special ed

“You’re in high school. You go to prom, and a lot of times the special ed department will make these fun opportunities for you. And then you graduate and slowly services and programs just start cutting away,” Watkins said.

The school system sent me to special ed, to expulsion, to an alternative school.

Or, said the 63-year-old special ed teacher from Pulaski, Tenn., it’s like whack-a-mole: “Which thing is going to pop up that day?”

But, she added, “we’re going to keep losing teachers and staff like special ed aides, custodians and others if we don’t pay better. This is in the best interests of our children.”

That was the case with capital budgets, that was the case with special ed — it was never amply funded, even after the court relinquished the case.