Book Description

On this journey with my daughter being an emotionally impaired student in a special education classroom, I found much discrimination when she reached the age of twelve when it started becoming apparent to me. It seemed she was rejected by her peers who made fun of her disability and learning ability but it did not help much when she was being called LD or the "504 kid" and other names associated with her disability. Kids can be so cruel to one another without understanding the depth of the pain they inflict. This conduct started in her second year in junior high and lasted through her high school years. Mr. Knight, principal of Munger Junior High School stated that he had seen a significant and rapid change in my daughter's behavior since last year. It is sad that a principal can point out that my daughter was going downhill and did nothing to fix it until I started writing letters and she was sent to another school, it was as simple as a telephone call. At that time, Mr. Knight stated there was no money in the school district budget to have my daughter moved. The downfall in an EI Special Education Classroom is that everyone has ADHD which was the biggest of my daughter's problems, those boys who was really rough. They were in trouble especially when they had nothing to do but play games for the entire day every single day. They didn't have a teacher but they did have a "babysitter" in the classroom that was hired from the Kronk's Boxing Gym. This man had no teaching skills. I told Mr. Knight I was very disappointed with what was going on in Jemeica's class. I asked him if Mr. Ronald was a certified teacher. He replied no and stated they would be hiring a certified teacher soon. I then asked Mr. Knight where were the books and other learning resources in the classroom that was supposed to be the main teaching tools needed. I asked how was it possible for my daughter to learn anything without a teacher or any other resources the classroom needed including books-not one book in the classroom. There was one black male student who checked in each morning but saddened by the fact he was not learning anything so he just walked out of school each day. I would see him leave the school myself and no one seemed to care. The Dearborn Heights-Westwood school district could not find an EI Classroom for my daughter to attend Emotional Impaired Classroom. This left her at home learning nothing for far too many days leading to months. I was sending my daughter to school for an education and that is something she never received-whether it was discrimination of her disability or her race. Not when her psychiatrist gave the names of three schools she could attend and yet she could not find a school for her to attend.