After a social media uproar, Sen. Chris Kapenga says 'full inclusion' of special education students is not working

CITY OF DELAFIELD - In an hour-long town hall meeting attended by dozens of people May 22, state Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) attempted to clarify comments attributed to him about special education students that caused an uproar on social media — but left some people still clearly frustrated. 

Posts circulated by a variety of people on Facebook claimed he had said, "They don't deserve to be in the classroom. They take away from the learning of other students. It might make them feel good to be in the classroom, but it shouldn't happen. They belong in separate schools." It is uncertain where the posts originated.  

The comments were said to have been made at a Wisconsin Association of School Boards meeting in Madison this spring. 

But Kapenga told the standing-room only crowd on Wednesday the quote twisted his words, making his comments sound "absolutely horrible." 

In response to a question from Sally Flaschberger of Waukesha, Kapenga said there were specific situations he was speaking about in which children — regardless of whether they had special needs or were typically developing — were consistently disrupting class. He said it is important to equally value the children in the classroom in those situations.

"I have had teachers and parents come to me who have concerns that they consistently have," Kapenga said. "I have had one teacher who's said, 'A few times a week, I have to actually remove my kids from the classroom because this child continues to be disruptive in the classroom.' The discussion is about this. That is not healthy for the kids who are in the classroom trying to learn."

Kapenga also said there are different "spectrums" on the issue of special education. He said that some people favor full inclusion, while others want the old system of separate schools set up for special needs children. 

Kapenga said the "far left spectrum of full inclusion" is not working, which drew chuckles of disbelief from some in the crowd. 

"So let's start talking about solutions — and I'm open to doing that — but not if people are going to twist my words into something that's not," Kapenga said.

Audience views

Flaschberger, whose son has disabilities and attended the Elmbrook School District, said the issues Kapenga described were an example of the lack of special education funding in the state. Flaschberger, an advocacy specialist for Disability Rights Wisconsin, spoke as a resident and not on behalf of the organization. 

"To not fund special education at a higher rate is going to continue ... You're going to continue to hear the same stories," Flaschberger said. "Also, not funding the mental health provisions. All of those things are contributing to the issues that are happening in the classroom and what kids aren't able to get who have disabilities."

Flaschberger also said the law was clear: Her child has the same right to be in the same classroom as any other child. 

"Just because they were born with a disability doesn't mean he doesn't have that same right," she said. "There are lots of things that we could be doing, including increasing the funding so that kids can get what they need." 

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Another parent, Deb Balderas of Hartland, was at the meeting with her developmentally disabled son, Mitchell, a student at Arrowhead High School. She said there needs to be more funding for mental health and special education.

"Our kids need to be in schools because it's not just our kids that are learning," Balderas said. "It's everybody else that learns from them."

Hartland-Lakeside School Board members Val Wisniewski and Tom Harter encouraged Kapenga to visit the district to witness its work with inclusion of special education students in its classrooms.

When Harter pressed Kapenga to visit before the end of the school year, Kapenga demurred, saying he could not commit because of his busy schedule, but offered to visit before the start of the next school year.

The exchange led some audience members to ask Kapenga to clarify his position on including special education students in mainstream classrooms, but Kapenga declined to do so, saying he had already stated his position earlier in the evening. He then abruptly ended the meeting, as it was over the hour-long allotted time that had been set. 

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.