Skepticism from another parent

A wedding photographer named Jill from Fresno, California has her own blog. Based upon browsing around the site, it primarily revolves around her business and her family. This includes her son who has Down Syndrome. She recently wrote a very passionate post about Sarah Palin's proposal for special education funding. Jill reminds us that it is not just that funding is needed for special education services:

"As [Palin] rightly said 'For many parents of children with disabilities, the most valuable thing of all is information.' What she totally glossed over, though, is that the information comes through sources her ticket is NOT endorsing: guaranteed medical coverage for all children. Where does most of our early information about our children and their ‘condition’ come from? Our doctors. Doctors our children won’t see without insurance. Therapists that our children won’t see without coverage. Visiting nurses that will no longer ‘visit’ us because our child isn’t able to get insurance (’pre-existing’ and ‘congenital’ often are treated the same by insurance companies). "

When one looks at education policy, not enough people look at the entire spectrum of issues that effects the schools and their students. It isn't just curriculum, or school funding, or teacher pay, or other things specifically related to education. It is also poverty, and social services, and yes, HEALTH CARE. The post concludes with something that anyone who cares about education (liberal or conservative) should remember:

"We want [children] educated, yes - but HEALTHY children learn better than UNhealthy children. It has to be from the bottom up - healthy children learn better. You can’t go ‘top-down’ — you can’t ‘teach a child healthy.’"

It is a great post and I encourage everyone to read it. While your at it, check out the rest of the website, including some of her photographs.