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To add to the absurdity the Superintendent who was in charge back when the system didn't follow IEPs or 504s (although it continued after he left) is now the Chair of the School Board.
The school system where I live a few years ago refused to provide an IEP required aide for a blind student. Parents went to Court and received a $1M judgment for punitive damages. The reason for that was because the system had a history of ignoring IEPs and not providing services. There were usually 2 or 3 cases working through the Court system at any one time.
They went through a period where they wouldn't honor 504 plans, either. We had an issue with that early on with our youngest son (who just graduated). His 504 was for medical not behavior (ADD/HD).
There was a blind girl in my HS back in the 70's.
She got around with her seeing eye dog.
She had her braille books and went to another room to do oral tests.
She could hear a pin drop, heard everything and remembered everything..a straight A student.
Are seeing eye dogs and/or canes not allowed in schools ?
There was a blind girl in my HS back in the 70's.
She got around with her seeing eye dog.
She had her braille books and went to another room to do oral tests.
She could hear a pin drop, heard everything and remembered everything..a straight A student.
Are seeing eye dogs and/or canes not allowed in schools ?
Canes yes. The aide was to do the Braille transcription of classwork, etc.
The next point:
1970s>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2000.
Last edited by North Beach Person; 08-09-2014 at 05:38 PM..
Reason: removed a zero from a date
There are a lot of directions that this conversation can go, but here's my initial take: Oftentimes people will talk about how much "we" spend on public education for children in a particular district or even as an entire country. Rarely, however, do expenses like these come to light. For a variety of reasons, whenever one sees a per pupil expenditure number, it's best to realize that only a percentage of that is actually making it into the regular education classroom.
That $101,900 is more than it currently costs for the total education per year for 7 kids. Over $1.7 million to educate one child, over their educational time. Paid for by the taxpayers. A friend of mine was telling me a couple of weeks ago about a cousin who was living in a 2 million dollar home that was suing the school system to pay for her one child, who has very high functioning Aspergers, to go to a private school at $32,000/year. Her biggest complaint was that the parents winning these lawsuits are generally the ones who could afford to pay the tuition themselves and their kids aren't really the ones who need the services the most anyway. I totally agree.
We really, really need to do something to fix this. I agree with the person who said earlier we need to have an honest discussion about this, it is breaking the banks of some school systems.
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Special education laws have come a long way since the 1970s. It many ways, it is big business and big money.
I previously worked at a nonpublic school where home/local districts paid for the students to attend. Non-publics are not private schools, but rather specialized schools that are better equipt to meet the learning or behavioral needs of students...needs that their regular, home school or district could not meet. Ballpark cost per student = $70,000 minimum. If the child requires a one-to-one aide, that another $20-25,000 per year that the home district pays.
a cousin who was living in a 2 million dollar home that was suing the school system to pay for her one child, who has very high functioning Aspergers, to go to a private school at $32,000/year. Her biggest complaint was that the parents winning these lawsuits are generally the ones who could afford to pay the tuition themselves and their kids aren't really the ones who need the services the most anyway.
I taught in a school district that paid the same amount for a residential placement of a child who had severe special needs. Parents moved into the district because they knew the district would pay. I added up the monthly tuition being paid for students in alternative, charter, vocational, structured, college in the hs, and cyber settings in the district I taught. $35,000 monthly....do the math for the annual expenditure, we were on a 10 month schedule and a district of about 2500 students~
Years ago I read an article about one tiny district that was literally going bankrupt by the demands of a couple special cases. I wish I could remember where that was and how it all turned out.
These are what are called unfunded mandates. The cost for special placement for ED or violent students with average cognitive abilities can run to $300K/year for a boarding situation.
Bingo.
I worked at a school very much like the one noted. If the district can meet a student's needs, then they are not mandated to provide an alternate setting. It's mindboggling how many districts will pay sky high tuition at private placements, versus getting the necessary supports in place to meet the needs of disabled children.
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