The corporate capture of education in the US is not a good development for students with special needs
It’s back to school time in the US. Along with the usual television commercials from the school supply outlets and the clothing stores, education giant Pearson Education is blitzing the airways advertising it’s presence in the public k-12 on-line space. This is worrisome. Unlike the local charter school movement in California, whereby small not-for-profit charter corporations create a few local schools in a district, Pearson Education massive reach and bank balance is taking on the whole state.
I was curious about this effort, so I cruised over to their web site. They have an attractive presentation that requires you to input your name, address, email, and phone number to get into the details about what’s on offer. In doing so, you agree to be harassed by marketing robo-calls and spam.
Once you get past the form, you can browse their presentation. What I found was both disappointing and scary.
The site lists it’s administrators and it’s teachers. You get to read a personal statement for each teacher, all 15 of them. 15 teachers for a statewide programme?
None of the listed teachers are credentialled Education Specialists. The Education Specialist Teaching Credential is the credential that California grants to Special Education teachers.
Nowhere on the main presentation can you find information about special education services, IEPs, 504 plans, or support for disabilities.
To find information about it’s special education programme, I had to use a search engine. There wasn’t a search function within their presentation page. I found their page here. What I found was disappointing.
If your child has an IEP from their previous school, their IEP team (which is supposed to include both the student and the parent) will meet to review it. “After enrollment in Connections Academy, the school will hold an Interim IEP meeting to review the student’s previous IEP and determine appropriateness of a parent-led Independent Study placement.”
The team may create a new IEP that is tailored to their learning environment. “The IEP team will develop an IEP appropriate to the Independent Study environment, considering a continuum of special education services. The parent remains the primary implementer of instruction for the child, with the IEP team providing support in the Independent Study setting.”
The team may determine that your disabled child is not eligible or does not require special education services, they may assist you in the development of a 504 plan. “For eligible students with disabilities who do not require special education, California Connections Academy develops (as needed) and implements Section 504 plans that detail appropriate supports.”
There are 5 members of staff listed to support special education. This works out to a director, two assistant directors for high school, and one each for elementary school and middle school. None are listed as having an Education Specialist Teaching Credential.
At the bottom of the page, you find that the majority of support and services are provided by a third-party parter.
So, say you’re a parent of a kid with special needs. You jump online to search for options for your child’s education. The algorithms will direct you to page after page touting the benefits of online learning for disabled children. To be sure, there are a lot of benefits. However, there are two “gotchas” that you have to watch out for, and they’re very subtle.
The first “gotcha” is overtly stated. As noted above, “The parent remains the primary implementer of instruction for the child, with the IEP team providing support in the Independent Study setting.” What about parents who work? Will care providers implement instruction? No, the COVID shutdowns of schools proved that daycare centres and other care situations did not support students’ instruction during their school day.
The second “gotcha” is a particular pet peeve of mine. Of the case studies, none are taken in urban, Title I settings. The needs of students at US Title I schools are well documented. Thus, will Pearson provide English language learners with dedicated support and differentiated instruction to support their language deficits? I didn’t see any credentialed language specialists amongst the teachers. In California, one must pass the California Teachers of English Language (CTEL) exams in order to officially provide this support. Holders of the CTEL additional certification typically get extra pay. The test, which I am currently in the middle of taking, is quite difficult. Thus, holders of the certification often display their CTEL with pride. I didn’t see any of their teachers displaying their CTEL status.
I’m taking the CTEL exams because California doesn’t honour my Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification from the University of Toronto. It’s essentially the same credential. But California is a pain about foreign credentials. I chose the TEFL speciality because for non-verbal populations, the dominant verbal language in their community will always be a foreign language to them, us.
Want a bonus “gotcha?” Did you notice the statement, a parent-led Independent Study placement” above? This k-12 school is independent study. It’s asynchronous learning. It’s so flexible, precisely because you’re interacting on your own with recorded lessons. The few teachers that are on the roster don’t have to worry about large class sizes because they’re supporting students asynchronously, or by appointment. If you’re someone, like me, who benefits from explicit / direct live teaching … you’re out of luck. This isn’t the programme for you.
So why is this a big deal? What’s wrong with competition?
In essence, the educational funds follow a student. In California, schools are paid to educate students based upon their average daily attendance. They get paid for each butt in a seat. At a certain point, there will be too few butts in seats to sustain a local school. I’ve seen this in my district. When neighbourhood schools are forced to close, all sorts of problems occur. The most privileged families and students will easily find a way around the new situation. The most vulnerable will find themselves wasting hours on busses. When the closed school had dedicated special education services, families are left scrambling to find an appropriate replacement as not all public schools have comprehensive services.
There are those in California whose politics drive their desire to see an end to the free public school. I am not one of them. I think a free public education is one of the reasons behind America’s strength as a nation. For low income families with disabled students, the free public school can be a life-line that helps lift them up with a variety of local supports.
So, no, I don’t think a corporate takeover of the public school is a good thing. Parasitic corporations do not have the community’s or the family’s best interests in mind. The primary concern of any corporation is returning profits to it’s shareholders. All other considerations are secondary.