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
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