Many people search and search for the University they will attend upon graduation from high school. Eager students look forward to their time at university while parents wring their hands hoping that their children choose to attend a university that is not only close to home but also within their budget limitations. Another worry that parents have when their children decide to attend college is whether or not that university they attend will have the specialized and individualized services that their children were accustomed to receiving in high school. Face it; larger universities tend to be rather impersonal when it comes to the education of their students.

One answer to all those worries and more is to transition your students from high school to a two-year college rather than throwing them to the university wolves so to speak. Many people find that two-year colleges can in fact provide superior educations to four-year universities for those first two years or foundation college level courses. You will not get the specialized or specific instruction in a two year college that is available to upper level students on a university level but most students find the first two years of their college educations focused on getting the requirement and pre-requisite courses rather than the specialized courses in their intended field of study.

Many people also find that those first two years at a community college-transitioning from a small pond to a larger lake-are much easier to handle than going straight from high school to a university-out of the pond and into the ocean. Universities often have lower level classes as auditorium classes. These classes offer little individual instruction and are often sink or swim sorts of classes. Those students who have special learning needs are often lost in the shuffle when entering a university. Community colleges offer smaller classes and ample opportunities for tutoring as well as classes on how to learn to study.

Two-year colleges are also much easier on the budget than most universities. Most people find that community college does not place nearly the financial burdens on families that universities place. Add to that the fact that most community colleges offer very flexible class scheduling and even some courses online and you will find that there are many reasons to consider community college that go well beyond mere budgeting requirements.

Another benefit to students who wish to enter the work force sooner rather than later is that you can actually get a degree or certification in certain programs from a two-year college. This means that you can actually graduate and begin earning much sooner than if you were to attend a four-year college in search of a degree. If you aren’t sure you want to invest the next four or five years of your life in pursuit of a degree or you simply aren’t ready to commit yourself to one line of work for the rest of your life it is a good idea to spend two years in a community college rather than making the leap straight into a university setting.

If you are considering whether or not a community college or two year education is the best course of action for your specific needs, I really recommend creating a list of pros and cons of each and balancing your budget to see where your needs are most likely to be fully met. Remember you can always transfer to a university once you’ve completed your two-year college education or at any time during that education as long as you meet the universities admission requirements. Good luck and remember that your college education is one of the largest indicators of your future earning potential so take it seriously.

Special education children, especially those with autism really require one-on-one education, or no more than five people per teacher. Any more than that and it is pretty much a babysitting episode, rather than any meaningful education. Teachers aids can help, and volunteers in a special education classrooms are a good thing, but those teacher’s aids must also be trained to deal with special education kids, who must be handled differently, and appropriately.

Of course this causes conflict with the parents of regular kids in the regular classrooms, because it takes a tremendous amount of budget money in special ed programs. Right now, as you know the school districts around the nation are cutting as much as they can to save costs. Every school district must cut as much as possible, as many states are nearly bankrupt. Looking for the federal government to help out probably won’t work, even though the federal mandates for the no child left behind programs are part of the problem.

Those kids who have autism, or have learning disabilities in special ed can come a long way if they get the proper trained, taught, and have the proper teachers to make that happen. In the future they can in fact support themselves as adults. If we fail to teach them correctly now, they become wards of the state in later years. The reality of one-on-one education needs help, but also don’t forget that the kids in normal classes also need one-on-one attention when learning the more technical aspects in computer class.

It is unfortunate to see that the special-education classes and the regular classes are being pitted against each other, along with parents fighting each other over the budget at the school board meetings. The reality is that one-on-one education for special education is appropriate given the situation, but we must also understand that if we take all the money and throw it into special ed to provide the one-on-one support needed to properly teach these kids, then the rest of the school will suffer.

If our schools cannot teach our kids properly then our society as a whole will be in severe jeopardy in 20 years when these kids are then in charge of running the society and civilization. Perhaps you can see how important this issue is, and also understand why we are failing at it. If we don’t address these issues, and are too concerned with being politically correct, then neither side will win, and everyone loses. It’s time to take a realistic approach to the cost and actual funding available for our education system, or we won’t have one. Please consider all this.