Someone made the following comment in my previous post:
"In Hillsborough, at least at my school, we list all the disabilities if more than one is present.
We do have to choose which one is the "primary" disability. This is the one that requires the most service time."
Wow - look what some one wrote on the Wrightslaw blog:
"School personnel’s knowledge of the law is often based what they were told in a training program or by “word of mouth.” Like parents, few educators question what they are told. Very few school staff have read the law.
If you don’t have a copy of IDEA 2004 and the regulations, get one now!
You can download most of these documents from the Wrightslaw site. Click here for an overview of the IDEA statute."
This is old news. It happened in 2005.
But on further review, who really cost the District this much money?
Alert - Federal Judge Approves Record $6.7 Million Settlement in Special Education Case:
"'This lawsuit could have been avoided and millions of dollars could have been saved had the Manhattan Beach USD and the CDE simply complied with clearly established statutes and regulations.”"
"In his December 2004 decision, Judge Feess stated, 'it seems that the District has endeavored to use the power it has over [the student's] education as a means of retaliating against the Porters for their criticisms of, and challenges to, the District.'
State Allowed District to Flout Authority
Judge Feess also took the CDE to task for its failure to exercise appropriate oversight over the District, stating '[a]lthough it is true that the District repeatedly flouted the State's authority by failing to comply with two state agency orders, it was only successful in doing so because of the CDE 's inattention.'
As interim relief, in a separate order entered on November 23, 2004, Judge Feess transferred control over the student's education from the Manhattan Beach USD and the CDE to a Special Master, Ivor Weiner, Ph.D.
Under the settlement agreement, Manhattan Beach USD and the California Department of Education have been ordered to set aside approximately $1.1 million in a trust to pay for the education of the student at the direction of the Special Master."
Click here for more information
index: "Upcoming Advocacy Trainings
Level One
Friday, February 20, 2009
6:00-9:00pm
USF in Tampa
Level Two Advanced Advocacy Training
Saturday and Sunday, February 21 & 22, 2009
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
USF in Tampa
Sponsored by: Families of Kids with
Mood & Anxiety Disorders, Inc."
I would be remiss to not draw attention to something positive happening within the ESE world of the Hillsborough County Public School system. After all of the broad brush attacks I have made over the years based on the knowledge I have about how the ESE system works, it might seem a little odd for me to give "kudos" to the system. Speaking of "kudos", has anyone ever read something that came out of the HCPS ESE communication publications that did not have the word "kudos" in it at least twice?
If change is something that we should believe in, then I reckon I must demonstrate that I can change as well as the next believer in the public education system. I have little reason to believe that anyone within the system would pay much attention to me as a blogger, but I must say that there seems to be a significant change within how the HCPS ESE website has updated their links to provide IDEA 2004 information. It has been my experience that most of the "compliance" information that is provided to employees and parents is an "interpretation" of the existing laws, be it Federal or State.
Apparently there is a perception by the purveyors of this information that no one can understand the original source of these laws, therefore a "simplified interpretation" has always been provided. There are some who think that this "simplified interpretation" actually is a cunning strategy to keep the masses ignorant of the true power, and therefore cost, from the true intent of the IDEA.
Since it is a new year, what can it hurt to turn over a new leaf. Time will tell how the truth will effect compliance issues with the HCPS ESE world, but in the mean while, I can look over a four leaf clover as well as anyone.
PRO on HCPS: By Jove, Someone Is Paying Attention Over In The ESE Department
I know there are a few within the public special education system that will continue to first blame the student and then blame the parent. I even live in a county that is "on Santa's naughty list" for labeling kids in need of specialized education, sending them off to a more restrictive environment in a special education center, and then, just to prove that the kids are too far gone to benefit from those professionally written IEP's that are designed to meet the individual needs of each child, have the kids arrested.
I don't make this stuff up. Read the arrest complaint.
And the good special education teachers are in the same boat as the kids and the parents.
Here is a link to a yuletide song, probably written by a parent who lives in a county that has a good PR program going:Special Education Law Blog
I know:
The District needs some good PR.
The District Administrators don't know about ESE issues.
There is a common complaint that Hillsborough County is just too big for everyone to be up to date on the latest laws.
That somehow in an apparent attempt to explain changes in law, the District "breaks it down", and that in this translation, the original intent of the law is missed.
The majority of the public is clueless and depends on the professionals for the truth.
Today, I was reminded of how I came about having this blog. This blog progressed to my other two blogs. Today, I was reminded of how contemptuous and ignorantly isolated the Special Education system is in Hillsborough County.
When someone tells me that I can say things that employees of the system can't say, it taps into the anger I have about the system. I mock those who say they are "professionals" yet hide behind the smoke and mirrors of the system.
I, and the increasing number of others who see the truth, can not respect a system that flaunts it's contempt towards kids with disabilites who have needs that won't be met.
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.
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