Klarinet Archive - Posting 000891.txt from 2004/03

From: "Gary Drennan" <psa119@------.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] not just the music department
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 16:36:17 -0500

Alan,

My apologies for misunderstanding your post. I am sorry that I came to my
conclusion too soon. I do agree with you on your judgement of the situation
with the mother you described. It was NOT discrimination that an unqualified
student not get a sole. I can't believe it! She was going to sue because her
child didn't get a solo?!?!? Shucks! Think of all the practice time I could
have saved in high school if I only had a good lawyer!

Again, my apologies.

Gary

----- Original Message -----
From: "Allen Levin" <alevin@------.net>
To: <klarinet@------.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 3:18 PM
Subject: Re: [kl] not just the music department

> I did not mean to suggest that the disabled should not have every
> opportunity to learn and enjoy music - or anything else. The problem is
> that more resources are required to do it effectively - and the same
> legislature that mandates these things refuses to pay any of the
> incremental costs of implementing them. Not all students benefit from
> mainstreaming. Moreover, it is almost impossible to mainstream a child
> without giving the child extra attention. If that attention comes from
the
> classroom teacher - it is taken away from the other students. Very little
> money funnels down to the classroom from the federal government to make
> this work.
>
> In the example I gave, I don't think that it was improper to have the
child
> in the band. But the mother didn't stop there - she threatened the
> district with a lawsuit unless her child got a solo. The superintendent
> caved in. The concert program was changed at the last minute. A piece
> was found that required a triangle or rhythm stick solo (I no longer
> remember which). It made mom feel good. It shortchanged the majority of
> the children because they couldn't all have solos. It took the teacher's
> attention away from the group for the sake of one child. It taught the
> other children that effort doesn't count.
>
> In my college class there were two blind students. One demanded
> substantial assistance - readers, guides on campus, etc. He demanded that
> everyone pay the price of his handicap. He was a bitter young man who, I
> understand, died that way.
>
> The other decided - before he ever set foot on campus - that he would
learn
> to do what was necessary to live life on his own terms. He had braille
> books , taped and transcribed his lectures, memorized every building,
path
> and sidewalk on the campus, sang in choir and glee club. If he ever
sought
> special treatment, I don't remember it. He graduated high in the class
and
> started a publishing company. The last time I spoke to him he was
healthy,
> happy and reasonably prosperous.
>
> That is nowhere near what he was talking about. This kind of cruel
> >exageration is responsible for the silent gutting of programs that are
the
> >only thing that most parents of disabled student have to deal with the
needs
> >of their children.
>
>
>
>
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