Systemic Change: South Sound Legislative Session

Tonight, the South Sound Legislative Forum was held at The Olympia Center. The forum was organized and hosted by the Developmental Disabilities Coalition (Thurston County) and The Arc of Washington. It was an amazing experience, hearing from self-advocates and policy champions. I am especially grateful to those who spoke, and to the community and legislators who listened and supported.

A leader in the disability community, a kind, compassionate warrior for change, a woman I admire and respect, encouraged me to speak. I chose to speak on meaningful inclusion, and the need for paraeducator, teacher, and school leader training. Here is my speech:

Good evening, distinguished representatives. My name is Shannon Sankstone, and I am a non-attorney special education advocate. I am a certified teacher and principal, with 14 years experience teaching in public middle schools, and a passionate proponent of inclusive education. As a teacher, I wrote individualized educational programs (IEPs), as a parent and foster parent, I learned the importance of highly qualified paraeducators in providing a free, appropriate public education, and now, as a family advocate, I see the challenges Thurston and Mason county families suffer through due  to the shortage of trained paraeducators.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, is the federal law that mandates special education. Washington Administrative Code 392-172A details how IDEA is implemented in our great state. Both clearly require children with disabilities to be educated, to the greatest extent possible, with their non-disabled peers. IDEA and the Washington Administrative Code set the imperative: Special education is a service, not a place such as a segregated “special education” classroom. The student’s individualized educational program, their IEP or 504 Plan, details the support that is needed to include the child in the general education classroom. 

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, OSPI, supports inclusion, and has a wonderful program called the Inclusionary Practices Technical Assistance Network. I am grateful for this initiative. But we need to do better. The Association of Educational Service Districts reported Washington ranked 44 out of 50 states in inclusionary practice. In 2022, only 64% of students with disabilities benefited from learning with their non-disabled peers.

Washington is moving away from segregated special education classrooms to inclusion in the general education setting. However, as an educator, I have witnessed the ugly side of inclusion: Segregation within the general education classroom. Teachers working in silos, paraeducators resentful and disrespected, special education teachers sitting in the corner of the room, unsure of how to proceed in another teacher’s territory. Students marginalized to learning in special education clusters, often at the back of the room or in a corner. Parents, angry and frustrated because their child - whether special needs or typically developing - are not learning compassion and academics at grade level. This is inclusion without training… which is inclusion without meaning. 

This is the challenge that I ask our great state to address: Meaningful inclusion that is a result of all professionals learning how to co-teach. The co-teaching model stresses shared responsibilities, dynamic teacher and paraeducator roles, and improves learning for all children through centering instruction on the unique needs of diverse learners. 

I have experienced meaningful inclusion. As the general education co-leader of a professional learning committee focused on co-teaching, the most rewarding years of my teaching career involved working in unison with two well-trained, dynamic paraeducators and a charismatic special education teacher. As a team, we taught a middle school science class that was a model of high-quality instruction for all students. We valued diversity, and that respect and understanding resulted in students’ academic and social emotional growth.

Facilitating student growth is amazing, and it doesn’t just happen. Student growth is predicated upon educator growth.  It requires specialized professional development and training for school leaders, general education teachers, special education teachers and paraeducators. A special education boot camp has the power to uplift our classrooms and our schools. We can create a state education system that leads the nation in holistic, humanistic education and inspires the next generation to be compassionate, civically engaged leaders who value every voice. 

I urge you to return funding for professional development for educators - especially paraeducators - so that the great state of Washington is at the forefront of inclusion and a model of educational excellence.