May 1, 1969
Page 11153
PTA’S HELP SUPPORT SPECIAL EDUCATION
HON. EDMUNDS. MUSKIE OF MAINE IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES Thursday, May 1, 1969
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, in these years of restricted budgets for school operations, it is gratifying to see an example of what can be accomplished by small local groups uniting for a common cause – helping their schools provide the finest education possible for certain children whose needs are only now becoming generally known, the needs of retarded children.
The ninth annual benefit for the special education of moderately retarded children at the Concord, Longview, and Stephen Knolls schools of Montgomery County, Md., was held Saturday, March 15, at the Indian Spring Country Club. This benefit, sponsored by the PTA's of the three schools, has been increasingly successful through the years.
Through their united effort, the three PTA's are achieving more than financially bolstering the schools where educational costs per pupil are already high. They have also kept the community aware of the needs of special education and of what their schools are doing. The entire community becomes aware of the needs of the schools' programs and insures that the PTA's will provide for them.
Most of the moderately retarded children served by these schools need some kind of supervision for the rest of their lives, and only in exceptional cases do they become self-supporting. A few short years ago these children would have found their futures restricted to institutions. Today, however, through proper training in health, self-care, reading, home arts, industrial arts, and other practical ideas, the schools prepare these pupils to contribute as useful members of society.