I don’t make sweeping generalizations because they are always wrong, but if you are a teacher, people have wondered why you actually do that. The curiosity about WHY on EARTH you would choose this profession is so deep-seated that we even ask it of each other in job interviews. I mean think about that for a second. Can you imagine at NASA: “So Christina, why did you decide to become an astronaut?” Sitting before the medical review board: “What motivated you to become a neurosurgeon?” I guess I don’t really know – perhaps they do ask that sort of question, but it just feels kind of unlikely. My husband’s an electrical engineer who works on fighter planes, and I promise you he has never had to justify to anyone why he chose THAT particular career path. Yet I have justified my career path to everyone from job interviews to grant applications to friends at cocktail parties, and every single time everyone’s left feeling unsatisfied. I can feel them want...
In 2016 the Houston Chronicle published a report claiming that the Texas Education Agency had imposed a "special education cap" on the percentage of a district's students that could be classified as special education. In 2018 the US Department of Education completed its investigation and found that Texas had indeed illegally set this cap at 8.5% and that this cap had caused qualified students to be denied services. On today's podcast we talk about how, yep, this is totally a thing , a thing that we have experienced in our years of education, the students that were denied services because of this cap, and where we think this misguided, illegal policy came from. We discuss why it is so vitally important that we serve our special education students, what is going on with dyslexia services in Texas, and where we go from here. If you work in special education, we'd love to hear from you! Comment on this blog, on our Facebook page, or email us at realtalkinte...