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

Where Is The Substance To The IEP?

Another article about yesterday's news can be found here:

State Complaint

We could examine this part of the article closely:

The groups also say the school district isolates students with disabilities through discipline. Disabled students in Hillsborough are 2 1/2 times as likely to lose as least 10 days of school to suspensions or expulsions as other students, they say.

But a veteran of two schools with exceptional student education programs says administrators often mainstream students with behavioral disabilities into regular settings.

"We really believe that every student begins in the least restrictive environment," said Joyce Wieland, a former principal and the district's director for exceptional student education.

It is through later assessment and discussion involving both school administrators and parents that placements change.

"Each student is seen as an individual, and we want all children to learn," Wieland said.

What we don't hear is that the supports and services that should be written into an IEP so that the student can benefit from the least restrictive environment are provided. Simply placing a student in the LRE is not the point. The point is that the teacher and the students need supports and related services. In a real professional ESE world, the change of placement would occur after it is demonstrated that the supports and related services that were written into a well designed IEP do not meet the needs of the student.

I didn't see that from what I read. How many teachers see that in their classrooms?