By The Times/Ledger
There is a difference between being mentally disabled and being plain old ignorant. The five adults hoping to move into a group home in Bayside have a mental disability; they are coping with mild to moderate metal retardation. The people who came to a Community Board 11 meeting with the hope of barring the door to these disabled adults are ignorant.
One neighbor of the proposed group home protested, “I just moved in. I have small children.” Perhaps he should be more afraid of the local bigots. There is, of course, nothing to justify his fear. In fact, his children might benefit from the experience of living near five courageous adults who, despite overwhelming odds, are struggling to live a meaningful life with a measure of independence. By embracing these people as neighbors, this family could also learn a lesson in compassion.
As has become its practice, the community board hid behind the skirts of the Padavan Law, which allows community boards to reject a group home if it can establish that the area is “saturated” by such facilities. The board argues that since the word “saturation” is not defined, it is impossible to apply the law. They are correct to the extent that this law is poorly written and in need of revision. But they have a moral obligation to stand up for the rights of the disabled to live in the Bayside community. The board must take a stronger stand against intolerance.
A representative from the Professional Service Center for the Handicapped (PSCH) patiently tried to answer the questions about the home. As she has done many times before, she explained that group homes do not necessarily cause property values to decline. She's right. This comes up every time group homes are discussed and yet no one can show proof that such homes lower property values. But what if they did? Could that possibly outweigh the right of five disabled adults to live a normal life?
By now we should be used to such public displays of intolerance. Still we long for the day when the welcome wagon rolls out for all people in Queens regardless of race, religion or disability.
Parent/Teacher night
A parent relates the following experience with his child's fifth-grade teacher. It was Parent/Teacher Night and he was parent No. 25 on a longer list. He sat down and the pleasant teacher pulled out a pile of relevant papers. Most of the test scores were high, but there was one failed quiz and two missing homeworks.
The dad thanked the teacher for her time and effort and then went home to find out about the quiz and missing work. As he looked at the growing disappointment on his child's face, he realized he had asked the teacher the wrong questions.
He now believes he should have asked: “Is my son excited about the things he's learning in your class? Is there more we could do to set his imagination on fire? Is my son learning how to think – he'll probably forget most of the trivia? Is his mind expanding and is he getting the tools he'll need in high school and college?”
With the end of social promotion, teachers are under pressure to raise test scores and meet high standards. Most parents want more for their children. Like this, they want their children to be excited about the possibilities of the world in which they live and their potential to conquer that world. Parent/Teacher night is your opportunity to make sure that your kid's teacher share that concern.
