"alternative" behavioral schools schools - what the h*ll?

Er, hi. I went to an alternative school. That is to say--not specifically special education alone, but focused on both neurodivergent or delinquent students. Here's the thing: these schools are a nightmare.
Not in a flashy, abusive way.
But in the way that there's thousands if not millions of students being pushed through them every year, but they exist primarily as a means to shuffle kids out of the way of the "real" schools and limit their futures rather than educate. Every year that goes by I realize how drastically my life was affected growing up in these--no real expectation I would or could ever attend college or learn a trade. It was like a holding pen for kids that don't fit in.
Frankly it's been 10 years and I still think about it every day. It's a horrific liminal space where kids futures go to die, but that's not what bothers me.
What bothers me is I've never met someone who went to one that I don't personally already know. What bothers me is I've literally never heard a single person talk about what these schools are doing. What bothers me is they never seem to face any consequences for their complete neglect of their students and their students outcomes. The schools are *bureaucratically designed for this.* They regularly change locations, names, or structure. No alumni, no reunions, nobody tracking what happens to the students after they get out.
The teachers themselves are actually fine, usually. Some of the best people I've ever known, when they actually stick around--the turnover rate is huge.
I don't...know what to do about it? This problem feels too big, and too invisible to most of the world, for me to bring any awareness to it on my own. But I've never seen a single other person talk about it. Millions of kids with their prospects dwindling by the minute and all I can do is sit here and say "that's rough buddy, been there too."
I've never even seen this category of schools mentioned in *fiction,* let alone real life.
Has anyone else even heard of these? Was my childhood even real? Maybe some of the schools are fine and I had bad luck, but I've been to 4, and they were all nightmares.

edit--awkward double word in title, what?

Submitted February 26, 2025 at 05:08AM by StrictAcanthisitta95 https://ift.tt/oCEYqLd