BCIFV home > Media Releases > May 8, 2002

For Immediate Release: May 8, 2002
Contact: Penny Bain, phone: 604-669-7055 or 1 877-755-7055 or
pbain@bcifv.org or www.bcifv.org

Media Release:
Planned VSB Cutbacks to Special Needs Kids Will Make Segregation Inevitable
That is a form of emotional abuse, says IFV Director

The Human Resources Department of the Vancouver School Board last week released a document noting that maximum class sizes for 2002/03 have been increased to 34 children, with no reductions for children with special needs. In addition, funding for District Resource Teachers, who act as gatekeepers for all special needs children to the education system, have been eliminated.

"It is not hard to predict the way this will play out," says Penny Bain, Executive Director of the BC Institute Against Family Violence. "Teachers will be overwhelmed by the needs of special needs children and unable to meet the needs of the other children in the class. Parents will be up in arms about the quality of their children's education - and special needs children will take the brunt by being segregated in separate classrooms."

"Segregation of special needs children is an important aspect of the emotional abuse of these children that our society tolerates," she says. This was dealt with in a video and workshop called The Person Within, produced by the IFV in 1999 and still available. "The usual rationale for such actions is that special needs children can be better educated in specialized classrooms," says Bain. "But research and experience have repeatedly shown that all children are most likely to fulfill their potential when their developmental needs are met."

"A key point of The Person Within is that special needs children have the same needs as typical children to socialize with kids their own age and be challenged by their environment to rise to the limits of their abilities. This happens best when at least part of their daily education takes place in mainstream classrooms." Without a doubt, says Bain, the real reason for such changes is money. "But if our public education system is only intended to meet the needs of "typical" children, then it is not really a public education system at all," she says.

"And it is not only special needs children who lose out in this scenario. In this complicated world of ours, it is simply not enough to teach our children the 3Rs and pretend that's enough. If we do not teach them, by our example and with daily practice, to develop patience and value diversity, then we have failed them." "If the VSB follows through with these plans, they are setting a truly poor example for our children," says Bain. "We can only hope that other school districts have the courage, integrity, creativity, and vision not to follow suit."

For more information, contact Penny Bain, Executive Director of the BC Institute Against Family Violence at 669-7055 or
1 877-755-7055, pbain@bcifv.org or www.bcifv.org.

- 30 -