Even as CPS opens more new schools, children with special needs have a tougher time finding options. Placements in private therapeutic schools are scarce, and some charters are reluctant to enroll them.
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Special Ed Sub Scandal
By: Alexander Russo / February 07, 2008
Are special ed subs being used to staff schools and get around IDEA rules that would otherwise apply to permanent hires?A usually reliable reader says that CPS "has a lot of non-certified subs in special education and
saves money by overloading class rooms and by not assigning aides to the
children who need them. Non-ceritified teachers cannot complain-they are just
let go or they leave CPS. CPS has not published any vacancy lists in special education for years. CPS
even published a handbook for special education subs. This is one of CPS' dirty
little secrets--non-qualified teachers in special education. They can not test
children, advocate for the children or even sign the most basic IEP. NCLB rules
do not pertain to non-qualified special education teachers-parents do not
receive any letters like the parents of general education children
do..."
Sounds like a complaint for the OIG, right?
Another one, I mean.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Does anyone have the answer to 10:55?
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Will students who are currently enrolled in an inclusion program but may need a Bridge program due to attendance issues or because of inconsistent/failing grades due to not studying receive special education services while in the Bridge as they do during the school year?
Special Ed Sub Scandal
If ESY services are being denied while there is an advocate present at an IEP meeting is there any hope that the children will receive needed services? This is pretty brazen behavior. OSS laughs at the Corey H. monitor and misleads the state monitors. It is no wonder older special education personnel are retiring and going to work in other systems and the young teachers are bailing as fast as they can. Sad sad sad...
Special Ed Sub Scandal
I will admit to guilt on the developmental kindergarten issue. My own daughter who has fragile X syndrome was in the program at Blaine, I do not know if she gained much from it, but it really did not hurt her. I recall I was a Corey H monitor when the DK program was closed, the CPS stated they were closing it to promote more intergation for students with disabilities.
At the time the closing did not seem to adversely impact students with disabilities in relation to least restrictive placements which was my mandate in the case. The court monitor did not object and I concured in that ruling. I guess looking back I think some students were sent into regular education 1st grade classrooms too fast and they failed. Possibly the DK program instead of being destroyed needed to become a transition to 1st grade program of some type. But in retrospect I do not think closing it down helped anything and probably has hurt some students.
I know I have made some mistakes over the years, this was probably one of them. It is always eaiser after the fact to look back than when an issue like this is in front of you along with dozens of other ones. It is easy to look at the low numbers of children in a particular program and forget about the fact that these numbers are actually children whose families are hoping and yes in many cases praying their children with disabilities will be able to function in the world.
Rod Estvan
Special Ed Sub Scandal
I dissented at an IEP meeting and was moved to 5 different classrooms and at least had four different grades in the following years.This was done by a vindictive principal and a power hungry wannabee principal case manager who was receiving extra monies from the school's discretionary fund and had no problem carrying out vendettas against any teacher who spoke out against the principal.
Would I do it again-hell yes! It comes down to right or wrong.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
All of the special education kindergartens AKA developmental kindergartens were closed years ago. OSS again cut programs and no one complained not even the union.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Responding to being counter: Teachers are employees of the school district and are under the disciple of the school district. However special education teachers have free speech and professional powers within IEP meetings. The US Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights has made these meetings an actual free speech zone for special education teachers, hence they can not be disciplined for votes or issues that are student related they raise at these meetings.
This does not mean that after the fact an administrator can not cook up something to get back at a special education teacher. Life is a risk, special education teachers can go along with the flow and complain or they can take a risk within the context of the IEP process. I am telling the absolute truth when I tell you it is virually impossible to make a legal claim against CPS for denial of ESY if students who are being denied ESY on a catagorical basis have the box checked "no" on the IEP and there are no desenting statements from teachers or even parents attached to the IEP.
Now, I have not commented on either Rene Grant Mitchel's hair nor the hair of Tere Garate. I think the confusion in your comments is based on what my role is and that role is being a paid full time advocate for the interests of students with disabilities. Technically a teacher can not do this, I actually know of a teacher who was given a two day suspension for working a second job while at work as an advocate for students with disabilities. I seem to recall she sued CPS and won some kind of a settlement.
Yesterday on Thursday, I attended an IEP meeting at a CPS elementary school located on the far South side. At this meeting the parent I was advocating for also had an attorney and CPS was legally represented. ESY came up and a memeber of the team said well this student can not qualify because the student has a learning disability and only more disabled student are allowed ESY by our rules. I asked the CPS counsel if it was true that the CPS had a catagorical standard for ESY, because I thought the legal standard was regression regradless of the disability. The CPS attorney believe it or not said the standard was regression regardless of disabling condition.
No CPS staff person present could state whether or not they knew if the child experienced regression so the counsel for CPS stated she believed it should be denied. The mother of the child then spoke up and said that at the begining of every school year she had to go back though a lot of what her child had learned because the student forgot over the summer, "is that what you mean?" Her lawyer said yes, that is exactly what we mean. Believe it or not the case manager then said well the rules are the ESY form had to be sent in by April 1, its too late now so we have to deny it. The child got ESY, but the CPS counsel wrote on the IEP that CPS was providing ESY to "avoid costly litigation." I will not give the name of the school or of the child to protect the student's rights, but I swear this is true.
Rod Estvan
Access Living
Special Ed Sub Scandal
I can remember participating in IEP teams (staffings back then) for children in the Prekindergarten Program and ESY was almost always offered for this population. The rational being that the 3-4 year old would benefit from the concentrated continued early intervention. The pre-k social worker and nurse would stand for these children getting services even when case managers would say "oh no, we have to get permission from the AIO just to staff them.
Has all this changed? Is anyone evaluating this pre-k children? Are they still receiving services and ESY?
Special Ed Sub Scandal
OSS will not, nor will they be forced, to release the data.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
When will the Department of Specialized Services provide the numbers as requested in the above posts? Some of our special education students especially those ini the inclusion programs need access to the summer bridge programs as do our ELL learners. Historically, they have been excluded from summer bridge.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Thanks for the great advice on ESY. I hope teachers document as advised.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
I find your comments incredible and offensive. You swank about implying that the traitors of children are the [i]teachers[/i] then gush on and on about the virtues, pedigree, education, hairdo, etc. of Renee Mitchell, the architect of this vale of tears.
When teachers propose the need for ESY, they are immediately pounced on as soliciting a summer school gig. They teach, evaluate and report the findings to the staffing group. They can suggest all they want, but if they have been warned ahead of time not to recommend service, and they are confiding this to you in this supposedly safe venue, who are you to blame teachers for the mis-management of Management?
How about Tere Garate? She came from a so-called advocate background as well, and she folded like a house of cards less than one year into her high-paid gig at OSS (can't tell how high-paid anymore; CPS pulled all the administrators except for principals and APs off The Champion list). Garate is now another docile lapdog of Renee Mitchell, and goes to Board Meetings to parrot these policies and pretend that right is being done by children.
All you young ones dismayed at the cynicism of the vets, pay attention to this interplay. The next time you hear a vet wearily lie to a parent about 'options' , try to imagine what happened to him/her the previous 30 times they tried to tell a parent the truth.
Vet teachers' parents are retired, or worse. We are not in position to ask them for money to tide us over in our noble profession if our position is mysteriously downsized.
And remember what the name of this thread is.
Soylent Green is people, but Special Ed subs are displaced Sped teachers who told a parent the truth.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
If the school staff are being told ESY will only be offered to students with severe profound disabilities and the school staff tell the parents that, then school staff are not serving the families well. If school staff can prove students have shown regression from the end of June through August when they have not had summer ESY services they should give the information to families and advise them to file for due process.
Teachers do not have the legal ability to do anything more. The right of students to have ESY services or the denial of them is not a Corey H issue under the Settlement Agreement. This is because each IEP team must write an IEP for each child the and denial of ESY is made by the team not formally by OSS down on Clark Street.
I know full well that staff are told by their superiors the supposed rules for ESY, but these rules if they are in contradiction to the law they do not have to be obeyed by school based IEP teams. Very few IEP teams will buck OSS on the ESY issue because they do not do end of the year evaluations and begining of the year evaluations that can be used to show regression. Instead they guess whether a child needs ESY. What the CPS has done has said simply to schools we guess that only students with severe and profound disabilities show regression over the summer hence only they will be eiligible for ESY.
Now I propose this to special education teachers, for those students you think need ESY but CPS is telling you they are not eligible because of their disabling condition. Test them using a reasonable standarized instrument in June then test them again in September and see if they show regression. If they do show regression request that an IEP meeting be held to change the IEP to allow for ESY based on the evidence you have. If the team and the parent agree change the IEP and inform OSS of the change for the next summer, if they deny ESY placement the parents have a very easy due process case which they will win even without a lawyer. If the parents do not have the skill to do this much then there is really nothing more you can do.
The Corey H. Monitor really can do nothing about a decline in the numbers of students recieving ESY if the IEPs all read the children are not eligible for ESY. I have been there I have audited numerous IEPs where children are denied ESY, as a Corey H monitor I could do nothing except report I thought IEP teams needed more training on reviewing the standards for ESY. Teachers and team members have to have the integrity to not be part of an illegal denial process. Many teachers will complain about what CPS tells them to do but they will do it in the end because they want to keep their jobs. Many teachers will let their case managers blow through the section of the IEP relating to ESY when they simply tell parents their child is not eligible for ESY and say nothing at IEP meetings. I see it happen all the time when I am at IEP meetings.
Rod Estvan
Access Living
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Mr. Estvan,
It does not matter about the regression standard when you are told by your case manager that ESY is only for severe and profound. The numbers do not lie. When ISBE comes in to do an audit do they look at ESY numbers? The numbers have been decreasing for the last ten years. Maybe the Corey H. monitor could investigate yet another violation of the rights of special education students. Also, where are the special education services for students who attend the bridge programs? Are special education students who are in inclusion programs and resource programs not allowed in ESY and bridge programs? Numbers please...
Special Ed Sub Scandal
ISBE conducts audits of some CPS schools for special education each year. They do not have the staff to review every school. The principal of each school will get a copy of the relevant audit of the school, the CPS counsel in Corey H. case gets a copy of each audit, the Corey H monitor and plaintiffs counsel get a copy of each audit. ISBE prepares annually a summary of all the findings made in audits in a report called the District Wide Findings.
These are all public documents that can be FOIAed from ISBE. FOIA rules are posted on the ISBE website. In order to FOIA an audit for your school you need the specific dates that ISBE monitors were on site and request any report related to that visit. These reports are not listed and on the ISBE website.
Rod Estvan
Access Living
Special Ed Sub Scandal
ISBE recently finished "audits" of special education programs in CPS. Does anyone have the results? Are the results ever posted?
Special Ed Sub Scandal
The standard for ESY is not catagorical, it is called a regression standard. It makes no difference if you are autistic or learning disabled under the law. I personally deeply dislike the regression standard because it is difficult to prove that a particular child will experience academic decline by not being educated during the summer. The only way to prove this is for the child to experience a measureable decline over a summer.
Even this technically has to be documented. For example if the student was tested and a base line was established early in a school year then the child made progress during the school year that was documented only by meeting benchmarks in an IEP without individually administered tests this gain may not be able to be measured against where the child is when they return to school in September.
This regression standard was established by litigation in a number of cases and it is a real problem. Because if a child effectively shows no or little progress they do not necessarily meet the regression standard. I have given up on arguing for ESY via this approach and instead look at whether or not the student has made actual progress over a school year and if they have not I recommend arguing for summer services on the basis that the child is not progressing appropriately. If these services are denied and the child continues to not show progress you have laid the ground work for a due process case for the child that can with good legal representation or a skilled advocate lead to compensatory services far above ESY.
Rod Estvan
Access Living
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Hey late nite George,
I am so glad to see this issue bubbling to the service. I am in full agreement that people, those who have been wronged, and witnessed the horrible conditions need to step up and be heard. That is the only way to break the cycle. For the sake of our own professional health, the health and well being of the students, and their families we cannot afford to be afraid.
I recently had the opportunity to chat with Mrs. Gaines-Dougherty (I think her first name was Louise, but I will confirm her name). She is 92 years old, a former principal of Burke Elementary and Forrestville Elementary. She was once the youngest principal in the system. When she found out I was a School Nurse she stated:
The School Nurse is one of the most important people in the school. She is in the position to positively impact students and their family. I don't know what I would have done without one, and how schools manage without them now." I asked her if I could quote her. :-)
But the problem is not just on the level of CPS. The state legislators are busy in Springfield passing bills that will directly impact every school based employee, the school nurses, students with Diabetes, and their families. And WE MUST STOP THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Bills are all titled Student with Diabetes Care Acts. The specific numbers are HB146; HB 5960; SB 846-Amendment One; SB 2799. All the bills state that anyone at the school can be assigned the roll of Diabetes Care Aid. This aid is responsible for managing the health of the student with Diabetes including monitoring carbohydrate intake, finger sticks for blood glucose monitoring, injecting Insulin and Glucagon. Yes, I said injecting Insulin.
Not only is this unsafe and not the job of a schoolteacher, it is against the law. The law governing Nursing is The Nurse Practice Act for the State of Illinois and it plainly states that the only persons who shall administer medication shall be a licensed professional. It also states that licensed nurse cannot delegate a nursing task to an unlicensed person. Administering medication is a nursing task. It also states that persons who "play nurse" can be charged with a felony crime"
Take the time to read the CPS medication policy. It is vague and never actually says a teacher should administer medication. It says you should monitor the SELF ADMINISTRATION.
These bills also state that anyone in the school can be assigned of volunteer for this role-the teacher, the clerk, the janitor, the guy who is subcontracted to mow the lawns etc.
Would you want anyone injecting your child with insulin which is labeled a high risk medication?
Do you want the Senators/House Reps to pass a bill into law that can force you to violate the law?
Of course not. If teachers, librarians, janitors, cafeteria managers, administrative assistants, counselors etc. wanted to be nurses they would be.
And if you don't stop it now the next medicine they will try to force you to administer is a rectal suppository given to persons having seizures.
These bills can be accessed at ilga.gov
Read them for yourself.
Then get busy and let those non health care professional legislators know that your are not a nurse and that they should vote no to all bills regarding DIABETES CARE AIDS.
Please feel free to post your questions and I will do my best to answer them. Get out the Vote and it is NO.
Lanise A. Sanders RN
Certified School Nurse
Special Ed Sub Scandal
"...The parent was told that teachers used ESY as a punishment or to get summer jobs and that this is the reason the Board is making it so hard. I firmly believe that it's just that the Board doesn't want to spend the money to provide the services that the children need..." (Marge Wilson, last Wednesday. Others in a similar vein since).
This divide and conquer stuff is escalating. The only way to handle it for the time being will be meticulous documentation, and we'll be on our own for some time. Every principal who forces down services (and that seems to be the majority) should be documented by our side and written up. But there can't be any of this "a little bird told me..." stuff. Name names.
The veil of silence has only protected Arne Duncan's administration while it has gutted and privatized special education services. The mastermind of the gutting from the inside through early 2007 was David Vitale (Chief Administrative Officer). Now it's Hill Hammock (who now has the job they invented for Vitale). But without the subservience of Renee Grant Mitchell and the top (central office, some but not all areas) staff at Specialized Services, they couldn't do it.
They have names. The are giving orders and issuing memos, almost all of which result in reduced services and multiple tragedies.
One last example before I end for this long night: murders.
A lot of the murdering that goes on around Chicago -- involving CPS students -- might have been avoided had Specialized Services been doing its jobs under IDEA, Corey H, and simple common decency and professionalism. Instead, "data driven" nonsense has ruled, with all the "budget deficit" lies plugged in as needed and then repeated over and over.
Share the details and we'll handle the write ups. In about half the cases I've heard about, both the shooter and the shot were part of the vast population of children who've been systematically denied appropriate and required specialized services by CPS. The blood in on Arne Duncan's hands, despite all the Lady MacBeth washings. And on Renee Grant Mitchell's.
At least let's not let them drift into retirement without memorializing some of their more insidious impacts.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
CPS and OSS have not been in the business providing quality service to students and families in years.
OSS decides to save money by creating a Health Service Nurse position instead of spending the money to hire Type 75 Certified School Nurses. This is not a negative statement about the HSN, many of them are highly skilled. The problem was that they were placed on the career service pay scale and they were not School Nurses. This meant they were paid pennies compared to what they would make with their credentials and did not know educated regarding School Nurse issues.
The larger plan was to get rid of all those high paid School Nurses through attrition; keep six, one per region to take care of special education and fill the system with HSN and LPN.
That plan failed. Most nurses would not stay for those pennies and there was too much work for six nurses.
They closed the specialized schools. Oh yea they were going to rehab them and bring the students back. They mainstreamed all these students with special needs (health, cognitive, emotional etc.) into the general population but there is not enough staff to take care of them citywide. Many students needing daily health/medical procedures were sent to schools that did not even have a private room for said procedures. Students are getting treated in closets. And they want the teachers to give medication.
It is not just the nurses who are forced to practice their professions in the most primitive scenarios. Speech paths are under staircases, psychologists are testing on the stage of the auditorium, and social workers are interviewing parents in the teachers lounge.
Don’t forget about the Early Childhood-State Prekindergarten and OSS covert operation. Early Childhood under the direction of a supposed Early Childhood Expert-Barbara ??? disbands the Pre-K specialized service team. Pre-K had it’s own team of Certified School Nurses and Social Workers who handled all the problems of the Pre-K students. They worked with parents, provided health teaching for parents, teachers and students, maintained the health records, insured they were intact, conducted their own staffings and more. They were the specialists and the school nurses/social workers did not have to worry about that very special population. The OSS office promised that the school nurses and social workers would give as much service to those families or else. (Check board meeting tapes) Ha, that plan fell through. The specialized service teams could barely manage the students they had and then you add thousands of three year olds. Who had time?
What about Uploading? OSS gets reimbursed for any service that special service team members provide- Nurses, social workers, psychologists. Speech path , OT, PT, all have to enter the time they serve a child and CPS gets $millions of dollars. Who is getting that money? Not the worker bees. And if you don't do it you are threatend with disciplinary action.
Then they added IMPACT. ARGHHHHH. It is not user friendly. Who's cousin sold that to CPS and OSS?
Help those who work under OSS.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Get the data...what are the numbers of children with learning disabilities and children with mild cognitve disabilites who were allowed to attend ESY for the last ten year? OSS has the numbers and the numbers are decreasing at an unexplainable rate. I believe Renee Grant Mitchell is still crunching the numbers at OSS and it is never in favor of the children.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Who in CPS wants this? What's the name of the person? Policies (written and unwritten) must come from somebody's head. Whose?
Sign me, Stumped
Special Ed Sub Scandal
I sent a child to ESY two years ago. She is a child with mild cognitive disabilities who needs a continuous program in order to stay at the second grade level. She is in junior high. No children with mild cognitve disabilities or learning disabilities were in the ESY program so she was placed into a severe and profound room where she ended up reading to the children with autism. Mom was so disgusted she told me she would never allow her child to attend ESY again. I was mortified but this is what CPS wants.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
I had a meeting with a parent today and the Board is back to telling people that only severe and profound students are eligible for ESY. They are blaming teachers. The parent was told that teachers used ESY as a punishment or to get summer jobs and that this is the reason the Board is making it so hard. I firmly believe that it's just that the Board doesn't want to spend the money to provide the services that the children need. Is anyone else getting messages like this?
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Happy Easter.
"...We had a CTU field representative, Victor Gonzalez, come to our school in 2004 and he really gave us good advice. If you are hit by any child you need to immediately file a police report. Being in special education is not a pass. Either the placement is incorrect, medication is not working or being administered or the child is mislabeled..." (Wimpy teachers, St. Patrick's Day).
This is still the best advice anyone can give. One of the more open secrets about special education is that at least one of the major gangs (the Black P. Stones) utilized special education classifications to keep their cadre in high school to the age of 20 (or later) in order to manage their markets. I personally worked on one of these cases (a kid from "Chief Town" -- which everyone who needs to know knows) for a couple of years while I was doubling as teacher, union delegate, and security coordinator (gangs specialist) at Bowen High School in the late 1990s. By the time he reached his third "senior" year (at age 20), the kid was really in danger of graduating, and was desperate to figure out how to "fail" again. We basically held private conferences with all of the teachers to make sure that all of the special projects the young man had contributed were duly credited.
I figured that at some point, the case of that guy would become a Chicago Tribune headline. It would go something like "poor child graduated from high school without requisite life skills" -- or some such fairy tale, like the fictional "illiterate valedictorian" that brought fame and fortune to John Kass and Jackie Heard 15 years ago).
If someone commits a crime, file the charges. Contrary to the blatherings of some, the juvenile justice system works very carefully and the city's probation officers (even after all the cuts in the Cook County budget) are very good people. One of the worst things we do to and "for" these kids is leave them with the impression that there are no limits on their behavior because, as they repeated following their training, "You can't suspend me. I'm special!"
Answer: That's true. So we're having you arrested this time.
Now, it takes time to develop the proper relationship with the local youth officers (and later, the judges), but it's worth the investment. Having a PO for a year or two is not the worst thing that can happen to a 14- or 15-year-old who's been allowed to get away with criminal behavior for years.
In some cases, it may even stop him from trying to get away with murder as he gets larger, stronger, and more out of control.
When you go to the garden, you'd better watch your back...
Life's complicated. Spalding was better than what replaced it (i.e., nothing). As to the anecdotals about "bad teachers" at Spalding, can't anyone get over that. The only thing worse than "bad teachers" in a public school system that underpays and overworks its public school teachers (while teacher bashing out of the mouths of non entities like Arne Duncan and Barbara Eason Watkins) is privatization. That's what people are getting. It would have been better to stand up and demand that Spalding be fixed up, half the building at a time, than to allow some bad feelings (and experiences) to undermine it all so that Daley could keep Spalding out of operation for four years until Arne could swing the privatization scheme into the building.
And, by the way, who tracked the fate of those children who had been attending Spalding after the Spalding building was closed down? Were they really better off on the upper floors of Clemente, for example?
Now, after more than $15 million in rehab, they'll turn Spalding, like so many other buildings, over to the privatizers. What a great idea.
Happy Easter, shipmates.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
I know there were some teachers at Spalding who didn't care but that is true of all schools. The ones that I worked with for the most part cared deeply about their students and tried to provide what the students needed (even when that meant spending a lot of their own money--I know I did!) I think subs always have horror stories to tell. I subbed when I first started teaching and since I retired and I could talk badly about a lot of teachers who didn't leave lesson plans that could be followed, etc. Subs are not the ones to real tell what is going on at a school but they can definately ell teachers who care from those who don't.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
I subbed at Spaulding several years ago--1999-2001ish-and found disgraceful behavior--by the adults, not the children. Little, if any, work left for the kids, deplorable conditions in the classrooms, no help in the halls or sent to the classroom when I requested it. I know...nothing new for CPS...but still.
Last time I went it was a snowy day, so maybe there were a lot of teachers out, but they had dozens of kids in the auditorium watching "The Mummy". I have NO special ed training, but SEVERAL of the more profoundly disabled kids, unable to speak, seems to get very agitated and distraught when some of the scarier scenes came on--yelling, throwing their bodies around, crying, one even wetting himself. By the 4th period of this, I finally went up to someone and asked if there was something else we could put in--the man literally looked me up and down, shook his head, turned to the other teachers sitting there and made some sign or gesture that cracked them all up and roll their eyes.
When you sub, you don't really the best vibe of a school--a lot of times you're there because a LOT of people are off and the school is just chaotic, but these kids were obviously upset/scared and it didn't seem to matter one bit.
That said, they had THE best food served in the teacher's lounge, bar none. Like real food--greens and fried chicken and sweet potato pie.
I felt for the kids at Spaulding, but I was never impressed by the staff (though I recognize theirs is a tough, tough job).
Special Ed Sub Scandal
A friend of mine was told by a parent advocacy group that they wouldn't help her any further if she didn't agree to follow their recommendation. She was given the choice of a private school or a CPS program but she was not told what schools the program was in or given a chance to observe them. Since Corey H states that LRE is supposed to be followed, how do you force a parent into chosing a more restrictive setting instead of the support the child needs to remain in general ed?
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Rod,
I too am disabled so I approach things from the perspective of an adult with multiple disabilities (some visible, some invisible), a SPED teacher, a Case Manager, and the parent of a child with a disability. I became disabled in 3rd grade after a stroke which took away my ability to speak, walk, and all academic skills that I had previously learned. By the time that I graduated 8th grade, I had attempted suicide five times (two serious enough to put me in the hospital) because of the ridicule which I faced from my classmates who did not have disabilities and from the teachers. I wish that I could have been in a school like Spalding where I wouldn't have felt so isolated and without support. I know many of your staff members disagree with me but I also know other people with disabilities who agree with me. I am aware that Spalding is going to reopen as a charter school. I think that was their intension from the very beginning. I don't want to get into a debate but I do want you to know that I am approaching it not just from the perspective of a SPED teacher. College was my first experience with feeling successful at school and having teachers who helped me to identify my strengths and to learn to advocate for myself.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Margaret I found your prespective on the closing of Spaulding interesting. Here at Access Living about 68% of our staff have disabilities. Of these staff about one third are Spaulding graduates. All of these Spaulding graduates supported the closing of the school.
In particular members of our staff who were sent to Spaulding because their home high schools were completely ADA non-compliant have a particular bitterness about the time they spent their. One Spaulding graduate, who is also a graduate of Southern Illinois University, has often said that she went to college despite the fact she went to Spaulding.
So support for the closing of the school was not limited to CPS officals. At any rate you will find out shortly that the building is going to be reopened, not as an exclusively special school. Because of fire code violations the school is undergoing extensive renovations which may be done by the start of next school year.
Rod Estvan
Access Living
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Yes, I do remember the committee and the difference that it meant when it existed. Closing Spalding was one of the worst things that CPS and the state did. There are children that need a special school with smaller classrooms and teachers/administrators that worked together as a family. The new CTU committee is no where near as effective as the committee that you cheared.
I did file police reports but because of the age of the students, the police never did more than file a report. I turned all the reports over to the Union but nothing was ever done.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
We had a CTU field representative, Victor Gonzalez, come to our school in 2004 and he really gave us good advice. If you are hit by any child you need to immediately file a police report. Being in special education is not a pass. Either the placement is incorrect, medication is not working or being administered or the child is mislabeled. Maybe the child needs a one on one aide who can calm the child down or remove the child from the classroom until the child is calm enough to return. The law does not differenciate so why are we expected to be assaulted by 200 lbs. 6th graders? What other occupation would be so wimpy and accept these sitautions?
Special Ed Sub Scandal
We were providing the support from CTU when I was heading security and safety there.
A number of special education teachers were on the "violence in the schools" committee that we had meeting twice a month. We were even (in some cases) forcing the field reps (almost all of whom were UPC, and under orders to tell the schools there was "nothing that can be done") to go to the schools and do something about those problems.
Several people here remember those activities from the union. You were part of them and served on that committee, as far back as before Arne closed Spalding as a prelude to privatizing it (going on now).
We had a program, and in combination with regular discussion and public exposure of these problems, it was working. That page one news story in April 2004 (Ana Cholo, Tribune) about the security problems in the schools was just one example. Marilyn Stewart and the UPC took over and sabotaged all of that work. That's the facts of history.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Well at AASTA my children are served by the ESP who is a sped teacher(without education) for years..his name is thompson or something..
Special Ed Sub Scandal
I agree with the SS on OSS. I have a permanent hearing loss from a student hitting me a number of years ago. Two years before I left teaching, I was in the emergency room five times from student assaults and no one not the case manager, other SPED teachers or the administration would support me. It's the main reason I left teaching.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
OSS is inept and cares nothing about the children and holds the special education teachers and aides in total disdain.
All of the ethical special education administrators left for better offers in the suburbs. OSS, especially at the regional level, is bursting with do nothing patronage workers.
This is how it works-you have a child who is defecating, eating paper, throwing things at the other students or saying the "F" word constantly.The OSS "specialist" is called to observe the child who by the way does not have a one on one aide. This person, who usually has very little experience in special education-maybe a year at a tuition out type school in Kansas stays for two hours, gets a report done in two weeks time and then gives you a book on behavior. This is the same book that you received in college ten years before and was sitting on your desk during the observation.
You pray that the child will hit the bus driver because then the child will get an aide because the bus company will refuse to pick up a child who causes bodily injury. The bus company personnel do advocate for their employees.
Who is advocating for the special education personnel who are hurt by special education children? NOT OSS, NOT THE CASE MANAGERS AND NOT THE PRINCIPALS.
This is why special education teachers are leaving in droves. There is a total lack of support for special education teachers and support staff.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Yeah, the local education reporters are useless on special education topic. (Well, more than useless: destructive.) You have to find the real stories of what happening on all the disability-related list servs where parents post the truth of their child's experience. Information is power, even if you can no longer (if you could ever) turn to the mass media for it.
What's the story with Renee Grant Mitchell and Deborah Duskey? What are their goals (good or evil) for OSS? What's their legacy?
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Arne Duncan and Rufus Williams are doing everything they can to sabotage special education services. Arne in particular has been lying to parents, teachers, and even principals for more than five years. Every time he plans to gut a successful special education program and the parents get wind of it, Arne lies to their faces, then cuts as soon as their backs are turned. LeMoyne a couple of years ago. Blair and others after he lied about the budget "deficit". This year, Andersen and others among the schools he recommended screwing.
At the same time, the Board approves routinely a phalanx of lawyers (both from the 7th floor at Clark St. and outside counsel like Dykema Gosset) to stall, block, and mislead the monitor (not a very useful person, given the expense) and judge in the Corey H. case.
It's possible to go back prior to the LeMoyne closing -- and the lies that came before that attack on programs for children with autism -- but the pattern is as systematic and compulsive as masturbation, so why bother reviewing every instance. They are systematic violators of the IDEA, and they get away with it because the monitor looks the other way and my colleagues in the media ignore the problem (or, worse, simply repeat Arne's talking points, as in the budget "defict" he was prattling about two years ago right now as the basis for the cuts he ordered in 2006).
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Don't doubt it, Anonymous, that by 6th grade your granddaughter will also have many, many emotional and social problems along with total academic failure if the school continues on it's current approach to her. Criminal. (Heven help her.)
Special Ed Sub Scandal
I am actually well aware of why CPS makes it so hard for teachers and parents. However, it seems that the money that they save does not compare to what is lost by the increase drop-out rate and the potential loss of contributions which could be made by these students if they get the proper help.
Differentiated instruction is actually a very old concept which has failed several times in the past. At its best, it can be a blessing because teachers are supposed to take students from where they are at and bring them as close as possible to or above grade level. Its much better than teaching all students at grade level when this is frustration level or worse for many students. For years, I was told that I had to use grade level texts to instruct by self-contained students even though in many cases I might as well have been trying to teach them from a text written in latin. Unfortunately you are right for many teachers and administrators, differentiated instruction will mean that the students are passed on without ever accuring the skills that they need to be successful. This is what I see happening with my granddaughter, her classwork (at least what I get back) is Ds and Fs and yet she receives mostly Cs on her report card. She will pass 4th grade but she is not receiving the interventions that she needs to be successful in the next grade so she will fall further and further behind. To me, this is fraud because it is telling the administration that no intervention is needed and it is not fair to the student, parent (guardian) or next year's teacher. Whose interests are served except maybe making the school look good?!?
Special Ed Sub Scandal
CPS makes it hard on children, teachers and aides because they want to save monies and special education cost money. I could understand this frugality but it only extends to special education.
CPS wastes money on high priced under experienced administrators, pseudo-administrators right out of college, consultants who themselves were poor administrators and lots of money spent on trend of the decade programs like
Mastery Learning
Continuous Pogress
Whole Language
Phonics Only and now the biggest scam of all which will result in a lower number of children being referred for special eduaction programs:
Differenciated Instruction AKA The child is reading at his own level even though it is below level and surprise surprise he will never fail a grade because he is successful at his own level....saves money due to a decrease in retention and special education referrals
Special Ed Sub Scandal
My granddaughter is a very bright 9 year old fourth grader. I am not basing this assessment on pride as a grandparent but rather on psycholoogical scores, standardized test scores and her early development (speaking in full sentences before a year old) and high verbal ability that even strangers comment on. Yet, every week I receive samples of classroom work in reading and math that are Ds and Fs and she frequently doesn't complete assignments. I have been trying to get CPS to do a Case Study Evaluation so that we can find out what is going on for 2 years. Last summer, I had her tested on my own and it was determined that she needed intervention to be successful at school (along with accommodations and modifications). The school is fighting me on it even though her report card marks and classroom performance does not reflect her abilities. I am now talking to an attorney. Why does CPS make it so hard?
Special Ed Sub Scandal
To the parent who needs pro bono legal services, and anyone else looking for a lawyer at low or no cost.
Go to the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice for a directory of free and low-cost legal services in Chicago:
www.chicagoappleseed.org
The directory tells you all the requirements to be eligible so you can save yourself a lot of phone calls.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
email the state's (ISBE) mediation contact and tell her you'd like to enter mediation with CPS. Might work to have your side heard better. Not sure.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Thanks to the two people that respond back concerning my child being harassed at school. I have file a compliant with the State Board regarding the teachers not following my daughters IEP as well as the IEP written incorrectly. I also made a complaint with the OCR who went out to investigate( who knows what lies the administration told) and now I'm waiting to see what is going to happen next.
I also been working with these wonderful two people( one I just start communicating with via telephone) who has been assisting me with my child's IEP and they have inform me that my child IEP isn't written correctly to help her ( this is an on-going problem that I have). They both are very knowledgeable with the special education laws and how IEP's supposed to be written.
I also contacted the Family Resource Center and spoke to the director, but I'm going to call back and speak to someone else who use to be a parent advocate ( I was referr to this person from this other agency).
I'm not receiving an responds back when I call or send an email to the case manager concerning my child IEP meeting that was schedule by someone at the regional office and I agree to it. They act like they don't care.
I hope I can get an attorney who will take my child case pro bono because it seem like the school, the regional and the Board don't care about my child future even though they have a legal contract that they have to follow. If anyone knows an advocate or an attorney who can help me , please have them to post back and leave their contact information.
Thanks once again to everyone on here who is trying to help make these lazy people who don't care about our children and our future leaders be held accountable.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
It looks like it did-link to an article on the Council for Exceptional Children below...
[url=http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=8663 new=true]House Passes Education Funding Bill 3/13/08[/url]
Special Ed Sub Scandal
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?bid=7&pid=297410
link to blog posting about Sanders' effort...
(excerpt)
"Sanders said the amendment begins to address three major problems facing our nation: the growing economic disparity between the very rich and everyone else; the "shameful reality" that America has the highest child poverty rate of any industrialized nation at 18 percent; and record-breaking deficits and a national debt approaching $10 trillion."
Special Ed Sub Scandal
I have contacted my senators more than once urging them to support the IDEA funding. This has come up several times but never passed. Does anyone know if it passed this time?
Special Ed Sub Scandal
Just saw this (from another state). Anyone in Chicago joined this effort? Any update?
Urge Your Senators to Support Amendment for $10 Billion More for IDEA!
Amendment to be voted on week of March 10.
Please join CEC in supporting an effort led by Senator Sanders (D-VT) to provide an additional $10 billion for IDEA. This effort – which will be an amendment offered to the Senate’s budget resolution – will be voted on either March 10, 11, or 12, therefore it is critical that you urge your Senators to vote for the Sanders Amendment.
For 33 years, Congress has failed to fulfill its promise to fully fund IDEA. Urge your senators to uphold their promise to children, families and educators of students with disabilities across the country by voting for this amendment.
Special Ed Sub Scandal
One of our SpEd students has an aide assigned to him all day. The student is autistic. The aide is indicated on the IEP. I am also aware of two other students that have an aide written into their IEP for parts of the day when the SpEd teacher is not in the general education room. Those two students NEVER received the aide and struggled all year. When new IEPs were written, the aide was not included in the paperwork. It did not matter that the majority of IEP team wanted the aide. The case manager said, NO WAY.