We've been learning about special education in one of my classes and I have mixed feelings on the subject. I was talking to my dad, who is legally blind, about it the other weekend. He said it really frustrates him how his tax money goes towards helping some of these kids that are definately not going anywhere. And by this I mean the ones that need 24/7 medical attention and really can't learn much at all. I know there are many different types of disabilities serviced by special ed, but my dad said from his pov, he really thought that more of that money should be used for students who had a lot of potential.

I know it gets complicated, because it's not like you want to give up on students. But I am concerned that average to above average students will get left behind because so much attention is devoted to the special ed children. I was in an inclusion classroom in 5th grade and I remember kids crying ALL the time and the teacher had different colors used for the different groups of kids' assignments and I could never understand why my work was so much harder than theirs.

Do we have proponents of putting more into gifted/average than special ed? Or is that too taboo...I mean I know and completely understand all children need to have equal access. Any practical classroom experience with this?