The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Funding
Behaviour problems or failing academically shouldn’t be the only reasons children receive appropriate supports at school
Behaviour problems or failing academically shouldn’t be the only reasons children receive appropriate supports at school.
A child can do well academically and follow the rules yet still need accommodations — and that child deserves them just as much as the child whose struggles are more externalized.
Funding and supports shouldn’t be based on whose parents have the resources to advocate most fiercely for their child, or on which student’s behaviour is most inconvenient to school staff.
A full-time job cost us money
When my son was seriously struggling at school, he was being treated poorly and his needs were not being met.
As a business owner, I was trying to work full-time. As the school year progressed, so did the phone calls, emails, and meetings. Supporting my son and his school took up more and more of my days.
I was fortunate that I was able to promote one of my employees to an assistant manager position so they could help with more of the daily operations, allowing me more time to focus on advocating for my son’s needs.
It took nearly two years of fighting. This included the meetings and communications mentioned above, but also led me to learn more about our education system, about my son’s legal rights, and the school’s obligation to provide inclusive and reasonable accommodations.
Advocating for my son essentially turned into a full-time job in itself.
It was the most stressful two years of my life (thus far). Yet it is also a privilege to have the flexibility and resources to dedicate so much time and effort to a job that cost us money rather than earned income for our family.
Further system inequities
Although it was gruelling, it’s better than the alternative: not having the resources to inform myself, and being unable to set aside enough time to advocate for my son.
Unfortunately there are many families who face these types of hardships. They may have to work full-time, with little or no flexibility. Their employment may not allow for them to attend meetings during school hours and spend significant amounts of time advocating for their children.
Some families may not have the resources — financial or otherwise — to educate themselves about how the system works, what their children’s rights are, and the best way to approach these difficult situations. They may not be able to seek out supports from other professionals, something that can be very costly, and also time-consuming.
Yet their children have just as much right to a fair and appropriate education as my son does.
Their family has just as much right to support as ours does.
Scarcity creates competition
Part of the problem is when resources are scarce, as they are in our public education system, some administrators begin to gate-keep, trying to ration the limited supports available to students who need them the most.
This creates an adversarial system, one in which families feel (justifiably) they have to fight for every bit of assistance they get, and schools have to be overly cautious about how they spend the very limited funds they receive.
I wrote previously about how one school division in our province hired a Divisional Principal of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Services.
This should be a position in every single division everywhere. One day, sooner rather than later, there should be a position like this in every single school.
Imagine, if you will
Dream with me for a moment here… If I could wave a magic wand and create a new position in every school, their role would be the following:
- Work with the clinical team and teachers to identify students needing extra support, and ensures they receive timely assessments or accommodations as needed.
- Provide guidance and support to families, helping them to navigate our complicated mental health and education system.
- Advocate on behalf of students, first and foremost, and on behalf of families whose children are struggling.
- Promote and safeguard diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism throughout the school.
In my fantasy world, all schools would be required to hire a qualified person into this position, and would be provided the funding to do so.
As I wrote about recently, all schools must be given adequate resources to recruit, hire, train, and retain qualified staff.
Y’know what? Fuck fantasyland.
It’s pathetic our system so devalues our children’s education that rights as fundamental as equity and appropriate accommodations are left only to the imagination.
Why do our politicians seem like nothing more than ineffectual talking heads who spend a year or two in a portfolio, pushing some paper around until they themselves are shuffled into a different position?
It’s a stupid waste of time and money — money that could be put to good use if given directly to schools and families instead of paying political salaries and getting so very little in return.
So let’s all get loud
Dear parents, school staff, and everyone who cares about the education of our communities. If the loudest voices are the only ones being heard, then let’s ensure our voices are loud on behalf of all children, not just our own, and not just the children whose parents can afford to pay for private services.
I know there are many teachers, non-profit organizations, and individuals already doing this — working tirelessly every day fighting for those who otherwise don’t have anyone on their side.
They need their communities to get behind them, to kick up a fuss alongside them, in order to get the attention of those who control the purse strings. Unfortunately that’s the reality: this is the only way things get done in politics.
We need to make our politicians actually care about our children’s education, because apparently they won’t do that without a kick in the pants.
So, get your kickin’ feet ready.
Hiiiiya
(For legal reasons I must specify this is a proverbial kicking, not a literal kicking — please don’t go around kicking people).
© Jillian Enright, Neurodiversity MB
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