The Universal
Education Committee works closely with Everyone Together.
"It is the
position of Everyone Together that exclusion, separation and
segregation based on disability is unacceptable. This pattern
of exclusion begins within the natural social communities of our
youngest children; that is, within our school systems. For the
sake of building social communities and a culture that values and
embraces all differences, including disability, this pattern of
exclusion must be clearly identified as detrimental and divisive.
It must be stopped. Our society does not accept "separate but
equal" as a justification for segregation based on race, ethnicity,
religion, gender, sexual preference or any other human condition.
It is equally unacceptable and in fact intolerable to continue to
accept, condone, and support "separate but equal" as a justification
for separating children and people with disabilities from their
communities.
Therefore,
Everyone Together and its member networks hold the following truths
to be self-evident:
1. That
Universal Education, where the natural settings of childhood are
utilized to educate all of our children, all together, all the time,
is a worthy goal.
2. That our
public education system must begin to address how to recreate itself
to support Universal Education.
3. That
educational segregation based on disability is inherently and
morally wrong.
4. That the
right of children with disabilities to be included in their natural
educational settings is an issue of civil rights, not merely
disability.
5. That all
children belong in all schools with the same-age peers: no child
should have to "earn" the right to belong. (Kunc 1992)
6. That all
children can and do learn.
7. That all
children learn differently and need different supports to succeed.
8. That
Universal Education benefits all community members."
For more
information on Universal Education and Everyone Together, please
visit
www.everyonetogether.org
WCET (Wayne County Everyone Together) meetings
are scheduled to be held on the first
Monday of every month from
6 p.m. – 8 p.m. They are usually held at the Arc in Redford located at
26049 5 Mile Rd., Redford, MI 48239. For more information, please email
them at
wceveryonetogether@yahoo.com
.