The law of unintended consequences
Jan. 5th, 2011 10:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pktechgirlbackupCase worker offices were faced with a population that frequently missed appointments, so they switched to a queue system. Buildings the case workers worked in were faced with bathrooms that were abused past the point of usability, or just didn't want to bother refilling the toilet paper, so they closed them. Either of these on their own are almost justifiable, but together are horrific.
The lower class elementary school outlined in Unequal Childhood wanted to make sure a teacher explored all the in-classroom options before offering a kid special services, so they require a formal recommendation, followed by a formal plan to try something. If that doesn't work, they have to implement a new plan. Only if that fails can they test the kid to see what services she might need. Again, you can sort of see why they did this- you don't want teachers just giving up the first time a kid doesn't get something. But each plan must be tried for 60 days, which seems low until you realize they mean school days, not calendar days, and the school year only has 180 days. And testing and developing a plan based on that test takes time. And their procedure for continuity between school years is less than ironclad. So they've essentially ensured that you only get services if you're unbelievably disabled, or you have an advocate with the knowledge and resources to work the system. I'd love to hear what percentage of those in-class plans genuinely fix the problem.
It's not just the poor school though. A black parent at the middle/upper class school heard her kids complaining the bus driver was racist. Not wanting teach her kids that every bad thing that happened to them was racially motivated, and not wanting to get a reputation at the school as someone who did such, she waited until she'd amassed a lot of evidence. This takes a while when the discrimination is subtle. When she went to the principal, the first thing he said was "I wish you'd come to us earlier, we could have put a camera on the bus." Because all the reports she'd collected from the kids (not just hers)? Worthless. So this guy gets another year of literally pushing black kids to the back of the bus.
There's a common thread here that I almost but don't quite have. I think it's that we make these things so difficult and time consuming because we're afraid of frivolous accusations/referrals. But we didn't make the social cost of making these accusations any less. And authority types generally won't accept evidence gathered outside the Process*. If there was a step between "ignore" and "report for child molestation, triggering a life breaking investigation", we'd catch more child molesters.
*Although those of us with lawyers in our social network learn how to collect data that stands a much better chance of being accepted.
The lower class elementary school outlined in Unequal Childhood wanted to make sure a teacher explored all the in-classroom options before offering a kid special services, so they require a formal recommendation, followed by a formal plan to try something. If that doesn't work, they have to implement a new plan. Only if that fails can they test the kid to see what services she might need. Again, you can sort of see why they did this- you don't want teachers just giving up the first time a kid doesn't get something. But each plan must be tried for 60 days, which seems low until you realize they mean school days, not calendar days, and the school year only has 180 days. And testing and developing a plan based on that test takes time. And their procedure for continuity between school years is less than ironclad. So they've essentially ensured that you only get services if you're unbelievably disabled, or you have an advocate with the knowledge and resources to work the system. I'd love to hear what percentage of those in-class plans genuinely fix the problem.
It's not just the poor school though. A black parent at the middle/upper class school heard her kids complaining the bus driver was racist. Not wanting teach her kids that every bad thing that happened to them was racially motivated, and not wanting to get a reputation at the school as someone who did such, she waited until she'd amassed a lot of evidence. This takes a while when the discrimination is subtle. When she went to the principal, the first thing he said was "I wish you'd come to us earlier, we could have put a camera on the bus." Because all the reports she'd collected from the kids (not just hers)? Worthless. So this guy gets another year of literally pushing black kids to the back of the bus.
There's a common thread here that I almost but don't quite have. I think it's that we make these things so difficult and time consuming because we're afraid of frivolous accusations/referrals. But we didn't make the social cost of making these accusations any less. And authority types generally won't accept evidence gathered outside the Process*. If there was a step between "ignore" and "report for child molestation, triggering a life breaking investigation", we'd catch more child molesters.
*Although those of us with lawyers in our social network learn how to collect data that stands a much better chance of being accepted.
