Republican Sen. Kapenga against "full inclusion," says Special Needs Kids should be in a separate schools...unless you've got a better idea he doesn't have time for now...

Take the issue of “full inclusion” of special needs kids in our classrooms. The research is in?:

“I have had teachers and parents come to me who have concerns that they consistently have,” Kapenga said. “I have had one teacher who’s said, ‘A few times a week, I have to actually remove my kids from the classroom because this child continues to be disruptive in the classroom.’

He might claim otherwise, but…

In an hour-long town hall meeting attended by dozens of people May 22, state Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) attempted to clarify comments attributed to him about special education students that caused an uproar on social media … people on Facebook claimed he had said (It is uncertain where the posts originated, made at a Wisconsin Association of School Boards meeting in Madison this spring): 

“They don’t deserve to be in the classroom. They take away from the learning of other students. It might make them feel good to be in the classroom, but it shouldn’t happen. They belong in separate schools.”-Kapenga 

Kapenga thought this would clarify what he meant?

But Kapenga told the standing-room only crowd on Wednesday the quote twisted his words, making his comments sound “absolutely horrible.”

They were of course. And then he said it again, essentially confirming the Facebook quote. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up:

Kapenga also said that some people favor full inclusion, while others want the old system of separate schools set up for special needs children. Kapenga said the “far left spectrum of full inclusion” is not working, which drew chuckles of disbelief from some in the crowd.

“So let’s start talking about solutions — and I’m open to doing that — but not if people are going to twist my words into something that’s not,” Kapenga said.

Hartland-Lakeside School Board members Val Wisniewski and Tom Harter encouraged Kapenga to visit the district … before the end of the school year, Kapenga demurred, saying he could not commit because of his busy schedule, but offered to visit before the start of the next school year.

The exchange led some audience members to ask Kapenga to clarify his position on including special education students in mainstream classrooms, but Kapenga declined to do so, saying he had already stated his position earlier in the evening. He then abruptly ended the meeting, as it was over the hour-long allotted time that had been set.

A former liberal radio talk host who likes to ask the “follow-up question” at Democurmudgeon.blogspot.com