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Post by cmwarrior on Feb 13, 2010 17:01:27 GMT -6
Hearing that some Chicago area SD's have found a legal loop hole to divert Fed. stimulus funds directly for spec. ed. svcs. Considering our personal experience with SD lately, this sure sounds like what they have done. There are many many parents fighting for svcs. that are covered under State and Fed. disability laws, and the SD is stalling and lying to parents to save a buck hoping that they won't be called out on it and taking advantage of most families dealing with already stressful situations at home with their children. Any way of finding out the true numbers, etc.?
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Post by casey on Feb 13, 2010 17:28:27 GMT -6
Hearing that some Chicago area SD's have found a legal loop hole to divert Fed. stimulus funds directly for spec. ed. svcs. Considering our personal experience with SD lately, this sure sounds like what they have done. There are many many parents fighting for svcs. that are covered under State and Fed. disability laws, and the SD is stalling and lying to parents to save a buck hoping that they won't be called out on it and taking advantage of most families dealing with already stressful situations at home with their children. Any way of finding out the true numbers, etc.? Welcome to the board here, cmwarrior! I too have heard of several instances where it appears the SD has ignored the legal (and common sense) needs of the special ed students. I'm curious about the diversion of the special ed dollars in our district - interesting that you bring it up. It is sad but as a special ed parent you must be current on all funding laws and must advocate for your own child. I pity the special ed parents that are unaware of the way our district works. Our district will sit back and do the bare bones minimum hoping that they aren't called out. If in fact they are called out, they typically bend over backward accommodating the family. I have learned one thing and that is you had better figure out how to advocate for your own kid. The examples in our district of mismanagement (following the letter of the law) are astounding. |
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Post by Arch on Feb 13, 2010 19:48:56 GMT -6
I'd like to see D204 even account for HALF of the funding money they get for special needs kids.
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Post by brant on Feb 13, 2010 23:27:42 GMT -6
I'd like to see D204 even account for HALF of the funding money they get for special needs kids. That is a question I have wanted to know for some time. We move to 204 11 years ago because of the Special Needs programs. It is still very good compared to most districts but not what it was. I recall a conversation I had with a former principal at White Eagle ES who told me when we moved here the SDs Special Ed was a Cadillac. Now it is comparable to a Buick. His words. I also remember about five years ago walking into the guidance office at Scullen in August just before school started. The desk was piled high. I remarked to the lady that she could use an assistant. She informed me the year before she had an assistant but cuts had taken that position as it had aides and other staff. She said state cuts. Well that may be but the waste and overspending by our administration has made it far worse. |
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Post by Arch on Feb 14, 2010 0:14:41 GMT -6
I'd like to see D204 even account for HALF of the funding money they get for special needs kids. That is a question I have wanted to know for some time. We move to 204 11 years ago because of the Special Needs programs. It is still very good compared to most districts but not what it was. I recall a conversation I had with a former principal at White Eagle ES who told me when we moved here the SDs Special Ed was a Cadillac. Now it is comparable to a Buick. His words. I also remember about five years ago walking into the guidance office at Scullen in August just before school started. The desk was piled high. I remarked to the lady that she could use an assistant. She informed me the year before she had an assistant but cuts had taken that position as it had aides and other staff. She said state cuts. Well that may be but the waste and overspending by our administration has made it far worse. My experience has been when my youngest son was said to have needed a 'bouncy chair' in elementary school... he got one.. there was funding for that. The next year, another kid was deemed to need one and there was funding for that... what was attempted was to make my son time-share his chair with the other kid. Um, hello.. Warning flag. A good friend who used to be a special needs aid at a middle school in 204 quit because he said stuff like that was 'the norm'. Funding and reimbursement for things that should be PER CHILD end up being consolidated and SHARED amongst multiple children. Just WTF is 204 doing with this money? Oh, maybe it went to a change order for MVHS for 11K to 'redo' the lighting for the trophy display case. Who knows? They get the funding for individualized (wow, IEP where the I is supposed to mean INDIVIDUALIZED) but they lump the kids into groups and work with them on the group level. Funding is there for kids to have an aid, but 204 consolidates and has 1 aid for multiple kids (5 or more). I'm sure we'll hear that everyone else does it.... but that doesn't make it right. They'll song and dance and play to the old "Well, your kids is better off here than another place" just to keep the parents from looking into this further.... There's trouble in river city and it has been there for at least the past 5 years that I can document. |
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Post by Arch on Feb 14, 2010 0:26:55 GMT -6
Take this to the bank:
If you have a child with an IEP in 204, then assume they will not do a damn thing to actually BETTER your child's education. It will be watered down, it will be trimmed to the point where they can still 'pass them' through the 'system'... but don't assume for a second that it will actually be tailored to their own INDIVIDUAL style of learning unless YOU as a parent step up and DO it for them. Your goal should be to figure out HOW your child learns (they all do in different ways) and teach them yourself to their strengths. Don't rely on it to be done at school because of the more lopsided ratios that exist and don't assume all of the aids give a damn either. Now, if someone batting for the home team wants to cry foul, I'm more than prepared to give names of aids and specific cases/examples of my experience both with my own child and what I have observed of other children I have known for years while shadowing my own.
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Post by cmwarrior on Feb 14, 2010 13:12:48 GMT -6
Our child was here during preschool and we got transfered. We MOVED back here specifically because of the schools and picked this house specifically because of the distance between the 3 school locations (elem.middle high). ALL of those things have blown up in our face (not to mention loss of property value and increased taxes). We are sitting here in bewilderment.......I know there is a HUGE population of spec.needs parents in this Dist. and I never once saw any of them stand up during the cluster *&^*& called MVHS. I was present and did what I could to help in the fight but felt alone. We as parents are all afraid of services being taken from our children that we have fought so hard to get and KNOW there will be future battles for need coming up. I have a contact that is connected at the state & fed. level within the spec.needs realm and could present the issues to her if we could get all our facts together. She is aware of our case and would like to take a bite out of these people in pure disgust.
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Post by cmwarrior on Feb 14, 2010 13:20:07 GMT -6
Does the SD have to open the books now and provide the detailed info. to the public under the new Information Law this year?
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Post by brant on Feb 14, 2010 13:51:42 GMT -6
Our child was here during preschool and we got transfered. We MOVED back here specifically because of the schools and picked this house specifically because of the distance between the 3 school locations (elem.middle high). ALL of those things have blown up in our face (not to mention loss of property value and increased taxes). We are sitting here in bewilderment.......I know there is a HUGE population of spec.needs parents in this Dist. and I never once saw any of them stand up during the cluster *&^*& called MVHS. I was present and did what I could to help in the fight but felt alone. We as parents are all afraid of services being taken from our children that we have fought so hard to get and KNOW there will be future battles for need coming up. I have a contact that is connected at the state & fed. level within the spec.needs realm and could present the issues to her if we could get all our facts together. She is aware of our case and would like to take a bite out of these people in pure disgust. Go for it. |
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