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Just a small gripe of mine, but has been going on for years.
My ds is special ed, ADHD, among other things. Schools never want to send things through the mail. they used to send sensitive papers,documents, etc, home with him! Classroom volunteers would put together their folders, you know they would "sneak a peak" at them.
Even if others didn't read them, chances were 50/50 if those papers would ever make it home to me. Usually ds would make a paper airplane out of them! Then the school would somehow assume I'd received the paperwork, when I hadn't.
Also, why do they assume I have nothing to do but "swing on by" and pick up papers? when I tell them its really not the best way, sending papers home with ds, they then say, oh, that's ok, we will leave them at the desk and you can "swing on by" and pick them up. I have to "suggest" they mail them to me, which they usually don't want to do.
See, about 200+ years ago, a man named Benjamin Franklin invented this neat service called the US Postal Service. They deliver all sorts of stuff for you, for a relatively small fee. They "swing on by" and drop off and pick up all manner of stuff.
I got so irritated today with a special ed teacher, she first wanted to send the papers home with ds, when I told her that's not the best method, she suggested I "swing on by" and pick them up. when I suggested she put them in the mail, she said oh, that would further delay the process we're involved in. Ok, so I suggested she "swing on by" my house and drop off the papers. She got real quiet---then asked for my address.
Why, oh why, don't teachers realize parents WORK TOO? We as parents, especially as the parents of special ed kids, can't keep taking off time from work for things that could be handled another way. What about fax, email, etc? What about phone conferences? why must we always appear at the school? Certain things do demand our presence at the school, but other committments "demand" our presence, too, like our jobs!
Tachers love to gripe how they're overworked and underpaid, but that same consideration doesn't extend to the parents, all we have to do is "swing on by"
I think this year for Teacher Appreciation Day (hey, I thought that was payday...) anyways, I think I will give each teacher a book of stamps. Cheaper than my gas to "swing on by" Oh, but they could use the school's postage meter, but I understand they have a limit on their account, and don't want to use it up on stuff like sending papers to parents when they could be using it for orders from Scholastic, etc.
Last edited by MaryleeII; 03-10-2011 at 07:42 PM..
I *do* send important papers home by snail mail, and parents still often don't get them -- because the kids grab them from the mailbox and throw them away. I've even started writing "STUDENT NOT IN TROUBLE" on the outside of the envelope, in an effort to keep them out of kids' hands.
The ONLY time I've ever asked a parent to come by the school is when they've blown off an IEP meeting (that they'd previously agreed to) and my department chair tells me that I absolutely MUST get a signature on the IEP.
ETA: Earlier this year, I mailed paperwork home -- certified mail/return receipt requested -- using my own funds, as we needed to add an accommodation for one of my caseload students. His grandmother (legal guardian) never bothered to sign and return the form, nor did she EVER return any of my phone calls to her, so the student didn't get the accommodation on the state-mandated end-of-course exam -- which he subsequently failed.
And that's MY gripe.
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 03-10-2011 at 08:25 PM..
I *do* send important papers home by snail mail, and parents still often don't get them -- because the kids grab them from the mailbox and throw them away. I've even started writing "STUDENT NOT IN TROUBLE" on the outside of the envelope, in an effort to keep them out of kids' hands.
The ONLY time I've ever asked a parent to come by the school is when they've blown off an IEP meeting (that they'd previously agreed to) and my department chair tells me that I absolutely MUST get a signature on the IEP.
ETA: Earlier this year, I mailed paperwork home -- certified mail/return receipt requested -- using my own funds, as we needed to add an accommodation for one of my caseload students. His grandmother (legal guardian) never bothered to sign and return the form, nor did she EVER return any of my phone calls to her, so the student didn't get the accommodation on the state-mandated end-of-course exam -- which he subsequently failed.
And that's MY gripe.
May be I am wrong or that it is different in your state, but I think parent's signature is not "required" in the IEP with the exception of the initial IEP. I believe in NJ, if the parent does not file a complaint, the SD can just proceed to implement the IEP.
May be I am wrong or that it is different in your state, but I think parent's signature is not "required" in the IEP with the exception of the initial IEP. I believe in NJ, if the parent does not file a complaint, the SD can just proceed to implement the IEP.
No, you're correct -- legally, it's not required. However, our school division says we WILL have a parent signature, even if we have to "swing by" the parent's house ourselves to get it.
I *do* send important papers home by snail mail, and parents still often don't get them -- because the kids grab them from the mailbox and throw them away. I've even started writing "STUDENT NOT IN TROUBLE" on the outside of the envelope, in an effort to keep them out of kids' hands.
The ONLY time I've ever asked a parent to come by the school is when they've blown off an IEP meeting (that they'd previously agreed to) and my department chair tells me that I absolutely MUST get a signature on the IEP.
ETA: Earlier this year, I mailed paperwork home -- certified mail/return receipt requested -- using my own funds, as we needed to add an accommodation for one of my caseload students. His grandmother (legal guardian) never bothered to sign and return the form, nor did she EVER return any of my phone calls to her, so the student didn't get the accommodation on the state-mandated end-of-course exam -- which he subsequently failed.
And that's MY gripe.
I believe you!
I know many teachers go to great lengths to get required signatures, and other needed interraction with parents.
But my gripe is, in my case, they never consider our time, convenience, etc. Their first suggestion is to come by the school. Now if there'd been a problem communicating (like some parents are with you) I can see coming up with alternative ways to get those signatures. And perhaps coming into the office isn't a big deal for parents who drive their kids to school, anyways.
But my peeve here is, they never seem to think of something convenient for us as parents. Please realize parents are doing a juggling act, and many work 2 jobs. A little inconvenience in their day can actually turn into a major juggling act. Its not been one particular teacher, its been the whole system---they never seem to want to use the mail, they want to use our time and gas instead.
Like I said, so much of our time is demanded by schools, for IEP, ARD, etc, at least try to be a little considerate and realize our time is not an infinite resource, use convenience when possible.
Our school district has recently made a commitment to use a lot less paper and just about everything is done on-line except for report cards, which are mailed. I think a book of stamps for your teachers Marylee, would be a great gift!
To the OP:
It does seem that you have a legitimate complaint, because your son's school doesn't seem to be taking reasonable steps to keep you informed of important developments in your son's education.
You may have a well-founded complaint that he is entitled to a reasonable accommodation, and that either mailing documents to you or providing you with electronic access to these documents would be a reasonable accommodation to his disability.
Because many schools use mail, e-mail, automated phone calling, or school-based, class-based, or individual web pages for communications, I think you go overboard when you suggest that this is a problem that all schools are guilty of.
Or you know what else would work? The school has email, the parents have email. Maybe not ALL of them do, but most of them probably do. The school could send documents through ELECTRONIC mail to the parent--thereby saving the paper that they are NOT using by sending a hard copy home.
No cost of postage, and they'd not have to spend any additional money.
Or you know what else would work? The school has email, the parents have email. Maybe not ALL of them do, but most of them probably do. The school could send documents through ELECTRONIC mail to the parent--thereby saving the paper that they are NOT using by sending a hard copy home.
No cost of postage, and they'd not have to spend any additional money.
Most of ours do not have email.
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...) anyways, I think I will give each teacher a book of stamps. Cheaper than my gas to "swing on by" Oh, but they could use the school's postage meter, but I understand they have a limit on their account, and don't want to use it up on stuff like sending papers to parents when they could be using it for orders from Scholastic, etc.
