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I wanted to add other information to my original statements (which may not reach those who feel inspired to write immediately and don't see this email until after they've responded, which is fine) and reply in bulk to everyone who asked these questions rather than responding individually (because I've received several...thanks!). My husband is NOT a member of a union (for reasons that are not related to his personal preference for unions but primarily because of "school climate" that made it a waste of money to become involved in the past...in the past very few problems could not be worked out during a discussion with a principal, a superintendent, or a member of the school board--this is a completely different climate with a lot of "people shuffling".) It was not a habit to join a union because he felt that people would treat him fairly (as they usually have) and speak with him about issues rather than re-assigning him without justification. The fact that he has not belonged to a union has not deterred him in any way from seeking legal advice from an ADA attorney which he hopes to contact today. Some responded to the reassignment as an "opportunity" that the district has placed him in so that he might utilize his special skills with special ed students; however, I must clarify the description of this school. These children don't hope to make an "A" in art, math, or science this year, these children want to SURVIVE this year. At least one child from the school dies each year due to health complications. They are all on a very low-keyed calendar system (for those who understand this term). They are non-verbal, non-ambulatory students. Some have "brain stems" rather than brains. Most are considered "cortically blind" which means that their eyes function but their brain does not comprehend and respond to what their eyes have seen. (You couldn't play "peek-a-boo" with these children because their eyes and brain would never work together to comprehend that a "disappearing and reappearing" person is playing with them.) Most of the children have G-tubes (fed through a tube) because they have no oral motor skills. Most of the children have to have items placed in their hands and then held there in order to participate in a group activity (which, yes, involved three to four people holding items in three or four kids' hands to shake tambourines during song time.) To be very frank about this environment, my husband can achieve more interaction with our cat at home than he can with these children. As much as I respect the individuals who work there, it is NOT an educational environment for someone who has been trained to teach blind and visually impaired children how to read and write in braille, how to utilize special equipment for academic classroom work, or learn how to adapt in a seeing world. This is a facility which is staff with 4 full-time nurses (only 80 students attend the school). It is a nursing-home school that is provided by the district to allow these children to have some stimulus throughout the day while being staffed by a full-time medical squad in order to attend to their needs. My husband is the ONLY visual itinerant teacher who has a visual problem--he is also the only male VI teacher in the district. We believe that his removal from the mainstream education program, where he is the only individual that many of the visually impaired or blind children meet who is more LIKE them than anyone else in the classroom, makes a powerful statement to these students AND their parents. That statement being that a role model of a successful visually impaired person is not taken seriously in the academic classroom and is "hidden" from the majority of students who find themselves the only individual in their school with a visual impairment. Do you think these students would ever consider college if they never met others who had gone on to college, gotten a degree, and had been successfully employed in their field of study? Unless these children attend a school for the blind, go to summer camps for individuals who are blind, or have other members in their family who are blind or visually impaired, they may go years before they meet others who are like themselves or who are successful, visually impaired members of the community. I know this because I met one child this past year who was 7 years old and thought that he was the ONLY visually impaired child in the world. He cried because he wanted his "eyes to work" and felt that no one else understood. It was heart-breaking. I introduced him to my husband and later to other children in the district who were visually impaired...he made friends with another child and in May was upset because school was going to be out. He is now planning to attend a state school for the blind...a school formerly known as an "institutition" but one that this child is SO excited to be going to because he can make friends with others like himself. But I digress.... All of the other teachers are independent drivers. In addition, the district pays each itinerant teacher an additional stipend for gas reimbursement so that they can do their jobs. These teachers are all housed in one building which is across town from where my husband has been re-assigned. The district provides equipment, materials, and professional reference materials to be used for the visually impaired students but it is also housed in the same building with the other VI teachers. My husband would be isolated from the remaining teachers within the district and from the resources that the department is expected to share. There are other issues that don't seem to comply with the district's inability to provide a driver this year. Primarily because providing a driver does not and would not impose a financial hardship to them. (One factor that describes this is that the district over-hires teachers each year and pays them a teachers salary but they are not in a classroom. These individuals are then "go-fors" (gophers) in the district...last year these individual teachers were assigned to staple papers for district booklets, run errands for principals, administrators, or other departments, and in one case, drive half-a-day for a visual itinerant teacher 4 days a week...my husband.) The shock is wearing off...we are now at the "disgust" level. Thank you for your suggestions! If you have others, please email me. I'll keep you posted of the results of the consultation and results. We hate to be appear radical, because we are not, but the resolution of this issue will impact not only the handicapped teachers in classrooms today but also those handicapped students who hope for a brighter tomorrow. ~Shonda Brisco Trinity Valley Upper School Librarian Ft. Worth, Texas sbrisco021@charter.net =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law. To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST, etc.) send email to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST 4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv. For LM_NET Help see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml See also EL-Announce for announcements from library media vendors: http://www.mindspring.com/~el-announce/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=