OLD HICKORY, TENNESSEE, UNITED STATES, October 7, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The inscription on the Statue of Liberty reads: "Give me your tired, your poor, your humbled masses yearning to be free.” The job of an educator is to take the child from the Statue of Liberty and form them into an educated adult, and yet, many second-language children face widespread discrimination, segregation, and exclusion in school systems.

Dr. Carole de Casal has dedicated her life to civil rights in education as an advocate for children who are underrepresented, disenfranchised or treated differently in schools and universities.

“Every one of our children needs support,” says Dr. de Casal. “My job is to prepare school administrators, the community, and parents to understand how to work with these children and how to help their teachers understand what their obligations to those children are.”

Dr. de Casal advocates on behalf of second-language children, disabled children, as well as students who are second-language and disabled.

“You have to meet the needs of the students where they are,” says Dr. de Casal. “You cannot give them a cookie-cutter approach. It was fine when we were all going to jobs in the factories. That's not the real world anymore.”

According to Dr. de Casal, educators often struggle to identify these students and direct them toward the right services.

“Because there are no direct federal dollars for a child who is second-language to be served in the public schools, they frequently second-language children into special education and call them "speech impaired" to receive the federal funds to serve them,” explains Dr. de Casal. “That is not just unethical, but wholly illegal. The children are perceived and treated as impaired, when the reality is the better the first language foundations are, the easier it's going to be for them to learn English.”

As a Professor at Tennessee State University, Dr. de Casal teaches graduate students from all over the world to prepare them for what they need to know to ensure the best education for their students and for their community.

“A student coming out with a bachelor's degree in teaching does not get a background in any of these areas,” says Dr. de Casal. So my job is to help prepare administrators at all levels of all schools to meet the needs of the teacher and the children. Every child needs and deserves their own education. They all come in at a different level, so you've got to meet them where they are.”

CUTV News Radio will feature Dr. Carole de Casal in an interview with Jim Masters on October 9th at 3pm EDT

Listen to the show on BlogTalkRadio

If you have any questions for our guest, please call (347) 996-3389

Lou Ceparano
CUTV News
(631) 850-3314
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