U of Delaware student - New Orleans teachers have no resources for special needs students

[visual description: A young African American girl peeks out of the glass doors of a yellow school bus while perched on the steps of the bus.}

Students recently went down to the post-Katrina area in the Recovery District to offer hands on help to educators during their Winter session service learning sojourn.

"The UD groups were associated with the John McDonogh Senior High School in the Recovery School District.

The high school needed volunteer help in a variety of areas, Alvarez said. There were no records or transcripts. Students were self-placed in the classroom. Another issue involved student ablilties in reading and writing, with some students unable to read or write a complete sentence. “The teachers were on their own,” she said. “There were no resources for special needs or special education students.”

I found this information on the U of Delaware website in an article about the students' service learning experiences.

However, the impact of Katrina on education needs to be brought into focus so that even more citizens (and educators )around the country can assist recovery efforts. Children who fall through the gaps leaving them unable to read and write will feel the impact of Katrina in ways that can be avoided by action now.