An amazing thing happened yesterday morning.  I was sitting with my family in the auditorium of my son Kevin's school here in Syosset, Long Island, New York.  My son graduated from Berry Hill Elementary School, and this September he will be entering the Syosset Middle School.
 
The part that is amazing is that my son is a "very troubled kid."  My son has one problem and that problem is that "he couldn't possibly sit still in a classroom with 25 other students."  My son needs "intensive work" to overcome what is believed to be ADHD.  My son cannot play on a regular baseball team with "normal" kids -- his team will consist of kids who need their parents to help them swing the baseball bat at home plate and then TRY to get them to run to first base.  My son cannot attend Syosset schools -- his school will be a "special education" school 45 minutes by bus in Bellmore, Long Island, New York.  That's right, my son who "cannot sit still" will have to sit still for at least an hour and a half EVERY DAY on a bus ride to a school with kids who will teach him to curse, who will beat him up, who will hit their heads against the wall and their desks, who will be restrained by at least 2 "teachers."  My son who lives in ALL WHITE Syosset will spend his school years in ALL BLACK/HISPANIC classrooms that consist of 6 students, a "teacher" and an "aide."  My son WILL DEFINITELY BE TAUGHT THE SAME CURRICULUM AT THE SAME RATE OF SPEED as the "normal" kids in "regular" education -- this according to the "professionals" at the Syosset School District.  The truth hurts... especially when it's NOT true.
 
The truth hurt my son VERY BADLY -- because it was all a bunch of garbage.

It's weird how so many of the "special education" classrooms are filled with BLACKS and HISPANICS.  I suppose they all have similar problems and therefore placed together.  After visiting Kevin's "special education" school MANY TIMES in the four years he attended, I can say with great conviction that without ANY hesitation, ANY WHITE CHILD placed there -- BELONGED THERE, as they definitely had SEVERE challenges.
 
Well, after fighting for 4 years with the District, after sending e-mails to hundreds of Hispanic journalists, organizations that help Hispanics, newspapers, news channels, politicians and with NOT ONE REPLY when MY SON needed HELP, I finally was able to, MYSELF, get my son Kevin in to the "regular" school of OUR choice, Berry Hill Elementary School.

I did receive, after I was able to get Kevin into the school, an e-mail from a GREAT journalist at the Sun-Sentinel who still shows an interest in my son, an e-mail from a GREAT journalist at Newsday who seems to cover many Latino issues on Long Island and a letter from our County Supervisor.  They all meant well but were all too late.

It's certainly possible that with the hundreds of e-mails I sent to Hispanic journalists, some contacted the Syosset School District just to see if they could prove my assertions to be NOT TRUE.  If that occurred, then they were, in part, also responsible for helping my son get into a "regular" school.  Since not one ever wrote me back when we needed them -- I suppose I will NEVER KNOW THE TRUTH -- and therefore never able to thank them properly.

With the INCREDIBLE help of EVERYONE at Berry Hill School, especially his teachers, Kevin was eventually able to do EVERYTHING the Syosset School District said he WOULD NEVER be able to do.
 
Sure there were a few setbacks.  When he began 4th grade last year -- this kid who was "receiving the SAME curriculum" in "special" education ACTUALLY had ONLY a first grade education.  His hatred of teachers was easily explainable as EVERY teacher he had in "special" education WERE DEFINITELY "SPECIAL" themselves.
 
By the end of Kevin's first year at Berry Hill School he was able to keep up with the class work and homework, again, with the help of his INCREDIBLE teachers -- and this year he did even better than last year.  He has the reputation of being a whiz in math.

Every MAJOR report and project he did in his 2 years at Berry Hill was related to Puerto Rico -- and now MANY students know who Roberto Clemente is and they know MANY facts about Puerto Rico and the MANY great people who live there, including the former president of Banco Popular, who achieved great things in his life and career afflicted with THE SAME ADHD Kevin has and growing up with a loving single-parent and a VERY supportive family. 
 
In the 2 years Kevin attended the school -that he had the right to attend from the beginning- he maintained an "A" average in all his academic subjects.  Actually the school rates students with numbers and not letters -- Kevin had a "4" average, the highest score he could receive.
 
It turned out that my son who "could NOT sit still," LEARNED to sit still quickly and he learned to do just about EVERYTHING his classmates did.
 
As of today, he's a little behind in his social skills -- due to his first 4 years of being placed with "special" students -- IN ALL BOY, NO GIRL CLASSROOMS.  He is quickly adapting to everything and by September he should be ALMOST caught up and hopefully ALMOST where he should have been.
 
Now, I'm not saying my son doesn't have problems.  He has the same problems I had as a child.  I WASN'T placed in "special" education when I began kindergarten at Berry Hill School almost 43 years ago.
 
As it turned out, the BIGGEST truth that hurt ... especially because it ACTUALLY WAS TRUE was that contrary to what I was LEAD TO BELIEVE, 80 - 90 students out of about the 600 students at Berry Hill School had the same or similar problem Kevin had.  They took the same or similar medication that Kevin takes for his ADHD -- the same Ritalin I took when I went to Berry Hill School decades ago.
 
Berry Hill School NEVER prevented Kevin from attending their school.  The Syosset School District did.  NO ONE from Berry Hill School had EVER met Kevin while I regularly asked the District to place him in a "regular" school.  Oh they let kids who were Jewish and Asian into the school with the same problems Kevin has.  They even let a child whose parents were from Brazil and a child whose parents were from Costa Rica enter Berry Hill School from kindergarten through 5th grade.
 
They let Indian children in as well.  We all know that Jewish kids and White kids and Indian kids and Asian kids and kids of Costa Rican descent and kids of Brazilian descent are smart, have parents who stress education and work with their children insuring a successful future for them.
 
The Syosset School District even let a retarded girl attend kindergarten when I attended the school decades ago.  She was the sister of my best friend.  We were in 4th grade at that time.  She didn't make it -- she lasted about 6 weeks and then was placed in special education.  AGAIN, she was retarded and she was given THE OPPORTUNITY to succeed or fail.
 
Three years ago I found out that Kevin's friend who came to the United States from Japan, who he met in "special" education, who had Tourette Syndrome, who barked like a dog from time-to-time, who couldn't sit still very long, who had parents who refused to give him any medication AND who was not an American citizen, WAS ALLOWED TO TRY KINDERGARTEN AT BERRY HILL SCHOOL FOR  A FEW WEEKS.
 
My son Kevin WAS NOT ALLOWED INTO THE SCHOOL FOR ONE DAY, ONE HOUR, ONE MINUTE.
 
My son Kevin WAS THE ONLY CHILD IN THE 50 YEAR HISTORY OF BERRY HILL SCHOOL NOT ALLOWED TO TRY TO SUCCEED OR FAIL based on his efforts.
 
My son Kevin WAS THE FIRST PUERTO RICAN-BORN STUDENT TO EVER APPLY TO ATTEND BERRY HILL SCHOOL WITH HIS CAGUAS, PUERTO RICO BIRTH CERTIFICATE.
 
My son Kevin IS NOW THE FIRST PUERTO RICAN-BORN STUDENT TO EVER ATTEND ANY SCHOOL IN SYOSSET -- AND NOW THE FIRST TO GRADUATE FROM ANY SYOSSET SCHOOL.
 
Kevin's older brother, Brandon was also an "A" student the six years he attended Berry Hill School.  His name is Brandon Tyras, he was born in the same hospital as Dayanara Torres' son here in Long Island -NEW YORK BIRTH CERTIFICATE- and Brandon at age 4, when he began Berry Hill kindergarten, probably didn't even know he was Puerto Rican or that his second last name was López.
 
KEVIN WAS DIFFERENT.  VERY DIFFERENT -- EXCEPT the truth hurt him, especially because the truth was always ONE BIG LIE -- he could make it, he did make it and he would have made it BIGGER AND BETTER if he had been permitted the same courtesy that EVERY CHILD FOR 50 YEARS was afforded.  The courtesy of the TRUTH.  It's also New York State LAW, as it turns out, for EVERY child to be given a chance in a "regular" school if ANY hint of "special needs" is known or suspected at the time of entry.
 
The truth is that EVEN PUERTO RICANS can make it just like ANYONE else in the world.  Too many people, for whatever reason, HERE, have a hard time with that.  The people at the Syosset School District certainly did.  Now, if and when another Puerto Rican-born child of school age moves to this area, the place where a $300,000 house anywhere else costs $800,000+ so that only the "BEST," "SMARTEST" kids from the "BEST FAMILIES" can attend the Syosset School District -- THAT Puerto Rican will be accepted with open arms.  JUST LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE ALWAYS BEEN.
 
The truth hurts... especially when it's NOT true and it probably hurts some when the truth IS TRUE.

OOUCH!
 
The truth is that ANY child, even a Puerto Rican child can make it as a student in Syosset and now EVERYONE here knows THE TRUTH.
 
And speaking of Puerto Ricans, as of the time I am writing this at about 8 a.m. Eastern Time -- there are 3 Puerto Rican boys from Camden, New Jersey missing since yesterday -- "New Jersey Police, Relatives Search For Three Missing Puerto Rican Boys Ages 5 - 11-Years-Old" -- "La policía buscó el jueves manzana por manzana en un barrio donde desaparecieron tres niños cuando jugaban la noche anterior" -- they just VANISHED into thin air.  At least I think they are Puerto Rican.  The English-language article mentioned they live in a Puerto Rican neighborhood and DID NOT mention the boys were any other nationality -- so I take that to mean all three are Puerto Rican.
 
One thing I do know for sure -- THEY ARE NOT WHITE.  If they were, every network and newspaper who is covering the missing teenage girl in Aruba would ALSO be looking for and covering these kids aged 5 - 11-years-old -- with three times the intensity. Amber Alert? What's an Amber Alert?
 
TRIPLE OOUCH!
 
 
Well, that's all folks! Until next Friday.

Keith


For motivational speeches, conferences, media requests and other things such as eating disorders, you'll have to contact someone else. My only qualifications for writing a weekly column are based solely upon having a lot of free time, unlimited Internet access and very little else.