Reader Suggests Giving Special-Ed Teachers a Break

I asked for ideas of what parents would like special-education teachers to know, and one reader submitted a plea for parents to sympathize with those educators instead. Wrote bus.driver: "Parents fail to realize no one would become a special needs teacher unless they truly cared about these children. I believe special needs teachers are the most verbally abused professionals, other than prison guards! Parents need to know most teachers' hands are tied by their corporations policies or instructions. The teacher is the liaison between the two parties and is abused by each side." I've certainly had sympathy for many or most of my kids' special-education teachers, and agree that they're often put in a position where they have to implement policies they neither created nor support. On the other hand, there have been a fair number of news reports lately showing that teachers can dish abuse out as well as take it. What's your experience been with special-ed teachers? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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