A dilemma for inclusive education is one of quantity vs. quality. Is it more important to improve the quality of education for those students currently in school or to use resources to expand the number benefitting from education? From a human-rights perspective, there is no question that continuing to exclude some children from education, or from the regular education system, is discrimination and needs immediate rectification.

I often use a story to illustrate this last point.

My father grew up in the Great Depression. His family did not have a lot of money, but they knew that every Sunday evening the family would sit down together for a delicious meal. One Sunday, while the chicken was roasting in the oven, the doorbell rang and some cousins arrived for an unexpected visit. Of course my grandmother invited them in, hoping that they would leave in time for her to serve dinner to her family.

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