The Incredible Bending School

Abstract

This chapter outlines the various special education and non-academic services elementary schools provide and explores how this role has slowly expanded over time. The modern school is a restaurant feeding people two meals a day, a day care center providing “aftercare” services, a recreation center providing sports leagues and clubs, a counseling center dealing with children’s emotional problems, a medical clinic, and a special education center that diagnoses learning disabilities and provides specialized instruction. When schools overextend themselves the way they currently do, the price is declining student learning, stressed out teachers, and a passive dependency on the part of children, parents, and the public at large. Americans expect far too much from the public schools and expect more and more with each passing year. When they do not get the results they want, they become frustrated and blame the schools, never asking the important questions: Are schools the best vehicles to provide the many services asked of them? Has the public created an impossible series of tasks for schools to perform? And are there things asked of schools which should be done by parents, families, and other social service agencies?