The Lion's Pride Volume 10 (Spring 2018) | Page 74

eliminated altogether. However, with community support and planning,
the cost that accompanies the education of children with special needs
can be greatly reduced or eliminated by taking advantage of preexisting
programs in the community (Allen & Cowdery, p. 15, 2015). Special
needs programs can be costly alone but the fact that this cost can be
bypassed by joining programs that are already in place should not be the
only reason to provide inclusion. Another factor which plays a role in
cost is the growing number of children with needs that are not being met
in the early childhood education classroom simply due to lack of
services offered: “Simply put, there are not enough quality early
childhood programs to go around” (Allen & Cowdery, p. 15, 2015). The
lack of quality early childhood education programs for children of all
abilities is an educational and monetary concern. Without access to
quality programs all children are susceptible to falling through the
cracks. The notion of inclusive educations becomes more of a monetary
concern for parents as they are searching for entities to teach and care
for their children.
Meeting the needs of all children should be a central focus in
discussions regarding early childhood education-this is both an
economical and ethical way of thinking. Incorporating children with and
without disabilities into already established programs and using public
money to support educated teaching teams could be an effective solution
to a growing problem. When money is an issue it can cause people to