Wilson Riles was committed to meeting the educational needs of every child. He was a visionary who believed that all children should be educated with the involvement of parents and community. A free and appropriate education for all children was a revolutionary idea, particularly during a time when many special education students could not go to school at all.
Only 40 years ago, when I was involved in one of the first classes for "neurologically handicapped" children, I was warned not to discuss the services provided in my class. Parents were so desperate for suitable education for their children that they were moving in from out-of-state. There was a fear that the demand for special education in our district would grow too rapidly with newcomers. Programs for students with visual and hearing impairments were widespread, as were classes for students who were classified as "morons" and "idiots".
However, many special needs students were practically forgotten. Very few college courses addressed teaching students who were somehow out-of-the-norm. It was fairly easy to find classes about teaching the retarded, but not about the education of learning disabled. In fact, after a disappointing search of university curriculum, it was necessary to receive training at a private school site (the Dubnoff School for Neurologically Handicapped).
The students at State schools were also quite different than the current residents. When I taught at Fairview State Hospital, many of my students had a more moderate need for specialized education. The State schools were their only hope back then. Now they could attend a special class in their parent's district of residence.
Simultaneous to Wilson's election, there was a great deal of movement nationwide toward reorganizing special education. I had the privilege of serving as Chair of the California State Commission on Special Education. For endless months we debated questions like, "Do we really mean that all children, even the very seriously handicapped, have a right to go to school?", "Should the gifted programs be under the umbrella of special education?", and "How do we accurately assess special needs children who are also bilingual?".
The California Master Plan for Special Education was formed in 1974 and its concepts were transferred to the federal PL 94-142, passed in 1975. A U. S. Supreme Court decision also established that all children do have a right to a free and appropriate education. Wilson did not claim to be an expert in special education, but he was committed to all children being served appropriately. He believed in comprehensive planning and he was very persuasive in influencing the State Board of Education.
He had a great presence and charisma in talking to parents and school groups and often offered his support. The concept of parents-as-teachers, rather than PTA cookie bakers, was stressed. Part of his style was to create a climate of openness for debate between parents and advocates for special programs. He truly listened to every point of view and once he became committed, was willing to fight the Governor and Legislature to get programs. He had a strong network of supporters all over the State, linked to regions. If a particular piece of legislation needed some good expert testimony, just one or two phone calls would pave the way for a comprehensive support movement.
Wilson was strongly in favor of the concepts of mainstreaming and the least restrictive environment. He did, however, clearly see the need for some placements in nonpublic schools for students with low incidence needs.
Tensions and oppositional attitudes grew from time to time. Wilson would turn this around by presenting his philosophy of compromise. People had to decide what the bottom line was -- what kinds of things were they unwilling to compromise. Above that, line discussion and compromise should flourish. He was very much opposed to adversarial positions between people in education. He underscored a good lesson for today, that it is very much a tremendous waste of time and resources for people in education to battle with each other. Instead we should decide on our agreements and move on for the sake of our children.
Wilson did stand firm when some of his bottom line convictions were pressed. When I worked for the State Department of Education, Ronald Reagan was Governor. Reagan asked Wilson to cut the education budget by identifying the least important programs and deleting them. Wilson replied, "If you want to come over and cut programs that's fine -- but I'm not going to decide which of the programs for the children of California are less important than others". In spite of this he still got along well with Reagan and continued to work quite effectively with the legislature.
Wilson Riles greatly benefitted education by successfully accomplishing agreement between diverse groups. He was truly a visionary during a time of educational revolution.
CAROLYN MITCHELL