Another Validation Of The PRO

I keep racking them up.

In the St. Pete Times we see this:

Barefoot penalty draws scrutiny | July 24

School official crossed

the line in toe touching

After reading Tom Marshall's article, I felt compelled to respond to this disturbing report. I am outraged that assistant principal Olayinka Alege was not disciplined for his actions and that the Hillsborough school district "considers the matter closed."

In the story, Alege is quoted as saying, "It was one of those playful things, just playing around with the kids so they felt more comfortable." At the same time, however, one student described the experience as "weird" and another reported feeling "uncomfortable," while yet another "asked Alege to stop."

As a pediatrician and advocate for children, I am sincerely concerned about the message the school district is sending our children by not disciplining Alege. This is not "playful." This is about a person in a position of authority who crossed boundaries with students by touching them in a way that made them feel uncomfortable. My pediatric colleagues and I work very hard to help our children understand that this kind of behavior is unacceptable, whether it is coming from a person in a position of authority or from their own peers. Children should be taught that it is not okay for another person to touch any part of their body in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable. It is a violation of personal boundaries.

Shame on the school district for sending a mixed message to our children. Shame on them for not disciplining Alege and helping our children understand that this kind of behavior is not acceptable and should not be tolerated.

Elizabeth Brennan, M.D., Treasure Island

Barefoot penalty draws scrutiny | July 24

Punishment is due

Shame on the Hillsborough County school system. Your story about Olayinka Alege, the assistant principal at King High School playing footsie with students shocked me. How can the school system just dismiss his behavior?

Charges may not have been filed, but such physical acts with students cannot be ignored. Alege should receive more than a reprimand. Had a classroom teacher engaged in such behavior he/she would likely lose their job and be labeled a pedophile.

Even if a student consents to touches, it is still unacceptable behavior on the part of an adult to engage in any type of physical contact. Alege should know better. Further investigation should be conducted by the school system, and additional punitive action should take place.

Lynne Agrow, Tampa

They said it better than I did in my sardnonic, mocking manner:

PRO on HCPS: Teachers Are Treated Like An Acute Appendicitis. Administrators Are Given Back Rubs And Toe Massages

Looks like I was right about the body partialism, too.

Digging Through The Bovine Excrement

As a native of the great south east region of Fort Lonesome in the greater Hillsborough County in the greater state of Floriduh, I did my share of shoveling animal feces back in the day. I was an ace pile-it. I could pile it in the corner of the stalls, I could pile it in the wheelbarrow or I could pile it next to the vegetable crops.

When segregated, piles of manure had their own characteristics. Chicken salad burned your eyes, while cow patties steamed and stunk. Slightly dried horse dung made nice little throwing instruments of attack, and would explode when hitting an unsuspecting peer. Duck slime was like oil on asphalt, assuring that one stepped straight down and no shuffling.

While we country boys were not known for our academic wizardry, we did have an uncanny sense of the obvious. For instance, while walking through hundreds of acres of pastures, we could tell which pastures had cows on it and which ones did not. Even tax appraisers, trying to ferret out false claims of green belt exemptions, knew to look for tell tale evidence of animal existence. The dried up cow chips were a good indication of length of tenure.

I can only imagine what it would have been like for a representative of the school system to have made a turd assessment. I can easily envision, while there were piles of bull shit a plenty, an administrator writing a report that there was no evidence of cow pies to be seen.

Maybe it is because some types of bovines are protected through their association. Sort of like school administrators that belong to HASA. Perhaps it cost more money for a school system to pursue wayward administrator dumping than it is to pursue lower-level teacher farts.

Recently, there was a report of a school administrator at King High school calling boys into his office for toe popping. A link to the story can be found here on Detention Slip.org:

DetentionSlip.org: Administrator at Tampa's King High 'popped' students' toes for poor grades

After several days of sole searching, I am a bit corn-founded, and am in search of some arching answers to a few questions.

If the students had been girls, would the results be different?

Were the boys involved gay?

Did the boys involved have similar personalities that were vulnerable to "grooming"?

Did the fact that one boy had 20 consensual acts mean that, since it was consensual, there was a "no harm, no foul" assessment, and would that same criteria be held to consensal behavior of any kind between an administrator and a student?

Did the system see the writing on the wall regarding their level of liability and therefore erected their first bulwark of future defense?

Was the content and intent of this brochure followed?:

The following behavior may be indicative of misconduct that should be reported:
• being alone with a student in dark or closed room or secluded area
• behaving in an overly friendly or familiar way or failing to maintain an appropriate professional boundary with a student
• using forceful or unnecessary physical contact with a student
• administering discipline not compliant with district policy

While it certainly seems to be a fresh jar of jam, I can only wait for the next shoe to drop. Others may just have to put a sock on it.

Teachers Are Treated Like An Acute Appendicitis. Administrators Are Given Back Rubs And Toe Massages

It appears that there are plenty of dots to connect to draw a pretty good picture.

While not all teachers get their undies cleaned at the first sign of trouble:

PRO on HCPS: The No-Blog Defense Means Good PR: "Ragusa Complained About School's Public Reprimands:


'There was a pattern of inappropriate behavior,' Cobbe said of Ragusa's teaching record before the investigation. 'It was never anything that rose to the level of sex, but it was clear she didn't know her boundaries.'"

Then there are these kind of actions from the Professional Standards Office:

Professional Standards is B-R-O-K-E-N : Goader:

" (Goader) just spent an entire year under investigation for a single incident, which in comparison to the repeated behavior of an administrator with a foot fetish amounted to nothing."

Then there are these nagging media reports that are the sole reason for the HCPS bad reputation. If they could only identify who writes these messages of anger and misinformation, every thing would be fine within the great Emerald City:


Administrator at Tampa's King High 'popped' students' toes for poor grades - St. Petersburg Times:

"Cody from TampaJul 25th, 2009 12:09 PM

There are more kids involved that were discovered AFTER the investigation and they are not included in this report! Ask the students!!

There must be some criteria the Professional Standards Office uses to decide when look and when to overlook. Is there a Plan T for teachers and a Plan A for administrators? According to this toe-tapping article and the one in the Tampa Tribune, it appears that Professional Standards only engages in Professional Standard action if there is a dispute about the facts:

King High assistant principal told to stop popping students' toes:

"School board officials did not investigate the matter because there was no dispute of the facts."

We are left to wonder what would have happened to King High students if they had said that the AP had not popped their toes even though he said he did.

I assume that there was no dispute about the definition of Partialism -

or

The Lance: Past the Pages: "Therefore, foot fetishism may be considered to be a taboo or dark fetish, however, modern evidence shows that it exists on a continuum and that it is much more common than people realize. Whether you love to buy shoes, or you think feet are sexy, foot fetishism has its place in modern sexuality and it seems to be much less atypical than originally thought. However, if foot fetishism is interrupting your daily life or sexual functioning, then you should talk to the doctor to get referred for a psychiatric assessment and future diagnosing to get the help you need."

What Else Does A Bully Have After The Image Fails?

I will do what the PRO on HCPS does - connect the dots for those who do not see the picture.

The dots are within mine and the local blogs. Just connect them.

Earlier, I posted some comments about the situation at Middleton High School.

According to the article from the media, the Hillsborough County Public School's Superintendent was apparently trying to bully the local media to write more positive reports.

What if the local media does not kowtow to the Superintendent's inference that Middleton's problems are due to the media.

In other words, what if the local media is not bullied?


What does a bully have once their obfuscation is called?

What does a bully have once their claim to professionalism is seen as simply charlatan behavior?


What does a bully have once their claim that they know best doesn't work?

Bullying comes at us everyday.


I personally have been bullied. The day after I wrote a letter of complaint to the HCPS, I was threatened with trespassing on a public school property where my child was enrolled. I did the same behavior that I had done before, but suddenly, I was threatened. I was advocating for my son. I have had the finger of authority in my face. I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now.

Arrogance with ignorance. What does a bully have other than an image?

The videos that Goader provides speaks loudly. I suggest you listen to them last to first.


Bullying Is Not Kidding Around : Goader

Once Again, Image Is Everything

If I lived in the Middleton area and had a kid in that school, I can only imagine how I would feel.

I have often written about how I think the school systems see image as a factor to be manipulated, not as a factor derived from reality or substance.

It is my understanding that Middleton has had several D ratings already, so they can't say this one is an isolated incident.

I was under the impression that several D ratings would sort of signify a poor reputation, independent of media reports. If fact, the negative media coverage would seem to be derived from the reality or substance of the several D ratings. Apparently, this year's D rating has a lot more positive with it.

If we can get the media to write a lot of good articles, we could submit them next year to the state. I never realized how much influence the local media has on the state grade.

Apparently, the Middleton community just needs to learn to trust. What else could it be?

Trust that the money is well spent.

Trust that there is some substance to the fact that the number of students enrolled in at least one AP class has tripled. Once again, I point out that the system deals with numbers, not people. Parents that care usually care about their child, not statistics. Spitting out numbers to parents concerned about their kid has a way of seeming to be dismissive. How callous would it seem if a hospital touted their low death rate to a family whose kid just died?


It appears a few people blame the students, the parents and even the culture of the community. Is this a fact, or are they guessing or hoping? There must be a slew of sociologists involved in this endeavor. A million dollars is a lot of money to just be throwing up against the wall of education just to hope it sticks.




Middleton group urges improvement:

"Middleton received another D rating from state officials this year, landing it on the list of schools at risk of state intervention. The only other school on that list this year is in Miami.


Elia spelled out the situation in two broad strokes: things are better at Middleton than many people know; the school's poor reputation is a result of negative media coverage.
'They don't want you to see the positive,' Elia said of the media."

SCHOOL POSITIVES

Hillsborough schools Superintendent MaryEllen Elia said Middleton High School is doing better than its portrayal in the media suggests. Among the positives she highlighted Saturday:

•The school district has spent more than $1 million at Middleton on new staff and training for current teachers aimed at improving students' performance.

•The number of students taking at least one Advanced Placement class has nearly tripled in the past three years.

•The number of students referred for disciplinary action has dropped 60 percent in the past three years. The school's population fell by 37 percent in the same period.

•Students have won recognition for activities from Japanese language classes to math to rocketry

Can Anyone Refute This?

What about Ziggy and Antigrammargrich?

You guys seem to have a more realistic view of the system. What do you think>



Florida & Tampa Bay schools blog - The Gradebook:

"

The problem with public education is most people in society are ignorant or don't care as apathy is rampant. This leads to poor quality politicians who just want to milk the system for their own benefit to easily win re-election.
Most Americans believe what they read or see on TV.
Unfortunately, most educators are lemmings and sheep which is the reason why we're in the shape we're in.
Face the facts, the districts lie to protect the hierarchy. If more teachers were in tune with what's going on or had a backbone they'd never get away with it.
Posted by: terminator | July 18, 2009 at 05:28 PM"

Looking Through Another Glass

The links below sound inviting to me.

I don't know enough about any hidden agendas that may be behind this plan, so I am not saying I endorse it.

I am planning another IBEA post that deals with the word "trust".

How many of us trust the system after it wasn't "friendly or inviting?"


What about a whole community that finds the system not friendly or inviting, except in the terms of the linked-to author:

"The usual way schools try to get parents involved is by saying, “Come to us and we’ll teach you what to do.” That’s an educator’s natural response, but it can come off as lecturing or preaching. It can sound condescending."

My words for condescending are cavalier or arrogance with ignorance.

Think school systems will have this as a check-mark for parental engagement?





Florida & Tampa Bay schools blog - The Gradebook:

"Another group was just very intimidated. Maybe school hadn’t been a friendly or inviting environment for them."

IBEA - Part 5 - Behavior

To paraphrase Don Henly, this is the one that started it all.

In my 5th series of exploring the need for a new federal funding program named the Individuals with Blackness Education Act (IBEA) which would be modeled after the Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT (IDEA), it was the subject of behavior that spawned the concept.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Do highly qualified or better yet, highly effective teachers avoid schools with a large populations of minority students?

Then, there were these statements:

Euclid said...
The more interesting question which the study did not seem to ask is:
Were the effective teachers in Charlotte/Mecklinburg compensated based on the performance of their students? If so then their departure may have been to avoid losing bonus money because of the expected poor performance of the minority students. Which clearly indicates that the promise of additional teacher compensation tied to student performance probably does not promote effective teaching. Even here in Florida we reward A schools with additional compensation which is usually distributed to the staff. However, the schools with large minority populations struggle to earn A's. The "top teacher flight" might be something that SDHC wants to look hard at as we proceed toward rewarding "effective teachers" with additional compensation a la the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Goader said...
I don’t think teachers leave or avoid schools because of race or school grades. They do so because of persistent incorrigible behavior problems.

Anonymous said...
Behavioral problems are a huge reason for most teachers! Those "bonuses" aren't a possibility for effective teachers whose students are constantly suspended or worse- those students that are allowed to continually disrupt classrooms. Administration is overwhelmed at these schools. Parents do NOT care in many instances!

Anonymous said...
Let me see if I have this correct? As an effective teacher I can work at a school with a positive environment and students that are more likely to meet the benchmarks that determine my bonuses, including AP, with fewer behavior problems, and get paid on the same scale as my counterpart that is banging their head against the wall everyday at an at-risk school. Did I mention the overabundance of meetings and trainings required at these "problem" schools? hhhmmm...NO THANKS!!

July 8, 2009 8:12 PM
Anonymous said...
Until students of all ethnicities and backgrounds come to school with appropriate attitudes and behavior, it will be so.

July 10, 2009 9:33 AM
Anonymous said...
OK-- I read the piece on D/schools that have heavy minority populations. Until the powers that be get it--that they can workshop/mentor teachers to insanity, change admin time and time again, build fabulous new building equipped with the newest tech, yet not work with parents and students in those schools--NOTHING will change.

*******************

Substitute the word "minority" for "students with disabilities".

Look at how behavior is addressed in the IDEA: Regulations: Part 300 / E / 300.530


Sec. 300.530 Authority of school personnel.

e) Manifestation determination.

(1) Within 10 school days of any decision to change the placement of a child with a disability because of a violation of a code of student conduct, the LEA, the parent, and relevant members of the child's IEP Team (as determined by the parent and the LEA) must review all relevant information in the student's file, including the child's IEP, any teacher observations, and any relevant information provided by the parents to determine--

(i) If the conduct in question was caused by, or had a direct and substantial relationship to, the child's disability; or

(ii) If the conduct in question was the direct result of the LEA's failure to implement the IEP.

Working backwards, we can throw out .530 e (ii) because no conduct in question is ever, I repeat ever, the direct result of the LEA's failure to implement the IEP.

That leaves us with with .530 e (i). We have all heard that there are double standards of behavior when it comes to students with disabilities. If you haven't heard any of these anecdotal stories, I can provide you with some. One concrete example that most should comprehend would be where two kids are running down the hall and a figure of authority, say an SRO, yells "Stop!". Both kids keep running. Now, not only can they be charged with disorderly conduct, they can be charged with non-compliance or disobeying an order, attempt to escape arrest or whatever. However, after the handcuffed kids have been hauled off to the local detention center, someone finally states that one of the two kids is deaf.

Oh, shit. Try overturning an administrative decision.

I actually witnessed a scene that had a lot of similarities to this tale. Since I was there, the results were a little tamer.

In my example, everything past the charge of running would and should be considered a manisfestation of the deaf kid's disability. Despite how pissed off the authority figure is that both kids openly and outrightly challenged their authority, it doesn't change the fact that the deaf kid could not hear the command. Consequences for running, assuming the deaf kid had the cognitive ability to understand that there is no running in the halls, would be appropriate as it would not be considered a manisfestation of his disabilty.

From the comments I have been reading (see previous series on IBEA) it appears that schools with high minorities have a high incidence of violations of code of conduct. From what I am gathering, the kids and the parents don't know how to behave or don't care, and the administration is afraid to back up the teacher's request for intervention of repeated and repeated and repeated violations of the code of student conduct.


Within IDEA, if the parent doesn't know how to deal with their kid, and how many do, guess what?

Regulations:

Part 300 / A / 300.34

(8)

(iii) Helping parents to acquire the necessary skills that will allow them to support the implementation of their child's IEP or IFSP.

Double Oh shit. According to 300.34 8 (iii), it's not PC to bash parents of kids with disabilities openly, and it looks like the school system has an affirmative action to help parents, even the parents who are told they are in denial, and they should leave the education to the professionals and especially those that are told that the professionals know more about the kid's disability than the parent.

Therefore, it seems reasonable me that the federal government needs to step in and develop the IBEA.

If it worked for overcoming the obstacles for families that had kids born with disabilities, it should work for families that had kids born with blackness.

IBEA - Part 4 - School Systems Have Been There - Done That

My idea for the Individuals With Blackness Education Act (IBEA) follows the same thinking that public schools systems have toward the Individuals With Disabilities ACT (IDEA).



Check out the public comments on these two links.


Breakthrough-in-legal-dispute-over-black-students-in-pinellas



New Gibbs High principal vows to take the Pinellas school from an "F" to a "B" - St. Petersburg Times

Then, put on your comprehension hat and check out this link:
Over-Identification of Students of Color in Special Education:
A Critical Overview


Chew through the statistics and implications of same. Don't stop in the middle after assuming you get the gist of the opening pages. Since 1975, when our professional public school systems were forced to try to educate students with disabilities, some 20 years after they were forced to try to educate black students, school systems have over-identified students with blackness as special-ed students and under-identified students with blackness as gifted.

Think about the numbers of students who have been mislabled and "taught" on a false premise. How does one develop a specialized set of instructions designed to meet the individualized needs of a student with a disability when the disability does not exist. Yet, I dare say that the number of appropriate individualized education programs designed every year are deemed 100% appropriate.

What may be missing in the discussion about why the black population is not measuring up to current public education and standards may be based on the fact that the public education system does not know how to accurately evaluate, and therefore teach, black students.


What may be of more importance is that the prejudice of the system actually creates or fosters low expectations and creates or fosters low outcomes for black students. Thousands of parents yearly are told, by professional educators of exceptional ed students, that, when confronted with evaluation results that indicate the student's need for special education services, that the parents are "in denial" if they disagree with the findings. Few should doubt the arrogance of the public school system.

If the school system has been wrong for so long regarding special education and black students, what leaves us to believe that they are right regarding regular education for black students?

IBEA - Part 3 - Pinellas County May Be The Pilot Program

In my third missive regarding my proposed Individuals with Blackness Education act, I may have found a pilot program.

Florida & Tampa Bay schools blog - The Gradebook:

"Breakthrough in legal dispute over black students in Pinellas"

If you read the memorandum, I think you will find that it mimics the IDEA fairly well. Similar to the development of PL 94-142 for kids with disabilities, the memorandum claims that the school system did not adequately meet the needs of kids with blackness.

Similar to IDEA, the memorandum covers funding issues and the need for specific educational goals and, of course, increased tracking systems. Special Education teachers are familiar with the increased paperwork that comes along with the federal money.

This squabble between the Pinellas County Schools and the students with blackness has been going on for a very long time. Perhaps Pinellas could lead the way to another set of laws that mandates how school systems should meet the needs of a specific set of kids.

IBEA - Building The Legacy of IBEA 2009 -Part 2 - Manisfestations of Blackness

I keep reading in the local blogs that blackness is the reason that a lot of students' behavior interferes with their, or their peer's, access to their curriculum.

This is my second post on the the need for the development of The Individuals With Blackness Eduation Act" (IBEA).

As all professional teachers and administrators know, under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, students who are "covered" under IDEA are supposed to be afforded what is widely and well understood as procedural safeguards. The Procedural Safeguards notice, which all professional teachers and administrators are trained in, contains information in the following areas:

IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004

After reading the comments on the local blogs, it only seems reasonable, in order for the public education system to carry out it's function, that we, as a concerned nation, develop similar procedural safeguards for students with blackness.

Note: Anyone reading this comment must read the other posts to put this concept in the proper perspective related to the pervasive opinion that blackness is the root problem of our education system.

IBEA - Building The Legacy of IBEA 2009 -Part 1

I've been thinking.

Be it based on race or be it based on disabilities, try this out.

Recently, I have been reading the local blogs regarding the issues related to schools where a minority (black students) is a majority. One postulation is that where the minority is a majority, education sucks.

Along with that postulation, there appears to be an exodus of 'effective teachers from these sites of majority minorities. There is an insinuation that the exodus of 'effective teachers' is composed of a majority of white teachers, a white-teacher-flight, so to speak. The assumption is that this exodus is based on race.

Another postulation is that the exodus of these 'effective teachers' is not based on race, but rather the exodus is based on a flight from dealing with the disruptive behaviors of the majority minority.

This exodus of teachers and reaction to disruptive behavior of minorities (black students) is all too familiar to families with children with disabilities.

This will be the first of a proposed series to explore this issue.

While waiting for the next post, I ask that the readers contemplate the need for developing the following federal law:

"The Individuals With Blackness Education Act".


For the purposes of this segment, school systems could adopt the language of the current IDEA regarding "highly qualified teachers" and apply it to the proposed IBEA.

More About Isolated Incidents

I have written before about how the public school system is blinded by numbers. I submit that that is why "they" like the phrase "isolated incident", because, in their mind, it minimizes the conflict.

Isolated incidents and insignificant percentages sound great, until it happens to you.

Here are the numbers provided by The Gradebook:

Hillsborough: Of 12,887 classroom teachers, 6,709 were rated Outstanding (52.1 percent), 6,088 were rated Satisfactory (47.2 percent), 62 were rated Needs Improvement (0.5 percent) and 28 were rated Unsatisfactory (0.2 percent).

Redisni sounds like they are an "insider" - wonder what will happen to him/her when they are traced down.

"The improbable numbers reinforce the old say "there are lies, big lies and then there are statistics. Administrators like to use statistical results to support their progress and planning, but this time the numbers came back to bite them.

By the way, those 28 low performing teachers from Hillsborough probably came from my school. Since those teachers were purged from the school, can Hillsborough now boast a 100% satisfactory+ rate?

Posted by: redisni | July 08, 2009 at 04:28 PM "

The public, and school employees simply have to trust the numbers.

How many thousands of students and parents are effected by those 28 teachers for the years that those teachers are there? How many of these students and parents will eventually turn against the system after their complaints are ignored? How many borderline students that may have been helped with their communication skills will instead end up being identified as what is wrong with the education system. We know the school system can't make a good salad with wilted lettuce and rotten tomatoes. Throw in some Po Boys and some Mexican jumping beans, and the system's production suffers.

But the numbers look good. Damn near 100% is something that damn near 100% of the people will believe.

No Hint of Bringing In A Professional Coach Here

Maybe the below statements are true, maybe they are not. Doesn't sound like there will be another dust up like there was at Alafia Elementary.

"I'm sorry to say that Ms. Hoffman had to go--and she should have been released. She did not "lead" this school. In fact, it is clear that she was not competent to lead anything if what is alleged to have occurred is true. She failed the victim and she failed the entire community. Others should also be gone. The school board should have fired them due to incompetence and placing students at risk immediately. This is a whitewash.

Posted by: Steve | July 08, 2009 at 01:22 PM"

My understanding is that a letter of petition signed by a large portion of the faculty was submitted to the district asking her to resign. I believe it included prominent parent signatures as well. The district basically passed the request on to her, and I don't think she would have had very good prospects had she chose to stay. Apparently, she wasn't very well liked by the teachers and was perceived as a bit of a bully herself. Even though this would seem more of an excuse to get rid of her than placing responsibility for what happened, the two were possibly linked. Everyone knows in the system that if a majority of a faculty lacks respect for their administration, a school-wide decline in effort occurs. Apathy, bitterness, and a general lack of investment become the norm. Put in a quality principal, one who inspires, leads, motivates and encouirages the teachers and faculty to be the best they can be. Things will turn around quick.

Posted by: Jennifer | July 08, 2009 at 03:54 PM

I am not sure what this statement means:

There are so many criminals going to public schools that it isn't funny. Juvenile criminals are running rampart. I am sure the school board hinted to her to retire. I guess someone these days has to face the bullet. Everything will be fine now.

Posted by: Agnes | July 08, 2009 at 02:11 PM

Has there ever been a situation where a school was held responsible for similar alleged events over a similar alleged time span when the kids were under the supervision of a parent and there were no school employees around?

"Broadbrush Attack Parent" or "Alienated Parent" - Whatever

Here is another perspective on the "war between the teacher and the public".

Maybe I should claim to be an alienated parent. My first rebuttal would be that I only asked for an appropriate program, and never asked for the most effective. After all, I was not a professional teacher, I was simply a parent of a disabled kid. How could a simple parent, especially one with a disabled kid, even come close to knowing what is the most effective program? Why would I argue with a professional who told me that they knew what was right for my child, at the same time those professionals kept pointing out that what was happening, in their own classroom, was wrong for my child.


Maybe it was because my son entered the classroom without a funding mandate. Deaf/blind is one of those high cost mandates. Little did I know that the regular kids were privy to programs that did not force the school system to seek less costly ways to meet whatever mandate that regular kids come under.

Or, are regular ed kids not seen as "an extra burden"? Regular ed kids get to walk through the front door of the school without the big red "UM" (unfunded mandate) emblazoned on their shirt.

Maybe the school system can put a little logo right next to the handicap emblems on the short buses: "Unfunded Mandate Kids Ride This Bus".

Top Ten: Issues Impacting School Administrators:

"Unfunded Mandates The U.S. school system is designed as a collection of locally controlled districts. But inevitably, state and federal regulations and programs influence how a local district must operate.
Laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act call upon schools to provide services or accommodations, but the mandates often do not include funding to carry out the provisions of the law.
When state and federal governments require schools to adopt certain policies or establish specific programs without providing the money needed to do so, schools often are between a rock and a hard place: Ignore a federal or state mandate and risk punitive action, or slash other programs to free funds and meet the unfunded mandates.
Without the money to carry out a program, a district often is put in the position of seeking less costly ways of meeting a mandate, which can alienate parents who believe their children are entitled to the most effective program, regardless of cost."

Another View of "The War"

I have a notion that had I not had a child with disabilities, I probably would have never been aware of the difficulties that teachers have working within the present public education system.

Here are a couple of viewpoints offered by others:


Teacher Magazine: Upending the Negative Teacher Stereotype:

Cyndi writes:

"Fix poverty, fix crumbling schools, fix neighborhoods, fix health care, fix the job situation, fix child care and over time, you will find that America's teachers will be producing top scholars from all areas of the country. To blame teachers for the poor results in some schools only shows the ignorance of the speaker, no matter how loudly he/she shouts."

Drturner writes:

"We not only teach, but make sure kids are healthy, keep an eye on the home environement looking for abuse (mandated reporting), have to raise parents who think that they are still kids also, deal with administrators who have no clue what is going on in the classroom because they live in a fantasy world of politics and self promotion, live with archaic testing methods, out of date text books, teach in ways that are not proper or appropriate for the children (i.e. lecture when we know that oral teaching only reaches about 20% of students) and are evaluated on that method only, deal with local politics and the oldboy system of hiring and moving to leadership positions (i.e. not what you can do but how many years have you been in the district which gives us hide bound administrators with no skills), in other words we need to rethink the whole system......."

Is There A Myth Among Us?

Back in the day, I became familiar with "myths" and unwritten policies. On more than one occasion, I discovered that the practices of the HCPS did not follow the state statutes. It took me a while to overcome the status quo.


National group and local mom seek to end restraint of special education students | Extra Credit:

"By Sylvia W. Smith, J.D.
January 16, 2009 9:14 PM | Link to this
Dear Laura,
Thank you for reporting on the release of this important study by our nation’s disability rights network. And thank you for interviewing Ms. Musumeci.
Unfortunately, there is a statement in your article that needs prompt correction.
There is no such thing as a “Florida law [that] allows school officials to restrain special education students who are deemed a danger to themselves or others.” In fact, there are no Florida rules or laws governing restraint and seclusion use in schools whatsoever with the exception of one fire safety rule on the books about how seclusion rooms must be constructed."