Some of you know that I adopted my son when he was nine. He was a foster child with me for a year.

That first year as a ward of the state he had to attend a school selected by the state. He was in a special ed program in a "normal" school. This meant first that he could never be accepted by the "normal" kids although his learning delays were mostly emotionally based. It also meant that his gym class consisted of throwing a basketball against a classroom wall - they didn't let the "retards" mix with the "normal" students in gym - too dangerous.
The worst of it was that they had no suitable class for him and he ended up in a room of 7 students all severely autistic. He had been abused (too long and too horrible to recount) in foster care for years so when an autistic child became upset and had to be physically restrained for his own protection, my son saw abuse and was terrified. I fought to have him put into a Special Ed school where he would have a more appropriate placement and safer environment but was threatened with losing him - adoption is an ugly business in NYC.

The day his adoption was finalized I removed him from that school and put him in the Summit program at my own expense. It cost as much as college at the time. Fortunately, I made very good money at the time and adoption was subsidized despite my refusing the money. another weird story. He tested at a pre-kindergarten level in September and at a 4th grade level in November. He went from being unable to count to 20 or recite the alphabet to doing simple algebra and reading.

Two key factors were in place - first he was safe and loved; second, he was in a learning environment where he was told he was smart and bright - that had never happened before. He thrived. And when he failed at a subject we found ways to help him learn while making him realize that this did not make him a bad os stupid person. His strong points were encouraged; hisweaknesses dealt with without obsessing on them.

My son was not a candidate for home school. He needed constant social interaction, constant physical activity, and to be independent in a secure environment.The public school teachers, as far as I could see, were either burned out or too disinterested to care. One told me (I had called at about 3:30 to discuss an incident on the bus) "My day ends at 3PM" Contrast that to the Summit School teachers who called me regularly over school vacations and the summer to see if he was staying on track.

My point? There are first rate schools with first rate teachers who provide an exciting, interesting learning environment in a school setting. There are also the dregs. Parental involvemnet is the key. A recent documentary on PBS followed the placement of a new principal in a failing school. It took a few years, but with the same student and parent group in a poor neighborhood, she managed to turn around the entire atmosphere and results in the school. It was fascinating. She involved the parents, even went door to door introducing herself to each of them. A special lady and ome very lucky children.

Watching her interact with her charges was fascinating especially when she was dealing with problems.

By the way, after years of lawsuits I won my case and my son's education was paid at Summit by the state.