 |
| McAllen expands it's munching of Laredo |
Tonight on Pro8news, there was a piece about two parents who have become frustrated with the failure of UISD's special education department to provide adequate services to their son. The boy was born deaf but was able to hear after a ground-breaking operation. Now, the boy is eight years old but has yet to learn how to read. According to the parents, the reason for this is that UISD does not properly train it's special education teachers. The parents also mentioned that sometimes a special education aide may sit with their son but he is not really learning much.
To the dismay of the Mayor and some city councilmen, the parents specifically pointed out that Laredo's schools are unable to keep up with schools in other cities such as......yes, McAllen, Texas. Once again, it looks like McAllen is eating Laredo's lunch.
The parent's comments had to be translated into English. Does the special education program run as a dual language program? Is his inability to keep up due to the fact that his parents don't bother to speak or read books to him in English? And they even mention that the mother is an employee of UISD, she should know better. How long were they going to let this go on? He is eight years old! Don't risk the future of your child on a system that has obviously not been working for your child.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the language issue is a reason for not reading at all, it is for not reading English well. If he could read in Spanish, then those reading skills would be used in learning a second, third language.
ReplyDeleteAlso, unfortunately, both districts have instances of 3rd graders stil not being able to read and are still being promoted. It doesn't help them or their parents any but it looks good on NCLB.