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VIDEO: PARENTS OF SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN BATTLE SCHOOL DISTRICT: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=6543290&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1
if that link does not work try the video is on this homepage: http://www.keepeanesinformed.com/private_lawfirms.htm
HOW TRUE - It happens everyday in Texas [does it happen in the beaufort county school district?]. Legal hardball aimed squarely at the parents of special needs kids. These are Moms and Dads just trying to stop their children from being shortchanged by school districts who claim to be too financially hard pressed to deliver the specialized instruction and services these children need.
Instead many of these professed educators confer with attorneys, draw a legal line in the sand and begin waging a battle of attrition against parents who push too hard. The bitter irony is that families brave enough to engage in these regulatory and legal marathons are fought by lawyers paid with the parents OWN tax dollars.
How bad does it get ? Dripping Springs I.S.D. rejected an offer to settle with the parents of Lathom Yeaman. They asked for $25,000 - enough money to pay a private school to do the job the public school refused to do. The school district said no - and proceeded to spend $400,000 on attorneys fees to stifle the Yeaman's efforts to get their son the "free and appropriate" education he's entitled to by law.
Does that seem fair ? Does that sound like good stewardship of public dollars ? Does that, at it's core, do right by a boy challenged with autism, attention deficit and dyslexia ?
Karen Yeaman says "it's about power and money and the law firms that control and run the school districts."
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DOES THIS HAPPEN IN THE BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT?
CLICK HERE: Lawyers get rich on the backs of special needs kids
http://community.myfoxhouston.com/blogs/Greg_Groogan/2007/05/03/Lawyers_get_rich_on_the_backs_of_special_needs_kids
Greg Groogan’s latest story on the school district attorneys and special education in public school: It's become all too common for public schools and parents to fight over what should and shouldn't be done for a special needs child. FOX in Focus, Greg Groogan shows just how far one Texas district was willing to go to get its way. Unfortunately, this story is all too familiar.
It is a shame that you have been unable to find any other individuals who have experienced similar treatment by the BCSB. Although there are laws on the books designed to protect these children, sometimes the laws are interpreted in such a way that these individuals do not get the services they need. If this is the case, you may need to seek legal counsel to resolve your issues. I am including the address of an organization that may be able to help you in your fight.
http://www.copaa.net/index.html
This is the website for the Council of Parents, Attorneys, and Advocates. It is their mission to “secure high quality educational services for children with disabilities”. The site lists an attorney in the Mt. Pleasant area. I hope this helps.
thanks. i already have the information. in the meantime, if you talk to parents in similar situaitons, they are scared about speaking up against mistreatment. their children suffer and are harassed. the gazette needs to do an article abou this or a letter from the editor.a newslatter was published by the sacramento LDA in the observer. i wish the gazette would do a story. they do a better job following up in political stories with less facts than what they will find with this stuff.
HEY GAZETTE! QUESTIONS FOR BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT
How much money has the Beaufort county school district deposited into the pocket of private lawyers and their law firms funded with our tax dollars in Beaufort county to battle against the rights of special needs children or any of our children?
How often does the school district break the confidentiality of these special needs children with these lawyers and their law firms funded with our tax dollars to battle against the rights of special needs children or any of our children?
Will the leadership in the Beaufort County School District answer these questions?
Will the Beaufort Gazette seek the answers to these questions?
Will the Beaufort Gazette rise to the occasion? Will it do a series of in depth articles about the shenanigans going on in the Beaufort County School District and its special needs children?
I myself going to check it out! Thank you!
Jacrm1,
Do you any news for us? whatever you found out for the rest of us?
DOES THIS HAPPEN IN THE BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT?
Maybe it will make everyone feel better by knowing that many other school districts also work hard at making sure that they barely meet the absolute minimum requirements of state and/or federal special ed laws.(94-142, etc)
Usually people in Beaufort are satisfied if they can find other places that are at least as bad if not worse at something. Rest comfortably knowing that BCSD does not meet all of the requirements or even provide the best possible education for Special ed students, but there are also other districts in the country that are just about as bad.
Another comforting factor should be that not only doesn't BCSD provide Special Ed students with the best possible education, it doesn't do so for the rest of its students either.......no discrimination. The people want it that way or it would change.
I know of people whith special needs children from other districts. Their districts are much more friendly that the beaufort county school districts.
i hear special needs parents always complaining about their bad treatment and poor services. they needs to stand up and be heard. i see the point about the incompetence and nepotism in the district. i see their high paid consultants who were former principals in the district. they are tea sippers and get well cards. i wonder how much they get paid per hour. they get paid to obserce classrooms and give their two cents. this reminds me of someone I know laid off from a large airplance manufacturer. his position was high. his salary was high. he was rehired at an even greater salary by that same company. this sounds like the beaufort county school disrict.how many people were removed from high postions to make photo copies in the district offices?
shadows:;do you have any children or grandchildren in the beaufort county school distict?
can you share with us what you know about the beaufort county school district barely meeting qualifications for special needs children and all of our children?
in your ear. go and check the south carolina license status of some of our special needs professionals. cant remember the web site but you will be shocked. (or maybe not)
ajnil- thanks!
ajnil- thanks!
i just learned that alleged specialists receive that title of specialists if they attend a weekend semilar.these are the same people who know more than MD's in the field who make recommoendations on behalf of special needs children.
i know i checked the names of some of our speech teachers and there are quite a few who are not licensed. exactly what are the qualifications to hold these jobs at the beaufort county school district? you could look into that.
thanks. i will do so. how long ago di dyou do that? do you still have a special needs child in the district? people who do not have special needs children do not understand, especially when their children are not covered by insurance - i.e. pre-existing condition, not an illegal felon, etc.
yes. sort of. he is just about caught up on his "special need" maybe a year or two more. i guess i am fortunate to know my sons disabiliy was fixable. it is not be long term. my son was/is speech delayed.
I should check it out. thanks!
I won't go into great depth because I have done so on this site before. But a few of the ways, are to get teachers who are certified in one special ed area and have them servicing students with primary disabilities that are different from the actual certification of that teacher. This is sometimes due to poor teacher recruitment/retention efforts on the part of the district. Mainstreaming students who really need more one to one from a qualified special ed teachers is another way. By mainstreaming/inclusion the students the teachers' student loads can be increased which results in needing to hire fewer teachers. Holding meetings to determine individual educational plans without making any real efforts to involve parents or being late for required re-evaluations is another area. An "as long as it looks good on paper" attitude is prevalent. Then there is also the question of initial placement and labeling of a special ed student and whether or not it is accurate, and the question of whether there are possibly alternative strategies that would work better...what is in the best interest of the student? I have personally observed all of these examples in the BCSD.
The list goes on and on and I am limited on time right now. It's usually about saving money for the district with little regard for individual students. Most administrators know very little about special education. Thankfully there are many districts that are better, but there are also many that are at least as bad.
please go into depth for those of us who are not as knowledgable as you. please share your stories. the gazette needs to do some indepth reporting on this abuse of power. What did you used to do with special needs?
Families with special needs kids do not seek for the best education but rather appropriate education for disabled individuals to become funcational and productive individuals rather than relying on society. It is a matter of survival skills they need to acquire to sustain their lives.
I said it in another thread and I'll say it again - the SPED battle needs to be fought in the IEP team planning session - not in the courts.
Districts put pressure on the teachers and specialists to not spend money. However, a parent's best resource ARE the teachers and specialists who see the need for a program. A parent can call a ppt to revise an IEP. A parent can force a VOTE in the that meeting - majority wins - the district cannot veto the IEP and programming agreed upon by the IEP. Most teachers are protected by civil service and/or unions and can file grievances for taking stance opposite to the district rep at the SPED meeting.
The problem with SPED is resources. As the parent of a SPED [real sped, autism] student entering high school [not in BCSD] I see that the major issue with provision of services is parent demand and advocacy for their kids.
A district is a bureaucratic organization that takes the path of least resistance. A child gets what the IEP states, the IEP is developed at a meeting of parents, school, teachers and specialists. If the parents do not avail themselves of knowing what is available for that disability, be it special technologies, teaching methods, special schools or whatever, in 95% of cases the child will not get those services. Further, parents aer NOT always right. There were several occasions where I walked into a meeting wanting one thing, and was convinced of something else by teachers and staff members who spent 8 hours a day in a school environment with my child. And it worked out. Then, there are times I put my foot down and steer the PPT into getting what my wife and I think is the better program for my son. You need the give and take with professionals in the meeting. Parents cannot simply assume that some program they see online or in a fancy brochure and costs $50k a year is the best one for their child.
A district is responsible for special services until a child is 21 - not 18 - even if they drop out. Food for thought for college bound disabled students.
Next, a PARENT needs to be an advocate. If the parent brings up the special program that is the gold standard for whatever disability, and if the IEP and Team agree that this is best for this student, then the district MUST provide that program. The devil is in the parent steering the IEP team to craft the best program, not the cheapest one.
Disabled students sometimes need special advocates and even lawyers. The deal for most parents is that they do not spend the time needed to explore best practices for their disabled child and rely on the school district to do it. The district has competing goals, costs, efficiency, get the kids pushed through and money. Note that a proper program is not really on that list. A parent needs to understand that whatever an IEP states, the district must provide, thus, if the IEP goals are sufficiently clear on a specific program, then that program needs to be implemented - and then evaluated - at least every marking period.
I will say one thing; as a Board of Ed member in a high performing district, I am insisting that we begin to explore an Individualized Education Plan for EVERY student - not just the SPED ones. Each child would benefit from a program tailored to their needs and learning abilities - and it would not cost much. There is no need to provide 'special services' to most kids, but tailoring an ed program to their special abilities and focussing on areas of growth for them would improve education for everyone.
Joe, does this mean that you will cut your rate to represent these brave parents in their fight for equality for their children? I could not think of a more passionate advocate or a better lawyer,,, I am amazed my had was able to type those words in the same sentence with "Lawyer" ,jk, lol. When are you coming to town, I'd love to meet.
You got Thu & Fri - we're outta here Sat am . . . likewise on the desire to meet. I am in the phone book -
As for discount lawyering - no - I don't discount services - a lot of it gets done for free with a gentle nudge here and a little advice there. . . if I need to formally represent a family that means the process has broken down badly. You can get the district to pay for the lawyers if the parents win, thus, why would I work at a discount?
Trust me blue, when parents need a lawyer they are happy to pay for one. 90% of the time we sit down and work it out - and the parents pay for 1-2 hours. And I add to my experience.
thought you wanted to get together?
joe
Well, it sounds easy to reach to the proper/best goals for a child with disability in IEP meetings, that is the hardest part. If the district disagrees with the independent eval teams, then how can the family and IEP councils reach to the best programs???
Advocating mom - under IDEA IDEA-I the PPT [planning and placement team as it is called in many parts of the country] creates the IEP. If there is a formal IEP recommendation, and the if the administration challenges it in a due process hearing, I promise you unless the admin has a really good reason [and not enough money is not a good enuf reason] they lose in the due process hearing. but you have to make a record in the meeting, meaning "We think this program is best for this student,' and why, and have the members at the meeting acknowledging it contemporaneously.
I'd love to be an advocate - my problem is that I am only here about 8 weeks a year . . . you can contact me at comanchepilot [at] comcast [dot] net with any specific questions. There is a role here for experience board members, parents and a lawyer all rolled up into one. . . . I would not mind being BCSD SPED's worst nightmare!
how about advocating for us? how can i reach you?