How many Sped Admins does it take...

Great one Dad! I can only add…

In the begining was THE PLAN (special ed procedures?)
And then came the Assumptions
And the Assumptions were without form
And the plan (proposed procedures?) was without substance
And darkness was upon the faces of the workers (parents)
And they spoke among themselves saying
“It is a crock of sh-t, and it stinketh.”
And the workers (parents) went unto their supervisors (program specialist?) and sayeth,
“It is a pail of dung and none may abide of the odor thereof.”
And the supervisors (program specialists) went unto their managers (administrators) and sayeth unto them,
“It is a container of excrement and it is very strong, Such that none may abide by it.”
And the manager (administrators) went to director (of special ed) and sayeth,
“It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide its strength.”
And the director (of special ed) spoke among his/her peers, saying to one another “It contains that which aids plant growth, and it is very strong.”
And the director (of special ed) went to the Vice Presidents (assistant superintendents?) and sayeth unto them
“It promotes growth and is very powerful.”
And the Vice Presidents (assistant superintendents?) went unto the President (superintendent of the district) and sayeth unto him
“This new plan will actively promote the growth and efficiency of this company (school district), and in these areas in particular.”
And the President (superintendent) looked upon the plan, and saw that it was good, and the plan became policy.
This is how SH-T HAPPENS!

I needed some humor in the middle of all the stench. Thanks again!

Dad: I knew you were brilliant…and this is just more proof.
THANKS for making my day.
Elizabeth

This is my first visit to this site. You’re post just summed up the past 4 years of my daughters life in EI and Special Ed Pre-K.
I will be sure to print this out!
Thanks!
LYnn

I cannot claim authorship of this piece. I received it in email, and it tickled me so I thought I would pass it along. I usually include a small introduction which explains why I am forwarding, and I neglected to do that with this one. Don’t want to cheat the true author out of his limelight, and if I knew who the author was I would have sourced the quote.

How many Special Education Administrators does it take to screw a child?
Answer: Only one.

Thanks for these postings, sometimes you begin to feel it is only you that feels this way, and there must be something wrong with you!!

We are into our second year with an LD label, and a 115 IQ.

You boys are so cleaver….but remember I get the last laughts this spring. See you in the IEP meetings, boys!!

TTFN

Dealing with you people makes me

Peeved

I was, am, and will always be

Peter Principal

I see you finally got back out of rehab, hope the down time has recharged your batteries…

When I see you at the meeting this spring I am going to bring a little something for you that I hope you find useful. (What’s that? Oh no, not my meeting, remember I chose to homeschool my boy rather than subject him any longer to that gryst mill you call your school, I shall be attending with a friend of mine who’s child was just diagnosed with ADHD/dyslexia as a friend).

Anyway, I shall be bringing along a copy of the Byrne decision, a very interesting piece of work really. I do hope you will take the time to read this one, unlike all those papers and printouts I gave you when my boy was in your “program”. It concerns the pesonal liability that you and your staff assume once the ink is on that IEP, so I really am looking forward to seeing you… this time.

Oh yes, and please do try to stay awake for the whole IEP meeting. I know your nights can get a little late, but it is very important that all members of the IEP team are keeping up with the discourse.

Kisses

Dad

Dad, I remember you. I paid great attention to your missives over the years. Afterall, you are an equal member of the IEP team. You’ll be very pleased to know that I have placed your documents in our Special Education Round File 13, for future reference.

Sometimes I just have to step back remember the little parent people along the way. I’m so touched that you noticed my absence. You should be impressed to know that I was on rotation with the district. I was charged with training new principals. The district is so impressed with my numbers. Did I ever tell you I’ve got the lowest percentage of children receiving special education in my district? Not that I like to brag, you understand. But let’s face it, my numbers are impressive. But then again, I did receive my advanced degree from our nation’s most elite correspondence academy. I know the value of education!

My 4 inch stilettoes are polished and ready to go.

Peter Principal

> My 4 inch stilettoes are polished and ready to go.
>
> Peter Principal

Pete,

All due respect (which is none), I am forever amazed that you boast of your stilletoes… may your bunyons grow even bigger, and hurt all the more! If/when we ever cross paths, I’ll be sure to step on them.

It’s been a while since you last slithered out from under your rock, odds are you are going to once again upset a few newcomers to the bb.

Please, one and all, PP is the sacraficial lamb of administrators who gets fed to us on this bb, allowing for parental retribution for the idiocy we get put through when dealing with our local district beaurocracies.

PP is the culmination of all idiot administrators everyone has encountered rolled into one name and pair of size 14 4” stilletoes.

Dad needs no protection here, thought I’d give him a breather as I believe he relieved me on the last bout we had a few months back!

When you boast about your $ and all that you do for the district, remember, some people you have to pay to be good, you are good for nothing!

Andy

Hi ,
I had put my daughter in a Charter school after she had been in a self contained class in the public school. She is Emotionally Handicapped as well as learning disabled and recieves OT. I thought it would be better but instead she’s doing worse. I recently found out I could get the school district to pay for a private school which is exactly the kind of school my daughter needs. We live in Florida. I had to have a new IEP in the Charter school and without knowing it they lowered her matrix number. I had the school board agreeing to send her and the private school excepting her on the basis of her having a 254 matrix. I got a call today from the school board who told me the matrix is only 252 which means a lot less money so the private school won’t take her. I am so angry with myself. If I had left her in the self contained class and then tried for the private school she could have gone. Here I was trying to help my daughter and instead hurt her. Does anyone know if I can somehow have a new IEP on the basis that she’s not doing well with the services she has now? Is it possible to try to get this changed since I’m telling them the services she has now aren’t sufficient? I’m even wondering if I should put her back in the public self contained class and then try for the private school but I don’t know how much I can get away with since the school board now knows I want her in the private school. Can anyone give me some advice? Thanks.

I would love to see where your students rank on standardized tests. You obviously do so much to help the children that you are suppose to be educating. That is what schools are still for — aren’t they?

So, are you one of the top ranking schools in your state. If not, you have nothing to be proud of.

You have picked the wrong profession. Real sad for the children and tax payers though.

Karen, you’re new here, aren’t you dear? Speaking as a friend, I don’t think this is the best place to find help for your child. The people who post here are all whiners with bad attitudes. These are unbalanced people who have more or less burned their bridges behind them and have alienated everyone they’ve encountered. Basically, they come here because misery loves company. No one else will give these people the time of day. I suggest that you not waste your time on this board. You have better things to do with your time. Leave your child’s education to the educated educators, like myself. If you were smart enough to be concerned with such matters, you’d have an advanced degree like me. You aren’t, so you don’t.

Frankly, if it were up to the folks on this board, every child would have an IEP. And every child would receive a free and appropriate education. These people think it’s a right, not a privilege.

Sometimes I just have to step back, count to 10, and remember that not everyone has an advanced degree from the post elite correspondence academy in our nation.

Allow me as Peter Principal to point you in the right direction. First, know that your child’s problems are all developmental. They will improve as he gets older, you’ll see.

Second, let’s work on sharpening those parental skills. I need you to be an involved parent at your school. Come to the PTA meetings. Bake cookies and buy gift wrap for our fundraising activities. Read to your child before bedtime. See that he has a quiet place to do homework. Turn off the TV. Your child doesn’t need to sit in front of the tube for three hours at time while you’re busy with activities such as posting on this board. You do these things and the rest will fall into place.

If you people would just let me be,
and let me do my job, you’d see
I wouldn’t be so

Peeved.

I was, am, and will always be,

Peter Principal.

Peter, Peter, Peter… Is that anyway to introduce yourself? No wonder you give people the wrong impression all the time. Perhaps you should take a few more courses in communications and marketing to go with the “advanced degree” you boast of (and why is it that those with the least amount of creative intelligence spend so much of their time polishing the glass their diplomas rest under?). I think I know the correspondance school you speak of; it’s the one Sally Struthers hawks on late-night tv, right? I am really surprised that you chose school administration however, you must not have done too well drawing “Sparky” so you fell back on school administration, huh? Oh well, so much for a person’s dreams…

I must admit however, that I do not see all the whining that you keep complaining about that takes place on these boards. If you are refering to us asking for help in dealing with troublesome colleagues of yours, I do not here that so much as whining as a sharing of strategies to maximize the effectiveness of obtaining specialized services for those parents who have not been “down the aisle” with the SD before. Of course, knowing that you have a very narrow bias in the matter, it may appear to you that we are whining. I like to think that in fact we are winning (what a difference one little letter can make, huh Petey?)

Funny really, I had occasion last fall to attend a meeting of educators in my state hosted by our State Board of Education. Fascinating really, considering that my wife and I were the only non-professional educators there. I did hear a good bit of whining going on, mostly about funding the newsalary adjustments and of course the ever present collective gripe against students being “intruded” in reg ed classrooms (no lie, I heard it used twice). Perhaps that is a phrase you helped to coin?

Not to worry about us parents for too much longer Pete old buddy. Either the pressure of having to put up or shut up will force your hand into early retirement, or perhaps you will have to square off against one of the many children you have wrongly cheated out of their FAPE in civil court (and thanks to Byrne, it will be without the District’s hatchetmen at your side.) I must admit feeling a little like Pavlov’s pet at the thought of you sitting in the hot seat for a change, please do have them videotape the proceedings for me when it comes to that. I will of course pay the postage.

And Pete, just to set one little thing straight… It is not we, the parents who feel that FAPE is our child’s right. No, for years we were content to trust the schools to do their job and educate our extraordinary needs children. We did not know any better than to accept your failure in the past to be God’s Will. Too bad for you that a handful of very creative people have come up with so many diverse ways to improve the chances our kids will have in the real world.

No Petey, it was Congress who said our kids have the right, a group of men and women who I think have just a bit more on the ball than some aging hussy still squeezing her size 11’s into those ridiculous hooker-heels. They are the ones who crafted and enacted the ADA, then IDEA, and finally IDEA97. And these amazing opuses were of course signed into law by 3 different Presidents (Ford, Carter and your old buddy Slick Willie respectively), and the crucial acid test was the upholding of these laws, and subsequent building upon them thru precedent by our Courts. I am sure you will agre that many of these people also have very advanced degrees as well, maybe even from your prestigious alma mater (if they use the same matches as you that is).

No Peter, you can be peeved at us because we refuse to back away from your pompous and arrogant horseflop, but do not blame us, for we neither wrote the laws nor set about to have children with extraordinary problems to contend with. We are just playing the cards we had dealt. It is not our fault that your staff seem to have so much trouble complying with the law (grounds for dismissal in any other area of government service, by the by).

See ya in a couple of weeks Pete!

Ciao!

Peter Principal wrote:
>
> Karen, you’re new here, aren’t you dear? Speaking as a
> friend, I don’t think this is the best place to find help for
> your child. The people who post here are all whiners with
> bad attitudes. These are unbalanced people who have more or
> less burned their bridges behind them and have alienated
> everyone they’ve encountered. Basically, they come here
> because misery loves company. No one else will give these
> people the time of day. I suggest that you not waste your
> time on this board. You have better things to do with your
> time. Leave your child’s education to the educated
> educators, like myself. If you were smart enough to be
> concerned with such matters, you’d have an advanced degree
> like me. You aren’t, so you don’t.
>
> Frankly, if it were up to the folks on this board, every
> child would have an IEP. And every child would receive a
> free and appropriate education. These people think it’s a
> right, not a privilege.
>
> Sometimes I just have to step back, count to 10, and
> remember that not everyone has an advanced degree from the
> post elite correspondence academy in our nation.
>
> Allow me as Peter Principal to point you in the right
> direction. First, know that your child’s problems are all
> developmental. They will improve as he gets older, you’ll see.
>
> Second, let’s work on sharpening those parental skills. I
> need you to be an involved parent at your school. Come to
> the PTA meetings. Bake cookies and buy gift wrap for our
> fundraising activities. Read to your child before bedtime.
> See that he has a quiet place to do homework. Turn off the
> TV. Your child doesn’t need to sit in front of the tube for
> three hours at time while you’re busy with activities such as
> posting on this board. You do these things and the rest will
> fall into place.
>
> If you people would just let me be,
> and let me do my job, you’d see
> I wouldn’t be so
>
> Peeved.
>
> I was, am, and will always be,
>
> Peter Principal.

Dear Peter,

Why are we all on this site? For help only! I was one of the parents you talk about. I believed everything that the teachers, principal, and sped people told me about my son. I did everything that they recommended. I never questioned their motives, or techiniques believing them to know more than I. After all they are the ones with the degrees as you say and I am just a parent struggling to make sense of the whole thing. After 5 years of this, I finally woke up when for the first time, a truthful teacher told us that our son was really 3 years behind his peers in some of his subjects. I saw my son’s achievement grades go down from being in the 45% nationally (before sped) to being in the 1 % nationally now in 9th grade. Is this what you want from you parents? This is why I am worried now. I listened to the “experts” for too long instead of my own feelings.

Is this a real person?Cause a lot of the remarks seem to be somewhat ‘tongue in cheek’. Anyway, this doesn’t seem to be anything to take seriously, so folks, don’t do it. By the way Andy and Dad, loved the jokes.

Dear all,

Please take this for what it is worth from an old, road weary, partially chewed, heavily seasoned, tough and slightly ascerbic slab of beef jerk(y).

Peeved is the epitome of all the creepy administrators we all have encountered over time. There are many rumors, none substantiated, as to when and how Peeved came into existance.

The one thing we all come to know and love (to hate) is the sporadic babblings of the cross dressing mad person known as Peeved (formerly known as Peter) Principal who proudly proclaims to where 4” stilletoe heels.

More than likely, Peeved is a pissed off parent who spoofs on the creepiest of the creeps. Lumping all the rotten experiences of beaurocratic buttheads into one entity. Remember all things written by Peeved and his/her administrative associates are to be taken with an entire quarry/mine of salt.

Just like we parents come to know and love the hatred our administrators have for us, the more he/she hits the nail on the head for you, the less you must react; otherwise he/she knows he/she got you.

Please do not feel betrayed or hurt, as all of us have fallen into the Peeved trap at least once, and sometimes more than that. Peeved waits like a coiled serpant around a large pile of manure, waiting to strike at unsuspecting parents who are gullible enough to believe he/she (ok “it”) exists.

Many of us have gone into the school thing in our kids behalf trusting the administrators and what the district tells us/ told us what we should or should not do regarding our kids education. Most all of us have come to regret the time we wasted believing someone who had no intention of helping our child. The delays they caused only added insult to injury. Yeah, most of us have raw nerves on this bb, and Peeved feeds on that.

It’s a good place to exercise your humor, take your anger out on Peeved in creative ways, or at the very least carry a square point shovel, cut his/her head off and scoop both the serpant and the pile of $h-t he/she cuddles up next to and drop them in the trash.

Me, I owe Peeved many thanks (which I know pisses him/her off greatly) for all the laughs, chuckles and smirks he/she has given me. That is after the first encounter when I really had a fit. So, with no further explanations needed, consider Peeved your own personal administrative punching bag, and have fun. (Expect to get popped back in the eye every once in a while, but it’s all ok).

Take care,

Andy

that this site also seves as a refuge for some of California’s most exotic fruits and nuts.

That said, I rest my case.

With Parents Like Andy to Deal with, Is It Any Wonder I Am
Peeved?

With a Low Six-Figure Salary,
I Serve My District and
Define the

Peter Principal

The generalized “Peter Principle”

The Peter Principle was first introduced by L. Peter in a humoristic book (of the same title) describing the pitfalls of bureaucratic organization. The original principle states that in a hierarchically structured administration, people tend to be promoted up to their “level of incompetence”. The principle is based on the observation that in such an organization new employees typically start in the lower ranks, but when they prove to be competent in the task to which they are assigned, they get promoted to a higher rank. This process of climbing up the hierarchical ladder can go on indefinitely, until the employee reaches a position where he or she is no longer competent. At that moment the process typically stops, since the established rules of bureacracies make that it is very difficult to “demote” someone to a lower rank, even if that person would be much better fitted and more happy in that lower position. The net result is that most of the higher levels of a bureaucracy will be filled by incompetent people, who got there because they were quite good at doing a different (and usually, but not always, easier) task than the one they are expected to do.

Copyright© 1993 Principia Cybernetica - Referencing this page

Pete,

Does it still peeve you off when I make the :) ???

I’m a bit disappointed you only draw a low 6 figure salary, but then, every time I think you’ve stooped as low as one can go, you tend to exceed the abilities of a whale turd… and we all know that sinks.

Andy

Does it peeve me off when you make the :)??? I’m sorry, Andy, but I’m not sure I understand your question. There’s nothing in my meeting notes abut this. I showed your message to my staff and they’re not sure what you’re referencing. Perhaps you could send a written request for a team meeting and we’ll discuss this. Keep in mind that it is IEP season, you will have to wait approximately 30 days.

Have a nice day :-).

Peter Principal

Yeah Peeved,

I could clarify it if I wanted to… but irritating you is so much more fun. You seem to fall into your own blunders so often, I can’t help but smile :)

You see, you and your kind have such short and selective memories, and to compound the issue, you think we parents are easily fooled (which is your greatest error). We, unlike school administrators, keep track of our records, we document what has transpired, and we save paperwork in a trail that will ultimately pin you for your tampering with documents and modifying records to meet your latest endeavors.

You blasted me a while ago for noseless faces, remember? You raged on and on how they were incomplete and unsatisfactory to your liking; so it is for that reason I have eliminated all noses from faces when I post :) :) :) :)

You want clarification? It’s to piss you off! That’s why :)

Thanks for the extra smile.

Andy

ps/ by the way, can you explain why the schools are closed for “Good Friday”, when it is a religious holiday and not one of standard Godless issues? Seems to me that the bottom line is one more paid day off. Nice to know you live in a balanced work world where it all makes sense. Pray about it and get back to me :)

Andy, Andy, Andy…

If it makes you feel better to draw faces without noses, by all means, please do. Is everything OK with you? I just wish you could step into my 4 inch stilettoes and see what I see, Andy.

Am I imagining things or do I sense hostility on your part? Perhaps you had a bad day on the construction site? Or perhaps you’re spending a little too much time on the Internet for your own good. :-(

Andy, are you sure it was ME who blasted you for noseless faces? :-0 According to my tapes, we never had a conversation pertaining to noseless faces. I’ve been over all the meeting notes, and ditto. I’ve always had nothing but the highest respect for your smileys. You of all people should know that. I don’t know how these rumors get started.

Andy, I’m very concerned about you. Perhaps you need to take a few weeks off for R&R. Take the wife and go someplace quiet. I’ve seen before what effect IEP season has on you. Take care of yourself, Andy.

BTW (By the way, Internet chat you know), my school is closed for Good Friday, Passover, and Easter Monday. We respect the sanctity of the family and church and do what’s in the best interests of the greater good of the community. In view of the holidays, don’t you think it’s best to let bygones be bygones and start anew. I have always admired your spirit. Look deep into your soul, Andy. We could work well together. Now, just sign here, dot that, initital these sheets, and we’ll see you next year. Same time. Same place. Don’t call us, we’ll call you. :-) :-) :-)

They don’t call me

Peter Principal

for nothing.

Your friend,

Peeved

Peeved,

As the old saying goes…

“some people you have to pay to be good, you are good for nothing”.

Can’t thank you enough for the smiles :) Your failed memory, poorly kept records and insistance to keep your twisted reality as the status quo inspires me onward.

The hostility you think you sense is merely your own paranoia rearing it’s ugly little head, again.

Construction work has been going great, thanks for asking, and worrying. Being able to work in an arena where one is appreciated for their talents and paid for their efforts and productivity is a novel concept for you, so I do understand your inability to comprehend this type of industry. Imagine, the good ones stay in business, the bad ones don’t get rehired, get penalized against their contracts when they fail to perform, or worse, get busted by inspectors and lose their licenses. Something you should ponder over the long, holiday weekend.

True tenure in this industry is staying in business through good times and bad, paying decent wages, taking care of employees, firing the useless jerks, and making an honest living. Again, a novel concept.

By the way, Pete, I’m done with IEP’s, and haunt this bb just for fun, for sport, and to keep you on your toes so those stilletoes don’t wear through the carpet.

Thanks much for all your concerns, but no thanks, I’d never sign a document with you or yours. Thanks again for the :)

Andy

That was a great piece. I laughed because it sums up my horrific experiences with sped directors, and the system in general.

MaryEllen Watts

The Peter Principal states that employees rise through the ranks until they reach a level where they become incompetent. Laurence Johnston Peter (1919-1990) set forth the principal.