A Special Special Education Issue

I keep hearing that HCPS is in need of some good PR.


I am eager to assist.

Click here to read the formal complaint:

Does this issue need to be addressed to gain some good PR?



• In addition to turning to police as disciplinarians, Florida schools increasingly
utilize internal discipline methods that focus on isolation and removal instead of
addressing the underlying behavioral problem. In fact, the growth in the number
of out-of-school suspensions has outpaced the growth of the student population by
almost two-to-one. Out-of-school suspensions rose from 385,365 during the 1999-
00 school year to 441,694 in 2004-05, a 14 percent increase, even though the
student population increased by only 8.4 percent.




3During fiscal year 2006-2007, Hillsborough County recorded the highest actual number of school related referrals (1,881) which represented a 20% reduction from figures previously reported during the 2004-2005 fiscal year.

4 The overall percentage of delinquency referrals from
Hillsborough County that were school-related was consistent with the statewide average (16%).

5 Although HCPS does not routinely disaggregate school-related referral data by students’ disability status according to the Hillsborough County Public Defender’s Office, the school district’s exceptional centers for students with disabilities tend to arrest a large number of students. During the 2004-2005 school year seven exceptional centers were the source of 47 school arrests.

We Need a Better Transition Program « The Life That Chose Me

The below blog post should be read with comprehension.

Keep in mind that "low expectations" is the bane of all education, not just Special Ed.

My personal opinion is that kids should be taught to maximize their individualized daily living potential.

Think about that concept.

Taught to maximize their individualized daily living potential.




It is my opinion that "professional-educator-decision-makers" look at disabilities as an excuse, not a reason.

I submit that the higher the rung of the rank of the educator, the less pro-active for the individual disabled. The special-education system is about gate-keeping funds more than individualized focus.

Prove me wrong on that point.

It is my opinion that public education is so far away from individual focus that there is no way public education will ever be "sucessful" because "success" is measured wrongly.

Think about it.

Statistics do not have much meaning to the ones who can not pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, no matter what the disability is.




We Need a Better Transition Program « The Life That Chose Me: "The mission of the school system is to educate students according to the state curriculum standards. That will always come first, and everything else is extra, regardless of what is put on the IEP. We can write lovely goals and a lovely transition plan but that neither compels nor empowers us to carry out those plans. The IEP is pretty much toothless in areas that do not align with NCLB. If it does not address the state curriculum, I’m going to have a hard time carrying it out because the law clearly mandates what I’m required to do — teach to the standards. And I do not have sufficient time to even do that very well. So guess what happens to those goals, objectives and transition plans? They are being sidelined."

Why Parents Get Angry When They Learn The Truth

Recently I heard a professional educator give some information to a group of people. The professional educator said that if a parent disagrees with an evaluation completed by a District, the parent can request an Independent evaluation but if the results of the independent evaluation come back the same as the District's, then the parent would have to pay for it.

I disagree, and here is why.

First, let us look at what information my local education agency (LEA) provides on it's website:


First we go here: HCPS ESE Compliance Office

then we get here when we click on the "UCI manual" button:

proc_safe_0707.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Scroll down to page 3 and read about Independent Evaluations. It is missing a lot of information.

Now, click on this link and read the truth:

IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004

You will find this:

(

4) If a parent requests an independent educational evaluation, the public agency may ask for the parent's reason why he or she objects to the public evaluation. However, the public agency may not require the parent to provide an explanation and may not unreasonably delay either providing the independent educational evaluation at public expense or filing a due process complaint to request a due process hearing to defend the public evaluation.

If school systems want better PR, school systems need to teach the truth to their staff and the public.

The Complaint filed by The Advocacy Center for Persons With Disabilities Against Hillsborough County Public Schools

SPLCenter.org: Hillsborough County Special Education


Go to this link.


Click on: Complaint: Hillsborough Complaint.pdf


Read how many incidents there were that allege that HCPS failed to provide related services to these kids over a long period of time.


Read the statistics.


Read the request for remedy, especially the last one. Hillsborough County is supposed to have this in action, as it was the same requested remedy from the first Whitehead trial.

Compliance and professional education is more than a check mark.

If you wonder why there is bad PR for HCPS, just try to get a glimpse of understanding for what this means.

Many parents eager to help kids succeed - St. Petersburg Times

Long-time readers of my blogs would know I have written frequently on how school systems use the "first we blame the student, then we blame the parent" as a defense of the inadequacies of the system, or as an offense to intimidate the parent.


As a parent of a disabled kid, I know the story well. Thanks to the link from The Gradebook, here is an article written by Bill Mawwell that suggests some insight about all of those parents that use "broad brush attacks", are malcontents, and are thousands of "isolated incidents".

Many parents eager to help kids succeed - St. Petersburg Times

Daniel Gage: Going to War « The Life That Chose Me

I really like the title Mr. Gage chose. It says a lot.


I found this intersting and insightful commentary by Daniel Dage. Read the complete post. Segregating disabled kids in itself is injust for the teachers and the students and the parents and "the system", whether it sees it or not.

"So when I consider this pervasive culture of repression it becomes pretty obvious to me that total integration is the only solution. The only way to gain equal rights is to be in-your-face militant about it because otherwise people will be all content in their little comfort zones. Yes, my students are disruptive. So are all the other students. But I am sick and tired of us being pushed to the back of the bus every time a disability is inconvenient. Anyone can teach a “normal” student who is always compliant. They often learn in spite of what teachers do. But it’s the exceptional students who demand more expertise and skill. Those are the students who need to make the most gains and who need the most attention. The problem is not that my students can’t learn. The problem is that no one wants to put forth the resources (money) needed to pay someone to teach them the way they need to be taught."

Going to War « The Life That Chose Me:

Maybe this is why it is a war:


SEGREGATION NOW, SEGREGATION TOMORROW….SEGREGATION FOREVER « BEAUTIFUL, ALSO, ARE THE SOULS OF MY BLACK SISTERS:

..."Rehnquist continued, “To the argument…that a majority may not deprive a minority of its constitutional right, the answer must be made that while this is sound in theory, in the long run it is the majority who will determine what the constitutional rights of the minorities are.”".....

Concern about Evaluations At The Last School Board Meeting

How many of you know that an OCR complaint was filed several years ago that resulted in OCR finding that HCPS's "evaluation list" was a violation?

I haven't found a link to that specific complaint, but I am sure your local Compliance officer should know about it.

Articulation Agreements - Who Knew?

I missed the first part of the last HCPS Board meeting, but thanks to advanced technology, I had the opportunity to watch it from the beginning.

Starting around 13:00 minutes into the meeting, agenda item 1.04 was brought up. Through the ensuing discussion, the general director of education was asked if HCPS had a partnership with Hillsborough Community College, and she said "No, we do not."

Interestingly, someone in the back of the room was indicating that indeed HCPS did have a partnership with HCC. This person was identified as Andrea Beverly. She went on to explain that there was an articulation agreement with HCPS and HCC for occupational and physical therapy.

What seemed more interesting was when the general director of ESE stated that in the last three years of being in her position, there had not been any interns from HCC.

Since we should all be aware of the recent state complaint here:

Motel Special Ed: Old news is still bad news, but how many know it?

findings of how the HCPS failed to provide the contracted services for OT and PT on numerous IEP's, it would seem that this type of information should not be overlooked.

Am I missing something too?

The Groupthink Bully At Helm Of School Board

The Groupthink Bully At Helm Of School Board


Sounds like an IEP meeting where the parent is trying to advocate for their child.

Grady has a new boundless playground - St. Petersburg Times

Grady has a new boundless playground - St. Petersburg Times

""They would watch, they would laugh, they would talk across," said school principal Melanie Bottini, "but they couldn't play alongside."

I am sure that the decision makers of our professional education system understand the difference between parallel play and cooperative play.


Parallel Play
Parallel play (or parallel activity) is a term that was introduced by Mildred Parten in 1932 to refer to a developmental stage of social activity in which children play with toys like those the children around them are using but are absorbed in their own activity and usually play beside rather than with one another. Children in this stage may comment on what they are doing or imitate what another child does, but they rarely cooperate in a task or engage in dramatic play or formal games with others. This stage occurs after solitary and onlooker play and before associated and cooperative play when children engage in more complex social interactions. Preschool children of all ages engage in parallel play, particularly when using sand, water, blocks, and art materials; this type of play appears to serve as a bridge to more complex cooperative activities.


Cooperative play:

......"In the second year of life, human infants become true social partners with one another for the first time. Between 18 and 24 months of age, children begin to engage in unique, nonritualized, cooperative interactions with peers (agemates), and this development appears to be universal (Brownell & Carriger 1990; Eckerman et al. 1989; Eckerman & Whitehead 1999). Thenceforth, peer play and interaction become progressively more central as a context for socialization. It can be argued, in fact, that children’s peer play enables and drives enculturation as much as does adult-child interaction (Tomasello et al. 1993)."

Found here


We should be thankful for the tireless efforts of the few who are professional educators, even when the ones with the most effort are parents.

"......Grady, however, is the first school in Hillsborough County to have a "boundless" playground.

Both projects were initiated by Stefani Busansky, whose first child, Sarah, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy in 2001....."