Letter: District must follow special education rules

Sunday, Feb. 6, 2000 | 9:25 a.m.

The simple truth of the matter is that the school district has never come close to following the class and caseload size that is stipulated in the Nevada Administrative Code (NAC). For all of the protestations by the school district administrators about how hard it is going to be on everyone, teachers in the special education classrooms realize that it will be business as usual. The district will continue to ignore the revised NAC and the students will still be loaded into classes where there is no hope of them getting the help they so desperately need.

It is well past time for the lies to stop. It is well past time for the false platitudes to stop. It is well past time for the Legislature to put its money where it says its concerns are. If Gov. Kenny Guinn had the heart he claims, he would include full funding for special education in his budget as a separate line item, not as part of the general fund.

If you need more special education teachers, a high commodity across the nation, then offer them incentive bonuses to come here and teach. Make the conditions for these teachers worth staying for or stop the false whining.

Let us see if the governor and the Legislature have what it takes to fully finance special education. The governor should work with Chris Giunchigliani, a longtime legislator and power in the Assembly who is also a special education teacher, to find a solution to fully fund all special education programs in Nevada. Then the school district would be left without an excuse to not properly staff and fund the needs of these students, who need extra help as a result of their disabilities.

GLENN WRIGHT

Juvenile Court schoolteacher