"Kids whose parents have the resources to fight for services will probably get them eventually, but kids whose parents don't have the resources to advocate for them slip through the cracks. There have been a couple of occasions where a kid with severe behavioral issues didn't get any help until something catastrophic happened, and the administration couldn't ignore it anymore."
"I've seen Jake punching and biting his mother at school drop-off, so I don't think that my daughter is exaggerating the things that she tells me about him. He kicks and hits the other kids, and he hit the teacher hard enough that she needed to go to the school nurse. He throws toys and tears up the other kids' papers."
A small-town school board prioritizes cost-cutting over student supports. Children whose parents lack resources to advocate for services often slip through the cracks. Several incidents of untreated severe behavioral needs escalated to crisis: a first grader broke a teacher's nose and a kindergarten class required evacuation with police called. A kindergarten student named Jake displays repeated violent behaviors at drop-off and in class—punching and biting his mother, kicking and hitting peers, injuring a teacher, throwing toys, tearing papers, and running into the street—causing classmates to fear attending. Teacher communication with Jake's family occurs via Google Translate.
Read at Slate Magazine
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