Aubree N.

Bizzell
1915 S Fairgrounds Rd
Stillwater, OK 74074

March 6, 2024

Ryan Walters
State Superintendent
Oklahoma Department of Education
2500 N. Lincoln Blvd., Room 412
Oklahoma City, OK

Dear Superintendent Ryan Walters,

I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Aubree Bizzell, I am a senior at Stillwater High
School. I am writing on behalf of my high school's special education (S.P.E.D) program
regarding a lack of budget and curriculum. I have been an active Peer Advocate in my school
system since sixth grade and have growing concerns for the education of S.P.E.D. students.
Currently There are not enough resources allocated to the S.P.E.D. program on all fronts. The
students need more teachers and a broader, more engaging curriculum. At the core of it all, what
is needed is more options, or money, made available for S.P.E.D. teachers. This is a common
theme in education right now, i.e., a vast need for more resources but not enough to go around.
Because of this, I do believe S.P.E.D. education gets pushed to the side.

Having been an peer advocate in S.P.E.D. for seven years, I have seen the various methods used
to educate these kids. From junior high to high school, I have seen the curriculum become
stagnant, and S.P.E.D. students hit a wall where the work they are doing is not developing or
covering different subjects. As with any student, especially S.P.E.D., keeping their attention on
a subject they have continuously repeated is difficult. In kids without a disability, this method of
teaching (building on topics previously learned) might work well, but with S.P.E.D. students,
there is a limit to how much information can build on itself. Instead of pushing a simplified
version of the general curriculum that becomes redundant, S.P.E.D. should aim to focus more on
life skills and teaching these individuals how to live after leaving public schooling. To this point,
a statistic shared in “Teacher Perceptions on What a Functional Curriculum Should Be for
Children with Special Needs” states, “ As for the question on topics not covered in the school
curriculum but considered important, 66% mentioned work attitudes and skills. Problem-solving
skills for independent living were considered important by nearly half of the teachers (49%)
(Ee).” These topics are only covered briefly, if at all, and the equipment and resources needed to
delve into them can not be supplied by teachers on their own and certainly aren’t being supplied
by the school. This then leaves teachers with few options and forces them to creatively
supplement S.P.E.D. education on their own.

The only real option given to Stillwater Schools S.P.E.D. students to learn these skills in a well-
supplied environment is the Pathfinders program. This is an amazing program, and what the
standard for educating S.P.E.D. students should be. The major downside to the Pathfinders
program is that it is only offered after graduation. This means students who aren’t able to
graduate due to their academics or don’t have the option to continue schooling after graduation
never get access to this form of learning. Every S.P.E.D. teacher I have talked to about
implementing more of this format of learning shows tremendous interest in being able to do
hands-on learning in life skills and being a part of a community. When asked the question “What
they [educators] thought the biggest pitfalls in the S.P.E.D. program were,” one Stillwater high
school S.P.E.D. teacher answered, “ The only real struggle that we have at times is funding to
teach Life Skills. We would like to be able to teach them how to cook and meal prep, even if it is
just on an electric skillet, crockpot, air fryer, etc... and food is very expensive to provide for them
on our teacher's wages. Also, we would like to be able to take the kids into the community and
show them how to use the bus transportation system, since most of these students will never
drive on their own (Schow).” I think this is a common view among S.P.E.D. teachers and goes
to show how imperative it is that S.P.E.D. education be more differentiated from traditional
learning.

Another major issue I see is a lack of teachers, and the few that we have are not being treated as
well as they should. When it comes to special education, the amount of care and attention will
fluctuate based on the severity of the student’s disability. When one or two highly dependent
students are in a class with five other students, all with varying levels of functioning, and only
one qualified teacher, there is no way all of the students will get the focus they need. This is an
issue I have seen in every S.P.E.D. class I have been in, and it only seemed to get worse as the
students aged. On multiple occasions, classes are left to only a teacher assistant (TA) when an
emergency arises with one student or when one of the lower-functioning students has an
overwhelming emotion and lashes out or runs away. The teacher I have worked the longest with,
Shannon Coke, manages a class of five to eight students at any given time and thinks that
without the support of her TA and Peer Advocate students, it would be impossible to manage all
the S.P.E.D. students and teach them meaningful lessons (Coke). If a teacher has to choose
between the comfort and safety of their students and continuing a lesson, of course, they will
choose the students' safety. If this becomes a recurring dilemma, eventually all the students'
learning will suffer, but what can the educator do but keep making the same choice in these
circumstances?

I thank you for your time and consideration. I hope the information I shared today has impacted
you, and I extend the offer to continue this conversation. Please feel free to reach out to me via
phone or email. I understand your schedule is demanding, and I sincerely appreciate the time you
have dedicated to reading this letter. I know all areas of education right now face similar issues,
but I hope I have shown the need to prioritize improving the education of S.P.E.D. students to
you. This might be the only time in some of these students life where they will receive education
and assistance, and their education should be the best we can give them. More resources and a
change in the curriculum would greatly improve these students' lives in the short and long term.

Sincerely, thank you again,

Aubree Bizzell
 Work Cited

Coke, Shannon. Personal interview. 23 Feb 2024.

This interview was done in conjunction with Yvonne Schow and done over email and in person.
It was a few simple questions like “What do you think the biggest pitfalls in the program were”,
and “If you had the means how would you improve your classes?” I have known Ms. Coke for
many years and view her opinion on S.P.E.D education as reliable. She has taught in middle
school, junior high, and high school and has successfully managed a wide variety of class sizes
and students. As she is a teacher her opinion will be biased towards improving her class, but I
don’t see this as a negative.

Ee, J., & Soh, K. (2005). Teacher perceptions on what a functional curriculum should be for
children with special needs. International Journal of Special Education, 20(2), 6-18.
Retrieved from http://argo.library.okstate.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/
scholarly-journals/teacher-perceptions-on-what-functional-curriculum/docview/
61866329/se-2

The article explores teacher viewpoints on a functional curriculum for children with special
needs in schools. Teachers highlight the importance of independent living, consumer/work skills,
and moral values. The studies included show proof of the need for applicable life skills in special
needs individuals. the study comes from Nanyang Technological University, the 3rd ranked
college in Asia and 26th worldwide. The journal has been available for 19 years. It is purely
academic and shows no discernible bias. It was funded by Nanyang Technological University
and published in The International Journal of Special Education. It is not the most recent article,
but it is highly peer-reviewed and published by a reputable source. This journal shows no
indication of being unreliable and is a beneficial piece of evidence for my paper.

Schow, Yvonne. Personal interview. 23 Feb 2024.

This interview was done in conjunction with Shannon Coke and done over email and in person.
It was a few simple questions like “What do you think the biggest pitfalls in the program were”,
and “If you had the means how would you improve your classes?” I have been a Peer Advocate
for Ms. Schow for one semester, so I don’t know her teaching style as well as Ms.Coke. From
what I have seen, she is a dedicated teacher and a role model to her students as she is deaf and
continues to be an engaging educator. I view her opinion on this matter as a great resource.