Local mom wants teachers to hold out on class size composition demands

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – With the first scheduled day of school just one week away, should striking teachers start to ease off on their demands in order to get a deal done?

One local mother says educators should not back down, especially when it comes to classroom composition.

Although Jen Buckingham wants her two kids to go back to school on Tuesday, she says changes in classes need to be made immediately.

The single mom says her 12-year-old daughter Dorothy has emotional and intellectual delays, as well as Autism.

“Dorothy tends to take up more of the teacher’s time,” she explains. “So I would like to see children like her, as sad as it is to say, minimized in the classroom environment, so everybody gets the support they need — not just she herself.”

Buckingham says classes should have fewer children with special needs in them.

“Not just so my child can get the attention that she needs in a one-to-one level and get that extra support academically, but for the ‘neuro-typical children’ to access that support as well.”

Ultimately, Buckingham feels the decision on classroom composition should be left up to teachers and not the government. She says they spend the majority of the day with the kids, so they are aware if their needs.

Buckingham says the current system creates an unfair situation because a teacher’s attention can be monopolized by one or two students.

“I realize that the way things are set up is not working for my eldest daughter without putting greater stress and burdens on the teachers that she needs to work with. She tends to be a little bit of a challenge for behaviors, as well as attention for the adults around — especially when she is dealing with an environment that can be crowded and noisy.”

Buckingham says everyone would benefit from the change: kids with and without special needs as well as teachers.