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You can't make this blatant an accusation about IEP meetings. I have taken part in many IEP meetings and there are no lies told and we meet as a group to try to help the student. The reason that there are so many people is not to "outnumber" you in any way but each person there is there for a specific reason- the guidance counselor, the special ed teacher, a general ed teacher, the school psychologist, etc.
In my school we will make sure that the child is receiving whatever is possible to help that child. Maybe it just happens to be with your district but the sweeping generalizations are not founded.
Yes, she can, and she did. I'm glad that in your school these things don't happen. But I have experienced some of what skatergirl has, in one school in particular. In a district that is not known for its stellar handling of children in special ed. It happens. In many schools, in many districts, unfortunately.
Yup, I am a sped teacher here in VA and I fight my district to do the right thing. Its sickening. You would think the law is the law period but my district doesn't follow it. I have teachers from all over the area emailing me because they have heard about how I fight the district for my students. I don't know why they call other than to vent though. They are not renewing my contract because I make the district look bad for not doing what they are supposed to. Even the advocate is sick of doing her job because she can't get the district to do what they are supposed to. I found if I called a lawyer, they are intertwined with the school system and politics and are of no help. I have to call a lawyer outside of the area to get help. My parents and fellow teachers are so sick of the schools. It doesn't have to be this way. Giving a child an education is very doable no matter what your budget is.
Really!?! There are lawyers intertwined in the school systems? I am in the process of hiring one bt after hearing that I am now concerned....Do you have any questions I could ask to verify that they are not working in behalf of the school district(s) instead of my son?
I just came back from an IEP meeting after a combative year with the Special Ed. Coordinator. The staff took their cue from her and my son has learned very few 'hard skills' this year.
This meeting (after we raised HE**) was attended by a bunch of staff as well as the principal and our advocate.
No matter what the outcome, you always feel like crap. You feel like your kid is a damn weirdo by the time they are done running him down or 'analyzing' his shortcomings.
Everyone has good intentions...right. All we want is the best education for our son.
This is the second district in the second state we have been in and soon to be in a new one 'somewhere.'
Had to play the game to get an IEP in place.
Sigh, it's so frustrating and I have a headache.
You are not alone! I have an autistic 7 yr. old son with apraxia and I thought dealing with that was hard...then, I went to IEP meetings and discovered it is harder to deal with the school districts than the disability itself...and seeing how challenging a special need can be, that says A LOT!*lol They are just so sneaky!!! My son had an excellent IEP and they removed major parts of it after holding a private meeting we were not a part of that consisted of just the administration and school personnel. Bt, we caught it!*thank God* They had no intention of notifying us of the changes either and were hoping we did not notice them...However, because we read the IEP more extensively, we noticed the changes and had the essential removed parts (with the help of an advocate) put back into the IEP. I don't think I will ever trust them again....sorry. The rest of the team was great though...his teachers, SLP etc. Its just the administration I feel have their own agendas that have nothing to do with our children.
We had a truly good IEP team, but we wanted to head off some issues as we were afraid they were interested in placing him in a life skills class when he is academically pretty ready for kindergarten. Here's the letter I wrote and sent prior to the IEP. We accepted not getting a one-on-one aide because we will wait and see if with the shared aide and resource room provisions, he does well. That will be better than a one on one aide *if* it works for him. Of course, each parent would need to decide on the goals that best help for their own child.
2010
Re: IEP for *******************
Dear Members of the IEP Committee:
We are writing this letter to set forth the concerns/issues that we, as ******'s parents, would like addressed in ******'s annual "individualized education program" or IEP.
****** has done very well in the PPCD class with ***************. His classroom experience with his kindergarten teacher while being mainstreamed with an aide from the PPCD classroom has also been successful.
We believe that because ****** has good cognitive skills and can keep up with the regular kindergarten curriculum, he is ready to be in a typical classroom rather than a self-contained classroom with pullout mainstreaming. ****** needs to be around children who have good language skills so that he can learn how to articulate more appropriately. He is currently learning from peer role models and can benefit from staying in an environment where he can continue to develop these skills.
The Individuals with Disabilities Act ("IDEA") provides that states receiving funding under the act must ensure that children with disabilities are educated in the regular classroom with nondisabled children "to the maximum extent appropriate." 20 U.S.C. Section 1412(5)(B); see also, Oberti v. Bd. of Education, 995 F.2d 1204, 1206 (1993). Federal courts have construed IDEA's mainstreaming requirements to prohibit schools from placing children with disabilities outside of the regular classroom if educating the child in the regular classroom, with supplementary aids and support services, can be achieved satisfactorily. See e.g., Oberti, 995 F.2d at 1207; Greer v. Rome City School Dist., 950 F.2d 688 (11th Cir. 1991), opinion withdrawn on other points of law, 956 F.2d 1025, reinstated in part 967 F.2d 470; Daniel RR v. State Bd. of Educ., 874 F.2d 1036, 1048 (5th Cir. 1989). "The Act [IDEA] requires states to provide supplementary aids and services and to modify the regular education program when they mainstream handicapped children." Daniel RR, 874 F.2d at 1048. The Fifth Circuit goes on to state that if the school makes no effort to take such accommodating steps, the school is in violation of the Act's express mandate to supplement and modify regular education. Id. "The Act does not permit states to make mere tokens gestures to accommodate handicapped students; its requirements for modifying and supplementing regular education is broad." Id. Indeed, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit states that "the school district must consider the whole range of supplemental aids and services." Greer, 950 F.2d at 696. "We emphasize here that the school district's consideration of whether education in the regular classroom may be achieved satisfactorily with supplemental aids and services must occur prior to and during the development of the IEP." Id.
Pursuant to the above, we request the following for the 2010 - 2011 school year:
1. That ****** be mainstreamed into regular classes for kindergarten
2. That the school provide ****** with a one-on-one aide to assist him as necessary in the integrated classes;
3. That education on autism be provided by the school district to the instructional aide as well as all regular instructors who teach ******;
4. That all of ******'s instructors be given a copy of the goals, modifications, special considerations, etc.
prepared as part of this IEP;
5. That both the instructional aide and ******'s educators in the regular classroom be allowed to consult as necessary with the special education teacher and the
District's autism specialist;
6. That a circle of friends be established in ******'s Kindergarten in conjunction and cooperation with the instructor of that class.
7. That ****** be provided with any specialized instruction needed to keep pace with the class within the classroom itself. This would include but not be limited to: extra repetition of material, preteaching and reteaching of new concepts, a streamlined curriculum focusing on skill acquisition rather than "experiential" and "exposure" opportunities, and consistent and detailed communication with ******'s parents with regard to his learning and social development.
8. That we be provided with material ahead of time, so that we can preteach it to ****** at home.
In addition, ****** has received a grant for an assistive technology device which we will be receiving over the summer. We would like to request that his teachers and aides receive training on this device and that it be included as part of his IEP once we receive the device and our own training. We will request a supplement to his IEP once we receive the device and begin to use it.
Thank you in advance for your consideration and willingness to work with us in helping ******.
As a classroom regular education teacher, I would like to tell you what is expected of me. I teach 180 students a day. Last year I had 40 IEPs and 50 health plans. I also had 30 gifted kids with their own learning plan and many other kids with their own sets of needs. It is impossible to remember everyone's specific need. Supplying aides for each child that needs one is one reason so many of our public school's are in financial trouble. Also, regular education teachers did not get the training we need to be special education teachers, which is what we have become with inclusion. I love all of my students, but I feel that sometimes I am not doing a good job. When I am helping my students that need extra help, my middle and upper level students are bored. When I am challenging the higher achieving students, my lower level students are lost. I feel like we need help to meet the needs of all. Also, IEP meetings have become times when hostile parents act like the school does not want to help their child. This is not true. If we don't all work together, how will anything get accomplished? I even had one parent that wanted it put in her child's IEP that he would not make anything below a C. What is that? He has to complete the work, and no grade can be guaranteed.
I am a high school special ed teacher. I currently teach in TN, but I have also taught in SC, NC, and KY. What several of you have reported does not happen in my meetings. I follow the law, and I work hard to get what is best for the student. Our district writes IEPs on the computer, so I do walk in with a draft; however, I call parents to get information while writing the draft. I also take my pen and make any changes that the parent (or team) feels is necessary. I then make any changes to the draft on the computer when finalizing the IEP. I make sure that every one of my regular ed teachers is following the IEP. I have parents thank me at the end of the year and when their child graduates for all my hard work with their child. I realize that not everyone is like me, but I have to tell you--I have never seen what some of you have witnessed. I believe your stories, but please know that there are special ed teachers and administrators out there who work hard to help parents and their special ed children. I am one of them, and I am proud of the work that I do.
I am a high school special ed teacher. I currently teach in TN, but I have also taught in SC, NC, and KY. What several of you have reported does not happen in my meetings. I follow the law, and I work hard to get what is best for the student. Our district writes IEPs on the computer, so I do walk in with a draft; however, I call parents to get information while writing the draft. I also take my pen and make any changes that the parent (or team) feels is necessary. I then make any changes to the draft on the computer when finalizing the IEP. I make sure that every one of my regular ed teachers is following the IEP. I have parents thank me at the end of the year and when their child graduates for all my hard work with their child. I realize that not everyone is like me, but I have to tell you--I have never seen what some of you have witnessed. I believe your stories, but please know that there are special ed teachers and administrators out there who work hard to help parents and their special ed children. I am one of them, and I am proud of the work that I do.
I want to say that I know there are many special education teachers who work hard and have the best interests of their students in mind. Often the problems are not with those teachers, but with administrators who are more concerned with budgetary considerations and other considerations that have little to do with the individual student and who work against both parents and teachers.
Here's one example, I know of right now. We have a child who is being placed into the public school from a special needs private preK. All of the teachers at his current school want him placed in a mainstream K class. The problem is that he will be 7 years old. The way Texas works, the rating system for schools involves numbers of students who are placed in classes that are not in their regular age grade level. Therefore, the admins do not want to place this child in K. They want to place him in 1st grade because otherwise it will affect their school rating. The problem is that the child is not ready for first grade, so if they do place him their they will be setting him up for failure. At this point the mom and dad are tearing their hair out. I doubt very much if the special ed teachers support placing him in first grade, but the school principal does not want to *give in.*
Here's another. We had a visually impaired student whose materials were being brailled for him. He is in middle school. The braille services are contracted out. He was not receiving his materials in time for him to fully participate in his classes. The materials were also not quality braille materials. He is, btw, a bright student and academically on track. The young man himself has spoken to our school board about the problems. His parents do not want him in a *special* school, since he can do the work in the regular school just fine as long as he receives the material in a timely manner. It took her an 18 hour ARD over three days to get the matter fixed and it still sometimes fails.
Dorothy
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