Expelling Ableism from Public Education

(See what I did there?). Prioritizing equity and accessibility.

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“There are no programs or initiatives capable of helping us fix conditions we are unwilling to name honestly and confront directly.“ — Gorski & Swalwell

We cannot fix problems we deny exist

Too often I hear from school officials that a particular case of ableism (or lacking accommodations) is a unique case, not something they’ve encountered before.

That’s untrue, but we can’t prove it, because families are kept partitioned in the system. I understand there is an obligation and necessity to protect the privacy of students and families.

There needs to be more transparency about what types of complaints or issues are brought to school administration and how they are dealt with. School boards could easily provide relevant data without attaching names.

Instead of protecting students from the harm of ableism and inadequate accommodations, school officials often begin on the defensive, protecting their own staff and policies over and above the needs of their students.

I don’t think they do this intentionally, nor do I think they do this because they’re “bad” people. They’re (mostly) good people working within a terrible system which does very little to support them in the pursuit of equity.

As I’ve written previously, the accountability has to go all the way up the chain: To the senior administration, school boards, and ultimately the politicians responsible for overseeing public education.

That said, sometimes school officials use our broken, under-funded, and under-resourced system as an excuse to do little or nothing. Yes, the fact remains that public education needs a complete overhaul. That does not mean we throw up our hands and give up, refusing to do anything at all.

The adults who work within these systems must to advocate for those most marginalized, oppressed, and harmed by those very systems. If we don’t, who the hell will?

When those of us in positions to make change drag our heels with regard to advocating for and effecting change, what we’re doing is passing the burden onto children and their families.