My wife taught for years in special ed (though it had various exciting ‘new’ names to cover the job) and she recognised that much of it was childcare. She did help some of the less able to progress and in some cases find a job that suited them though the importing of tens of thousands of immigrants willing to do the same job for less meant that competition for those receding jobs was high.

A number of the immigrants who arrived in her town had offspring with a variety of learning difficulties, but whether the parents were local-born or arriving from another country they all soon demanded yet more from the state. Once they understood it was a free (to them) service they went all out to get every benefit they could.

It got to the point where some young people were kept ‘in the system’ for years longer than they should have been. One young woman’s parents made my wife’s working life hell because they were determined to be the receivers of the most freebies and benefits, and all the while claiming they were only doing this for the good of their daughter and most of all wanted the best for every person with learning disabilities in the area.

All the while the job of teaching (or child-minding) these young people was hampered by increasing government edicts, legislation and new procedures, almost all of which required extra paperwork and — ultimately — would be merely filed away until disposed off, unopened and unexamined. But not ticking boxes was becoming the greatest sin, even if it meant the actual education of those that needed it was suffering because the teacher had less time available for individuals.

It was, by the time she stopped, rapidly becoming unworkable and consuming a lot of time and money to lessening effect.