Truth is, teachers are coming into an broken educational system, one that has not only failed the students, but continuously failing gifted TEACHERS. Students believe the Big Lie, soak up the excuse that english is a "hearie" thing, and are not only confused by the conflict of  being told to "learn english" and then having every unspoken addition of: but since ASL'ers can't learn english well, we won't push you too hard or come down on you too hard if you fail. 

When we speak of "third grade level", we're actually referring to english proficiency, not academic proficiency or ability. 

Many deafies in institutions  learn computers, math, art, dance, vocational skills etc. at the institution,  within programs which, if they could only compare & believe, are as good or even better than the classes their hearing counterparts get. 

I speak here from experience - CSDB had a better computer dept, drama dept, Recreation dept.,athletic department (in terms of resources), vocational classes, etc. than the hearing high school I finished my last 2 years of high school at - and i went to a good school, on a military base.  These schools tend to BETTER, not worse, academically than the surrounding public schools, too -  discipline runs deep among the "Air Force Brats" & if U got in trouble, your DAD  got called up on the carpet and then caught hell from HIS commander, and then, when he got home, YOU caught hell..  Shit truly flows downhill in the military, folks.

Also, as deafies in state institutions, we are exposed early and often to the kindness of strangers. 

 Our teachers are more widely traveled, socially liberal and often much more dedicated to us than their hearing counterparts are to their students.  They're often part of our social lives after we graduate (if they're deaf, anyway.). These people may have unintentionally exposed us to the "Big Lie" of english, but, never forget, hearing or deaf, these people often  FIGHT for us,  to provide us with terps, to provide us with experiences, and give us opportunities to see the good side of people.  When we succeed, they cheer louder than anyone.

It's no accident that we tend to be good at making friends in strange places.  We got that from the State school experience.  In the hearing world, only military brats, who  move often, can compare - and for them, once they move again, all those friendships are lost.  Ours aren't.  

Remember, during the protest when the BoT was meeting at the Hilton and Dr. Hank Klopping, the longtime  (hearing) CSDB Superintendant, flew in to speak in support of the pretestors?  No grad of CSDB/F was surprised. He is one of the best friends deafies have ever  had. he is one of the most dedicated supporters of the civil rights of the deaf in California, and probably one of the sweetest men I've ever met in my life. 

I arrived at CSDB knowing no sign language.  I had a very rough childhood, the kind they make depressing TV movies out of , and had no social skills at all. I was small in those days due to bad nutrition (but filled out later) and, not to make too fine a point on it, was basically a little asshole with a mean mouth and a snooty attitude.

So I was pretty lonely for a while, although later on I did acquire rudimentary social skills and made some very good friends as I learned to sign awkwardly ( I was only there for 4 years,  then my dad's squadron moved again and so did I.) But I never experienced the "rejection" by my schoolmates.  I was never popular, but somehow there was always one of my classmates engaging me in conversations, trying to include me in activities, etc.

I faced down my first bully there, and learned how to stand alone when I had to My first kiss, first love and first heartbreak were all during my CSDB years.

I used to wander out of the dorm, go to his house and knock on the door - and he would just invite me in, fit me into the life of his family. I played with his kids in the den, ate treats his wife Bunny made - and, I'll never forget the time he wandered into the cafeteria one sunday, discovered that my dad never gave me any money for the snackbar or anything else, reached into his pocket, pulled out a five and quietly stuffed it into my shirt pocket.  A great, great human being, who will be sorely missed when he retires.  

I am just one of HUNDREDS, if not thousands, of CSDB  who welcomed into his house & took under his wing.  I don't know how he found out that I didn't have much in the way of a home life, but he knew, somehow, and did something about it. 

Many other CSDB students  can tell you stories about Dr. Klopping as good as mine, or better. 

Deaf  Audism  cuts these people off from us since few of the hearing teachers and administrators are ASL'ers - and therefor minimizes the gifts and support they can offer us.  We cut them off - and they sadly go back to the hearing world and treat teaching like a job.  But they start out as idealists, ready to join us and help change the world.   

Another example of an advantage we have that public schools don't:

At CSDB, pro athletes from the (then) Oakland Raiders, Oakland A's, SF Giants, Golden State Warriors, etc  visited the campus every year, guys  who were no great shakes with a pen but had a god-given physical gift and a big heart.  We got free tickets to Candlestick Park for SF games and also went to Oakland A's games, free, every year. 

My  friends at the gumflapper schools were ENVIOUS of my experiences at CSDB, and not just baseball, but the whole dorm experience & the many trips we got to take (such as the first California Classic basketball invitational basketball tourney; hearing kids rarely get to travel across  state lines and have a blast, like we do via sports, the Jr. NAD camp and events, etc. They get opportunities that we don't, but WE get opportunities THEY don't.  It evens out, in my opinion.

At CSDB, we often took trips to a leadership camp located on a beach in  Monterey, after driving thru the Napa wine country - some of the prettiest land anywhere.)  After some really fun team exercises, the counselors fed us, turned us loose, and we played on the dunes late into the night. 

Thru CSDB, I had backpacked the Sierra Nevada mountains,witnessed first hand the social upheaval of the period (Black Panthers were still around then, and UC Berkeley was, like, 4 blocks from our campus.  In fact, the old CSDB campus is now part of the UC campus.) traveled to beautiful places, camped on the beach not far from Big Sur, etc. (Deaf Boy Scouts - I was later an assistant scoutmaster at MSSD while still a Gally student, paying back a little.)  I and many others experienced our first loves and our first broken hearts at State schools. 

The only trips I ever took during my final two years in public school, except for day trips to sports matches,  I can recall clearly - because there were only three  of them, one to the State finals in cross country running, and two out-of-state academic competitions (Which I tied for first at - 90 different high schools from 3 states participated, it was held on a college campus and we hade a BLAST).  That's IT.

But the  "Big Lie" whispers to us that we're missing out on freedom, independence, the opportunity to flip- burgers at Mcdonald, driving privileges,  etc. that hearing kids have - and so turns all those great opportunities into something that eats our souls like acid: CHARITY. 

 This poisons everything. 

The world treats all these things as "charity" given to the poor weak-minded deafies, from the generous mighty hearies up on there mountain, (and, sadly, so do many hearing folks) instead of what they REALLY are: OPPORTUNITY. 

Opportunity to travel, to meet people, to get access to financial source for college, that no hearing school can MATCH. 

First hand experience speaking here,  folks.  I'm sure you can come up with more.