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Forgive me for writing another post about Governor Sarah Palin and her family. Her selection as Senator John McCain’s running mate, and the recent reporting of her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol Palin, being pregnant, have cast her thoroughly into the public eye and, one suspects, in more than unexpected ways. What first piqued my interest about Sarah Palin was that she’s the mother of a (very young) special needs child and, too, a working mother.
The September 1st New York Times describes the uproar over Palin as “Mommy Wars: Special Campaign Edition”:
With five children, including an infant with Down syndrome and, as the country learned Monday, a pregnant 17-year-old, Ms. Palin has set off a fierce argument among women about whether there are enough hours in the day for her to take on the vice presidency, and whether she is right to try.
It’s the Mommy Wars: Special Campaign Edition. But this time the battle lines are drawn inside out, with social conservatives, usually staunch advocates for stay-at-home motherhood, mostly defending her, while some others, including plenty of working mothers, worry that she is taking on too much.
“How is this really going to work?” said Karen Shopoff Rooff, an independent voter, personal trainer and mother of two in Austin, Tex. “I don’t care whether she’s the mother or the father; it’s a lot to handle,” she said, adding that Ms. Palin’s lack of national experience would only make her road more difficult.
“When I first heard about Palin, I was impressed,” said Pamela Moore, a mother of two from Birmingham, Ala. But upon reading that Ms. Palin’s special-needs child was three days old when she went back to work, Ms. Moore began questioning the governor’s judgment. Partly as a result, she plans to vote for Senator Barack Obama.
Other mothers are cheering Palin on for her pro-life stance. In the words of “conservative organizer” Phyllis Schafly, who has six children and ran for Congress:
“People who don’t have children or who have only one or two are kind of overwhelmed at the notion of five children…….I think a hard-working, well-organized C.E.O. type can handle it very well.”
I guess it could also be pointed out that people get overwhelmed at the thought of raising a special needs child. As the New York Times notes, “Infants with Down syndrome often need special care in the first years of life: extra tests, physical therapy, even surgery.” (Michael Bérubé’s Life As We Know It: A Father, a Family, and an Exceptional Child contains a harrowing account of the medical needs of the infant Jamie, who has Down Syndrome, and who required round-the-clock care.)
Charlie still requires 1:1 teaching at school with highly trained staff; I can’t just ask a neighbor to watch him. Much of Charlie’s early childhood involved one appointment after another, and hours of mental energy and attention devoted to learning about autism, learning about and accessing treatments, studying ABA and verbal behavior and oral-motor therapy, making up picture schedules and flashcards (and going through at least two laminators). I was working full-time when Charlie was diagnosed at the age of 2; we were able to do a full year of intensive ABA at home for Charlie because Jim was on sabbatical and was home all the time. I soon resigned from my job when Jim’s sabbatical ended and worked part-time for awhile, then (after we came back to New Jersey) full-time, as a writing instructor at a largish northern New Jersey university. This job involved reading and grading piles of papers every week; I think I spent almost every night for four years surrounded by papers.
In 2005, I started my current job as a professor of Classics at a small Jesuit college in Jersey City. Almost immediately, I was given administrative and academic advising duties. These (along with my enrollments—a good thing) have grown steadily. And then, I also started blogging in June of 2005 and, after about a year, was writing regularly here on Autism Vox.
Am I, as Schafly says, a “hard-working, well-organized C.E.O. type”? Certainly, I’ve some advantages with my job as I set my own teaching schedule and can take some work home, plus my college has always been very understanding about Charlie. Jim has been constantly involved, putting Charlie on the bus, coming home early for bike rides, taking Charlie on adventures on the bikes and in the black car on the weekends. I’m not as organized, though, as I could wish; once upon a time writing things in a notebook seemed to work but then I have to remember to check the notebook…. As for being a “C.E.O. type”: I like doing academic administrative work—helping students figure out how they can double-major in Economics and Mathematics and minor in History and keeping my eyes open to academic politicking, such as it is—-but am not for being an executive type.
Sarah Palin is just a few years older than me—-I’ll be 40 in a few months. As a special needs mom, I very often feel that all eyes are watching Charlie and me, and judging, and I tend to often (I suspect) convey an air of “I can handle it all, just watch.” In practice this is not true. Sure I can carry the bags and make sure Charlie carries his share and walk him out to the parking lot; sure I can teach several courses and teach Charlie cello and piano (until we get new teachers!). One thing I’ve been reminding myself (especially after a very hectic summer) is that it’s not possible to do it all. You can want to, but something has to give, and the many hours Charlie and I have spent together in playgrounds, the aisles of Target, doctors’ waiting rooms, and the pool have resulted in us having a solid relationship. We’re friends and of course he relies on me; more and more, I’m relying on Charlie.
So I’ll be watching Sarah Palin’s story unfold with extra interest. It’s about (as another mother recently blogged) letting go. It’s not necessarily about having it all. Indeed bieing a mother, a working mother, a special needs mother, has taught me that there’s different ways of “having it all,” of working, and of mothering, too.
1229 days ago
[...] youngest son, Trigg, has Down Syndrome—-as Senator John McCain’s running mate got the (Special Needs) Mommy Wars going [...]
1338 days ago
[...] (Special Needs) Mommy Wars Update on the Mommy Wars: Special Campaign Edition. [...]
1344 days ago
[...] For sure, they do; take it from this special needs mom. [...]
1345 days ago
[...] the wake of Governor Sarah Palin announcing that families of children with special needs would “‘have a friend and advocate in the White House” as the camera panned to her [...]
1345 days ago
[...] Readers looks at reports on special education funding in Alaska and Governor Palin. [...]
I see a slight funding decrease from 2007 levels in 08 and flat in 09 if ACYA is removed. ACYA gets twice the funding of Special Education.
Ok, so what did she do for Special Ed? Nothing?
The comment’s in moderation so I’ll just post this part–
The Alaska Challenge Youth Academy (ACYA) is more specifically a boot camp for troubled teens, and is as noted, a separate line item.
“This instructional program is operated in Anchorage with student enrollees from across the state. Students work on challenging academic programs in a “boot camp” environment. Completing high school and building career goal and skills are the goals. AS 14.30.740.” Funding levels and increases are mandated in statute.
If I was analyzing Special Ed, Intensive Services, or home-care budgets, I would discard the ACYA.
State of Alaska FY2009 Governor’s Operating Budget
Department of Education and Early Development
Alaska Challenge Youth Academy
Component Budget Summary
The Alaska Challenge Youth Academy (ACYA) is more specifically a boot camp for troubled teens, and is as noted, a separate line item.
“This instructional program is operated in Anchorage with student enrollees from across the state. Students work on challenging academic programs in a “boot camp” environment. Completing high school and building career goal and skills are the goals. AS 14.30.740.” Funding levels and increases are mandated in statute.
If I was analyzing Special Ed, Intensive Services, or home-care budgets, I would discard the ACYA.
Just FYI, pp 99-102, Legislative Fiscal Analyst’s Overview of the Governor’s FY09 Request
Department of Education & Early Development, from
The Fiscal Year 2009 Budget: Legislative Fiscal Analyst’s Overview of the Governor’s Request
Legislative Finance Division, State of Alaska
One thing that might be borne in mind, and has already been noted, is the relative level of tax-available income of a state vs. expenditures, and whether it is operating in a deficit, as is the Federal Government at this time.
If you surf the State of Alaska website, there’s graph of per-student education expenditures, 2007-2009, is relatively flat; there was a substantial jump when Governor Palin took office and then has remained at a relatively stable level.
So a question would be, why is the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy not included under the special ed budget numbers?
Read this on one of the Yahoo! Groups I frequent, but have admittedly not verified it:
A commenter accused Sarah of reducing the special education budget by 62%. That is false. The special education budget actually increased by nearly 12%, as explained below.
As commenter correctly notes, the Alaska 2007 budget for special education was $8,265,300. But that included $5,352,000 for the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy.
In the 2009 budgetary document to which commenter links, astute observers will note that there is no mention of the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy. Instead, you have to look elsewhere. And guess what: There is now a specific document providing $6,082,100 for the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy. http://www.gov.state.ak.us/omb/09_omb/budget/EED/comp2837.pdf So combined with the $3,156,000, the total is $9,238,100. A nearly 12% INCREASE, not a 62% decrease
“BUT:
The cut was a vestige of her predecessor’s budget.” Did the needs disappear when Gov. Palin cut the budget? Not sure what point your trying to make. Did she cut it? Yes, did she continue with the cuts? Yes.
Edweek by the way is a right-wing, Lynne Chaney associated publication frequently sited by conservative politicians. The link they gave in the report is broken so I couldn’t verify what they reported.
This also from Edweek:
“Unlike many other states, Alaska has relatively flush budget coffers, thanks to a rise in oil and gas revenues. Funding for schools will remain fairly level next year, however. Overall per-pupil funding across the state will rise by $100, to $5,480, in fiscal 2009. Total K-12 funding will rise to $1.2 billion from $1.1 billion, when transportation, energy, and other state funds are included, according to estimates from the governor’s Office of Management and Budget.”
Wow, each child gets a $100. That’s below the inflation rate so in effect, each child got less as a percent of inflation than the year before, and during a time of “flush budget coffers”. I wonder what they would have gotten when times weren’t so flush with oil money?
BUT:
The cut was a vestige of her predecessor’s budget.
AND:
From the publication Education Week:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/04/30/35recaps.h27.html
“Gov. Sarah Palin and state lawmakers have gone ahead with an overhaul of Alaska’s school funding system that supporters predict will provide much-needed financial help to rural schools and those serving students with disabilities.
The plan, enacted in the recently concluded session of the legislature, is based on recommendations issued by a legislative task force last year. It will phase in a greater flow of money to districts outside of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, over the next five years.
Advocates for rural and remote schools have lobbied for years for more funding, in particular noting the higher fuel, transportation, and other costs associated with providing education in communities scattered across the vast state.
A second part of the measure raises spending for students with special needs to $73,840 in fiscal 2011, from the current $26,900 per student in fiscal 2008, according to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (emphasis added).”
Let’s face it, it’s not as we actually have the best candidates out there, regardless of party affiliations. Frankly, since I don’t belong to any party (but come November I will vote), I’m finding it very hard to make a decision.
It bothers me that people coment of Sarah Palin ‘she’s a mother of five children, one with special needs, how is she ever going to do it?!’ If it was a male candidate, would people be making expressing the same concerns? Would his family life matter that much and take center stage just as it has happened to Palin since she was nominated last week? Of course not.
All I see is politicians avoiding the real issues at hand, in all aspects, and concentrating too much on personal attacks against their opponents.
A lot of talk about fixing the economy, ending the war, but no one is really saying HOW they’re going to achieve those campaign promises. Talk is cheap and there is no plan.
Frankly I’m worried about what is going to happen in the US, regardles of who wins the elections.
And don’t get me started on the ambiguity of both parties regarding services for special needs children, adults and their families. We’re not at the top of their priorities, plain and simple.
From http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/destination-alaska-theyre-heee-eere/#comments
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Ok, there is one thing that has been bothering me as a PARENT, not a mother. She knew her daughter was pregnant. If she’s as intelligent as she certainly appears, she knew the media would jump on it in a huge way and her daughter would pay an emotional price.
She choose to allow this to happen and accept the nomination anyway. She choose to put her daughter on the national spotlight right next to Jamie Lynn Spears.
I think only stage mothers and politicians would ever do such a thing.
It was an inspired speech delivered well. I was feeling it myself until I remembered that it was written by a speechwriter and Governor Palin as a sportsnews person at one point in her life, and as a Governor would have some experience in public speaking. Some of the factual information is being examined today.
A good speech lasts a day. An administration somewhat longer. So, it’s back to seeing what’s on the public record.
Another Laura,
I certainly don’t agree with all of her politics, but I gave her a standing O in my living room.
It remains to be seen which will speak more loudly, her actions or her words. I’m rooting for the former.
CS, republicans are like mercury parents. They don’t care about facts and science. It’s all blind faith.
another laura,
I’ll be talking about it. Like the bridge to no where, what she says and what she does is polar opposite. I’ll give details on my blog.
aren’t you going to chime in on The Speech? I was impressed on several levels. Regarding special needs – her offer of advocacy was fiery and heartfelt. I’m a relative neophyte, but in my limited experience, it seems like thus far, special needs has been relegated to a talking point or an afterthought.