School is supposed to be for EDUCATION. It’s supposed to prepare people to function in society, and eventually get jobs, pay taxes, and contribute. Pouring enormous amounts of resources into teaching a 16-year-old how to fold laundry or match colors is not an “education.” It is a drain on money, staff, and attention from classrooms full of kids who actually can make use of academics.
I am not talking about kids who just need extra help like after-school tutoring in mainstream classes. If a student has ADHD, dyslexia, autism but is high-functioning, or a physical disability like blindness or paralysis, of course they should get accommodations. That’s what a fair education system would entail: the same academic content delivered in a way they can access it.
I am talking about programs for students who are cognitively decades behind their peers, kids with Down syndrome or severe intellectual disabilities, the ones who will never be able to live independently or function in the workforce without full-time support.
If someone is five+ years behind, can’t handle basic instructions, or melts down regularly, they shouldn’t be sitting in the same room as kids trying to pass state exams or prep for college.
If you are not working anywhere close to the grade you’re enrolled in, then you are not receiving a 10th-grade education. You’re occupying a desk in a building labelled high school
What’s the point of having a student in a general education classroom doing work that’s multiple grade levels behind when everyone knows they’ll never catch up? It’s a waste of time and space. Even the other kids are expected to accommodate by letting them win games to avoid tantrums (or looking bad) or helping them with assignments instead of focusing on their own.
The rest of the class are forced to sit, wait, and adapt to someone who will never be on the same level.
Sped money could go toward shrinking class sizes, better teacher pay, or actual interventions for struggling but capable students.
People get mad when you say this, but it’s obvious in daily life: even when individuals with significant cognitive disability work, those jobs are usually extremely limited, heavily supported, and often more symbolic than productive. Customers are expected to be “understanding” even if service is slower or uncomfortable. Even if one of them eventually becomes a grocery bagger, that’s not the standard of independence public education is designed to produce. Their “functioning in society” is very different from their peers.
Even in those cases, these kids often still need support into adulthood. They may have learned some job skills or basic life routines, but they haven’t learned what everyone else their age is supposed to know.
Public schools aren’t built to babysit teenagers who are permanently unable to meet the developmental or cognitive expectations of the general student body. We already have social services, group homes, and adult care programs for people with lifelong cognitive disabilities for this
