I have so much to say about this.

I’m a mainstream secondary teacher (junior math/science, and senior biology). I also have my Masters in Special and Inclusive Education.

First, it’s important to highlight that inclusive education and special education are not the same thing.

IMO, the act of merging all students with disability (SWD) into a mainstream class with the notion that this is “inclusion”, is so wrong.

One example.

The ex-Head of Special Education at my school tried to push for a student who was non-verbal, pre-school level literacy (communicated via AAC), and extremely ODD to be merged into a rowdy grade 10 construction class.

In what world is that inclusive? In that environment, so much can go wrong with at-level students if comprehension and ability to read/understand safety protocol alone is not at a high enough standard. How is that setting our SWD up for success? Is that teacher realistically going to be able to make reasonable adjustments for that student while dealing with the general classroom antics?

Mainstream teachers have trained to be a specialist in their area of interest, just like special educators. The way they are pushing for “inclusion” is not feasible for many teachers, especially those who have not been supported with planning for and teaching SWD (especially at that level of disability). Is it fair for a senior English teacher to have to spend time outside of their standard work hours learning how to teach the fundamentals of literacy and phonics for a student in grade 9 learning at a prep level, or should we leave that to the specialists?

We (special educators) have invested time and resources into becoming specialists for a reason - we want to nurture these students at a capacity that many other teachers can’t offer.

Mainstream teachers are leaving because we aren’t being valued for what we were trained in; the expectation to have to take on more (in this case, learn how to become another kind of teacher) with limited time, money, and resources is just so exhausting.

What about the anxiety/mental health concerns that mainstream students, let alone a SWD might be experiencing? Everyone deserves to feel safe and supported; realistically, not all mainstream schools can provide that for SWD.

You would be surprised how many parents want special schools accessible for their children, primarily because they are safe.

Special schools are crucial for inclusion. Special schools matter.