Mainstreaming Special-Ed
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
6:21 AM
Posted: August 5, 2013, 3:38 pm – Last updated: August 5, 2013, 10:51 pm
From <http://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/?p=14866>
… I start with the proposition that the first thing to do is to repeal the Individuals with Disabilities and the Education for all Handicapped Children Acts. The matter should be returned to the states. Given the massive state education bureaucracies that probably will do little good, but it may make some experimentation possible. Surely there are a few places where the sentiment favors the proposition that schools are places for learning, and those who aren’t learning – either because they will not, or because they cannot – should be somewhere else. The remedy to the problems of the handicapped are not to cripple those more fortunate, and indeed that is counterproductive. It is a lot easier to divide a large pie than a small one, and without an educated work force you will not get large pies. While we are at it in this debate, it may be time to open the question of differential education: as production gets more complicated and demands more mental resources, nations which don’t develop their intellectual capital won’t have any big pies to distribute. As to what happens to those who used to contribute to the economy but whose jobs have been automated forever, that’s another discussion and one of great importance…
…if everyone is to have an equal education the standards must be kept really low. Nor can everyone be entitled to a shot at a world class university prep education: at some point they have to be weeded out so that the ones who may benefit from it can be taught…