual disabilities that can be dangerous and violent, sometime on a daily basis. I have worked with both of these populations for 22 years and will say that being well trained in de-escalation techniques and having a well thought out plan significantly reduces the number of restraints. (The term itself, while conjuring up visions of children being hurled to the floor, covers any type of physical intervention including placing a hand on a child to prevent injury.). But even with the best training and plans, some students are indeed violent and dangerous and put staff and other students at risk.

The options for these types of students is limited. Money and support is limited in placing these students in a facility designed to handle their conditions. Schools also pay a large chunk of money to send these students there. In the past my district has spent $250,000 a year for one student for multiple years. Considering our cost to educate a single child is roughly $15,000 you can see that even one takes a huge hit on a district's budget.

It has been made worse over the last four or five years as districts are under assault when it comes to financing. My state of PA has taken roughly one billion dollars from our public education system and we have seen statewide staff and program reductions of more than 20,000 teachers. In my small district we have reduced our number of staff by almost 20% which has lead to many program closures. These include music education at the elementary level, band and chorus instruction now only begin in 8th grade and has one teacher doing the job of three. We have eliminated a successful nursing program, child care program, technology program, to name a few.

Abuse should never be tolerated and school districts need to better prepare their staff. But the ultimate solutions are not easy or cost effective, which is the real reality of the wealthy not paying their fair share of taxes. The burden is placed on the declining middle class, who can not afford to pay it.

will not accept children that are "unruly" . What are the rights of those students who are not "unruly"?

If a school is set up properly, restrain is rare and usually not a wrestling match. When kids in school are out of control, it's often a lack of resources. They show up in your class disruptive and difficult, so what do you do? Many times, the problem is directly related to the available services:

Little or no social work, mental health, medication, etc. are available.
Many kids are simply parentless (even parents on paper are not really there), hungry, and living in constant fear.
Kids are abused, neglected, and have little positive going in their home.

Schools here in FL rely on SRO's (police) to arrest and haul off misbehaving students of all ages. There is a juvenile justice system that mostly punishes the parents. Mental health, social work, and counseling services are almost nonexistent. Schools don't even have counselors or nurses. The GOP'ers have destroyed any type of safety net, and young, poor parents have no experience or training. The parents (if you can find them) are often trying to survive themselves.

Basically, schools get in a habit of restrain and release over and over with no solution available. It sounds like Connecticut is following the same pattern.