Renee Whaley, 66, blazed a trail for disabled students - St. Petersburg Times

While I owe a lot to many that helped me advocate for my son, this lady was the first person I spoke to that showed me that there was a road that must be traveled.

Renee Whaley, 66, blazed a trail for disabled students - St. Petersburg Times: "Renee Whaley, 66, blazed a trail for disabled students"


After the IEP meeting in Dec. of 1996 at Mann Middle School where I realized what a scum-bucket entity I was up against, I started desperately looking for resources to deal with the insanity. I reached out to my network. I was given the name of an attorney, which I found out later was the Whiteheads's attorney. I was given the phone number to the OCR in Atlanta. These gifts were anonymous from those who worked within the system and knew the truth.

My sister from Seattle sent me some books. One book was written by Barbara Bateman:Special Needs Education Advocacy Books (not sure is this is her first book). Another book was a legal reference to IDEA.

I realized that the school system played by a different set of rules, not honesty. It took me a few years to realize that being honest with laws was not a strong suit of the system.

I digress.

Somewhere in the first quadrant of 1997, I was honing my advocacy skills. One of the necessary requirements in parental advocacy is to know how to access your child's records. Needless to say, it is not as easy as it sounds. Those of you who follow the local blogs should understand how the paperwork game is a vicious animal and will bite you if don't handle carefully.

Closer to the point.

As a practice run in accessing my child's records, one day I went to my eldest son's high school at East Bay. I simply walked in and asked to see my son's cumulative file. Since he was in "gifted", (save that topic for another crock of simmered stew), I knew that he was supposed to have a written plan to address his status.

The first reaction was something to the effect of "Please wait while I get someone to help you." I waited. While I waited, my thoughts were remembering what I had read about how the system makes it difficult for parents. After about a 20 minute wait, I was finally met by the Guidance Counselor of my son.
She asked what I wanted and I said I just wanted to see his file. She asked what for, and I, with my recently found knowledge, politely said I just wanted to look at it to see what was in it. I knew that I didn't have to have a reason, but instead of giving the system something to label me like being an asshole, I played the game.

The Guidance Counselor and I went into a room with the file in her possession. We sat, and she asked me what specifically did I want to look at. I knowingly, with a bit of assertiveness in my voice, replied that I wanted to hold the file. She hesitated and then handed it to me. I opened it and saw that on the left side was my son's identifying records. On the right side, right on top, was a piece of paper that immediately got my attention. True to my new training, I didn't flinch, and continued through the file. When I had made it to the last page, the counselor asked me if there was anything else. I calmly replied, "yes, I would like a copy of that first page."

I thought I perceived an anxious look on her face. My thoughts were that since I seemed so calm and assured, she was not willing to challenge me. She left the room.

Minutes passed.

My mind was racing. Would they destroy that paper while I just sit here? Should I have insisted that I go with her to copy the paper? Now that I know that it is true that "they" have marked me, what else is there that I don't know. Suffice it to say that this was just one more moment that created the person that I am today.

After another 20 to 25 minute wait, the counselor returned with the Principal. The Principal politely asked me what it was that I wanted. Maybe I had forgotten. No, I made the same request for a copy of that page, which I identified as to content and author. The principal acknowledged that I may have a reason to be interested in that particular page, but that I should be reassured that her administration was looking out for the best interests of my son, and that is how I should perceive this situation.

I continued to be polite and agreeable, and again asked for a copy to be given to me.

She asked me what was I going to do with the copy.

I replied that it was part of my son's file, and I simply wanted a copy of it.

The Principal instructed the counselor to go make a copy. Again I wondered, will it be destoyed? Within a few minutes, the copy appeared. I thanked them, and left.

That same night, I went to a meeting at Chamberlain High School to attend a meeting the District was having where they were providing propaganda to parents about special ed laws. This was the third or fourth meeting that I had attended in this series, and they were prepared for me. They isolated me with a woman District personnel to keep me occupied so I wouldn't challenge what they were spewing.

That night, I had had enough, again.

The aforementioned paper was written by the guidance counselor to all of my eldest son's teachers. It effectively told the teachers that Mr. Hancock would be asking them questions about his son's Educational Plan (EP), and that they, the teachers, should be knowlegeable about the plan and not to give Mr. Hancock any false information.

Thank God, at least one parent wasn't going to be given false information.

The next day, again in search of help in how to deal with this insanity, I drove to St. Pete and met Ms. Whaley.

She knew the truth, as she had lived it for years. I was just beginning to see the truth, and she helped put a framework to the truth.

The article says that Ms. Whaley knocked down doors. I will attest that knocking down doors is nothing to the bulldozers that public school systems use.

Ms. Whaley frequently told the story of a school person who said that they could not name one redeeming quality about Renee's son. An all to common attitude of too many school employees that undoes all of the hard work of the professionals, and parents, who understand the challenge.

Too many people think that Renee and her ilk are overbearing. What too many people don't realize is that Renee, and her ilk, are fighting for their most prized children. And this fight is against power with ignorance.

I personally know all of the people mentioned in this article. If more people knew what all of the kids that are involved in this article have accomplished because their parents "knocked down doors", maybe there wouldn't be so many damned doors.

Put Me In A Room With Your Experts, and Let's Have At It

Florida & Tampa Bay schools blog - The Gradebook

I am a parent that graduated from East Bay High School, Hillsborough.

I am a parent who was a seventh in my class.

I am a parent who was in NHS.

I am a parent who was I'st chair trumpet player.

I am a parent who was I'st chair, undefeated, chess team.

I am a parent who was a member of the student council.

I am a parent who was the Drum Major.

I am a parent who lettered 3 years in baseball.

I am a parent who was a senior notable, voted "Most Likely To Succeed."

I am a parent who graduated from college.

I am a parent who is a recognized business owner of 33 plus years in my community.

I am a parent who is the president of a corporation.

I am a parent who was taught not to trust the local school system because of the countless numbers of lies they told me over a span of 20 years.

I am the parent of a disabled kid.

What else do you have?

Posted by: Bring It On | October 24, 2009 at 06:06 PM

The Point Is About ESE and the 6/7 Plan

Someone made a post that supports the point that ESE teachers need a lot of time. If you follow Goader's link: Repeal 6 Of 7 Instructional Schedule : Goader, it appears we are all on the same page.

Can we at least agree on the point that in order to carry out the needed duties within an ESE classroom, the teachers need a 5/7 day?

Pro--
As an ESE escapee--there are many of us who left GE to enter ESE because the idea held so much potential, then returned to GE disillusioned because everyone EXCEPT teachers in the classes working every day with every student made it impossible to achieve that potential for most of the students, I MUST disagree with your position due to the above. There are many teachers that stay who somehow find enough reward in the unbelievably difficult situation they find themselves to do so. Those teachers have seen caseloads rise, have lost an extra planning period to enable them to conference with other teachers--ESE and GE, parents and students in their classes and caseloads, plan and collect data and then write those INDIVIDUAL Education Plans, update records, plan with co teachers,observe and test ESE and potentialstudents, attend meetings to refresh them on the "new" standards/practices and whatever changes are occurring that year--and there are more every year--AND--they still teach the same number of periods GE teachers teach and have the same other "teacher" responsibilities. Pro-- you have ONE child--they have many children/students. You have the time for that ONE child--they have children of their own, yet take untold hours away from them trying to keep up with all the extras for those many. No matter if your child is out of the system--support those teachers--work on changing the system that failed your child and continues to fail those teachers and other parents' children.

Now for my response to the post.

First of all, I will repeat what I have said before about the need to pay attention to the detail of words, especially when it comes to law. Law makers spend hours debating one word. If you ever go to court, you will understand the parsing of one word. I urge anyone who deals with ESE in any area to become as familiar as they can with the true wording of the law. Use an on-line source of the federal laws. Do not rely on your local education agency to explain the meaning and context of IDEA.

They are not INDIVIDUAL education plans. They are INDIVIDUALIZED education plans.

The commenter states they disagree with me. I ask, "about what?"

Don't I get points for what I said here:

PRO on HCPS: 25 Or 6 to 7 - Or is it a life time? - TIME takes Time: "I, as a parent of a kid with a disability, can empathize with the number of hours that a teacher needs to meet the individual needs of the disabled kids. I, as a parent of a deaf/blind kid, only have to deal with one. And furthermore, I don't have a 1' thick federal publication that outlines all of the federal requirements that school systems are supposed to meet. Not that they do, mainly because in order to meet the law, it would cost too much time."

Deformed Link

Maybe I am the only one that reads the minutes of the HASA organization.

I have tried, through six different locations, to get the link to work for the September minutes to no avail.

Maybe they are taking a page out of the Obama administration and are controlling their information that gets out to the public.

Just askin'.



Archived Minutes

Tampa's Hillsborough County Public Schools Makes The Drudge Report

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Stimulus: $2.3 million for Tampa comsmetology, massage schools...
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Stimulus: $2.3 million for Tampa comsmetology, massage schools...

Is there any way to track these funds? Are they really going to take all of that money and put it towards the intended outcome?

Does this have anything to do with the number of massage parlors in Tampa?

Does this give a whole new meaning the phrase "cover up?"

Will they 'make up' a line item or will there be a 'massaging' of the budget report?

Gotta' trust!

I Am Asking For A Lesson In Lesson Plans

Perhaps those who work within the teaching industry could help me out on this one.

How much time does a typical middle school or high school teacher need to develop a lesson plan?

Is there a sense of lessening demands over time, in other words, once you get the first one, be it day, week, month, or year, do the following time sets follow the template?

How much time does a typical middle school or high school teacher need to adjust, modify, or review and revise their lesson plans?

My last question for the day is, do the typical middle school or high school teachers write lesson plans for the class, or one for each student?

25 Or 6 to 7 - Or is it a life time? - TIME takes Time

Chicago:

"Waiting for the break of day
Searching for something to say
Flashing lights against the sky
Giving up I close my eyes
Sitting cross-legged on the floor
25 or 6 to ----------7!

Raising a kid with a disability is a challenge that a majority of people do not have a clue about.

My middle son had CHARGE Syndrome before CHARGE syndrome was a syndrome. At the time I learned about it, it was called an "association", because 26 years ago few knew what it was, although it was there. Similar to the recent rise in the identification of Autism, CHARGE kids are more identifiable now.

For those who don't have a clue, it takes more time in the day to raise a disabled kid than a typical kid. The sad, bad fact is that there is probably more people who are in power and control positions that have typical kids than there are power and control people with kids with disabilities. For those few who know, it is my understanding that my local school superintendent has a child with a disability, and it is also my understanding that he went to a private school. Correct me if I am wrong.

I have little empathy for the public school system, because in my opinion "they" get what they deserve. The reason "they" get what they deserve is because of the way "they" run their business of education.

The airplane industry is facing the fact that airplanes are crashing because they are stretching the number of hours that pilots work.

The trucking industry faced this same problem years ago, stretching the numbers of hours that truckers drove.

The medical industry faces this same problem today, stretching the number of hours that doctors and nurses work.

There are laws on the books that are supposed to stop the abuse.

The leaders of the business of the industries appear to have a "laws on the books be damned" approach.

Unless they are called into court.

The fact is, the odds against being called into court are in their favor.

And, the leaders know it, because their legal advisers tell them.

I, as a parent of a kid with a disability, can empathize with the number of hours that a teacher needs to meet the individual needs of the disabled kids. I, as a parent of a deaf/blind kid, only have to deal with one. And furthermore, I don't have a 1" thick federal publication that outlines all of the federal requirements that school systems are supposed to meet. Not that they do, mainly because in order to meet the law, it would cost too much time.

Time is money.

A typical disabled kid gets to school at the same time as the typical students....(wait for it)... well, they are supposed to.

A typical disabled kid leaves school at the same time as the typical students......(wait for it)....well, they are supposed to.

OK, let's hear it from the real people in the trenches. How many kids with disabilities, which have their own bus, get to school late or leave school early? What? It's only 5...10...15....20..(?)minutes difference- - for their safety..of course.

A typical disabled kid needs more resources than a typical kid to meet the same results.

I will repeat that statement.

A typical disabled kid needs more resources than a typical kid to meet the same results.

I only have one disabled kid.

You can not imagine how I felt, as a parent, when an administrator told me that my kid was not the only one "they" had to deal with. I could not easily process this concept after hours, and I do mean hours after I learned the game, of being in an INDIVIDUALIZED education plan (IEP) meeting.

Pass this on to your power and control people, the ones that say they know what "reasonably designed" means.
My bet is ............ THEY DON'T HAVE A CLUE.

Now, let's talk behavior. After all, isn't the only real concern that "the system" is concerned about is behavior? Teachers, who get it, know how to address disabilities. But, when behavior becomes the focus, relatively very few understand the need to interpret behavior as communication and then develop a means of communication, and, more importantly, the social-emotional development that must occur.

How much time does it take to address changing a students behavior?

I will repeat the question.

How much time does it take to address changing a students behavior?

21 days..... if it is done correctly.

A second..... if you use a bullet.

How many disabled kids who are angry have the verbal ability to say: "Excuse me, dear sir or madam. I am a bit put out by the apparent transgression that just occurred, and I beg of you to hear my argument."

The sad, bad fact is that thought-processed kids do not speak the Queen's English - they express emotions through physical action (acting out their emotions?) - a language most people do not know how to interpret. How many of those do you know are around kids who "act out." Think about it.

Teaching special education kids takes more resources.

Time

Money

Time

Expertise.

Time.

Education.

Time.

Experience.

For those who have read, and understand, the legal requirements to meet the federal law of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and not relied on some 10 minute in-service for their watered down bastardization of what is the real law, it takes time to meet the law.

Parents can teach teachers alot, if there is time.

Teachers can meet the requirement of the law, if there is time.

MO 12's? That is just the start.

Deal with behavior.

Evaluations? That is just the start.


Deal with behavior.

Updating current present levels of performance? That is just the start.


Deal with behavior.
Regular ed teachers develop a weekly class plan for their class.

Deal with behavior.

Special ed teachers develop a weekly, individualized, class plan for each of their students.

Deal with behavior.

Time.

How much time in a day does a special ed teacher need to be a professional representative of their employer?