| Special Education is the program for children who have learning disablilites or mental and physical handicaps. In elementary schools, there are three levels of special education: Self Contained, POR, and ICS. The program specifically targets students who are not on level with their peers and attempts to give them the additional help they need. The system is not perfect, however, and many of the children have social problems because they are singled out by their learning disabilities.
In the later grades, the special ed classes are mixed in with classes that are on or above level. This can help the child to function in social circles, although i think most of us know how much of that's wishful thinking.
The students who are in special ed are there because they needed the help. Not because they're lazy, or because they're stupid. To suggest that because someone has a physical or mental handicap they are incapable of functioning as normal human beings is to prove yourself a slug of a human being. Special Ed is not a free ticket anywhere, except to a world where the answers don't come easy and people will drag you through the mud because of it. | 
