Do I Want To Be An ESE Teacher?

I started what I thought would be a short answer to a comment on this post: Moron State Complaints.

But I couldn't just stop at one paragraph,so here is my response.


No thanks on being one of those ESE teachers, or any other position. I couldn't work in a system that depends on slight-of- hand relationships in order for the system to continue to exist. And hopefully, all that ESE teachers should expect from parents who have been deceived by the system is empathy. What is the difference of parents being dumped on and teachers being dumped on? We are all in the same dump.

For instance, if the District doesn't have the money to professionally develop and service IEP's, then why doesn't the District say so? Instead, the system has developed a set of shifting "hoops" that students and parents try to jump through, that frequently does not make sense.

Delay, delay, delay is the first hoop. "Observations, screenings or evaluations" take forever. There is nothing that says a student must fail first in order to be evaluated for a suspected disability.

A CERT is nothing more than a "double eligibility" scam. In other words, once a student is under IDEA, they are "eligible" for services "if they need it". An "IEP team", which includes the parent, can, and should, make decisions based on a variety of sources of information. Try convincing an OT/PT person of that one.

Have you ever studied the scoring system of a CERT? Just getting older lessens the "recommended eligibility score". How does that work, other than to diminish District costs for older kids.

And speaking of the words "recommended eligibility score", how many times have you seen where the CERT score is presented as "it is the recommendation of the IEP team....". Excuse me, but the "IEP team" includes the parent. But District people know better than to say: "In order for us to save money, the District is saying your child does not need (insert a related service here). However, in order for us to get some money from the State, but limit our expense, we will put a check mark for "consult services" on the IEP."

I do have empathy for teachers because they bear the brunt of the parent's anger when the parent starts to figure out they are being lied to. I may have labeled those posts under "administrative abuse of parents" and "parent/teacher conflict". I do not have empathy for teachers who actively go along with the deceit.

However, as one who has set through countless IEP meetings of my own and to assist others, it is little solace to parents when it has become evident that the IEP is not based on the needs of the student, or, it has become evident that the needs of the student were written into the IEP but the IEP is not being honored.

While parents and teachers are at each other's throats, the real decision makers are far away from the emotional toll it has on the teachers and parents and these distant decision makers don't have to face the truth in person. It is just paper work and check marks for them.