Civil Rights.

Sure seems like schools want to keep the football team up-to-date with good equipment and dang straight they don't stop transporting the players to games. Gotta spend that money even if the economy is tanked. But disabled kids? Well, they don't perk up the "image" of the school, they rarely if ever go do anything noteworthy in life and really, it's just cheaper to lock them in a closet when they misbehave. I mean, who cares.

Those people don't really matter. Look at it this way: what choices do parents of severely disabled kids have? It's not like they're going anywhere else, and if they do, well, yay! Less money we have to spend. I mean, unless parents are rich and can afford an excellent private school that deals with the child's disability, they have to put up with what they can get from the school or give homeschooling a shot. And depending on the disability and the number of other kids at home, that's somewhere between difficult and impossible.

Yeah. I know I've said every parent can homeschool. And it's true. But get yourself oh, several different special needs all going on at once and honestly? You cannot homeschool *well.* You just can't. Sorry to bust that myth.

So, anyway. Captive audience there. Disabled kids are mostly stuck with whatever the school feeeels like doing. And if you try to sue 'em? Oh, you have to exhaust all "administrative remedies" before you can sue a district.

Translation: you have to beg these people. Document. Call lawyers. Spend YEARS allowing your child to be abused. And hope to hell you win. Otherwise? Nothing. Basically, your kid is nothing but a pawn in the game between parents and districts.

I know one mom who sued b/c her child was placed in the wrong program. He's autistic and they wanted to send him to a "behaviour" program. Um, exactly what the same district tried to pull with Elf. AT THE SAME TIME, we were both going through our own personal hells on the opposite ends of the same town. I guess it's cheaper just to lock the kid in the closet and nevermind a new program, even if more than one child would attend. This child is the same age as Elf. They might just be going to school together next year. I mean, the parallels are incredible.

His mom sued... and it took years... but they finally won, plus lawyer fees. Doesn't stop the district from pulling the same crap with the next parent. And the next parent. Not every mom has tens of thousands of dollars to spend on "free" education like this family. This child had to go to school for YEARS while all this was going on.

I couldn't do it. I just pulled my kid and homeschooled him. Maybe that is what they wanted. But it was all about what was best for Elf. Well... what was best for Elf THAT I COULD AFFORD.

And I look at stories like this and go, what on earth are we going to be saying about stuff like this 40 years from now. Really. What are we going to say?