Mending the (broken) SEND system in England and repaying debts to children, families and professionals

This article examines the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) system in England, and the ‘crisis’ it is reported to be in. It is argued that three principal factors lie at the heart of the crisis: a failure to be inclusive, out of control spending on SEND and the lack of confidence of children and families in the system. It reports the significant consequences of the damage inflicted upon young people and their families but reframes them, following Ladson-Billings’ construction of education debt, as special education debts. These are represented as inclusion debts, economic debts and trust debts. A series of provocations, in the form of questions aligned with the three principal factors and their attendant debts, are offered as a means of repaying these debts to children and their families, but also to teachers and educational leaders.