After reviewing the accomodations list with my brother, I know realize that he is not receiving about 75% of his accomodations. On the advice of our advocate I am writing letters (certified mail) to his teachers. I am including a the accomodations list and some information on CAPD and dyslexia.
I advocate for my brother almost all the time.I have been to the school and physically handed the teachers the list. So far the only teachers who are participating are the special ed teachers and the reading specialist. The science, social studies, and math teachers have blantly ingorned his IEP. One of his accomodations is a daily home to school notebook. We decided to put this in the IEP so we could have constant daily contact with his teachers. Yesterday the social studies teachers said she talked with the prinicpal and was told she only had to do it if she wanted to and since she didn’t want to, she wouldn’t be writing in it anymore.
I am wondering once I know they are in possession of the letters, how long to I wait before I file a non compliance compliant with the Department of Education??
I know he is not doing most of his classwork. He has gotten much better on homework but that will be wasted if he is allowed to slip through class each day without doing anything.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
D
Re: Not following IEP
A burden for the teaches? Inconvenienced or otherwise put out? Homerclese cares not for that!
If the accomodations are in the IEP, then that means that the team (which must include a reg ed teacher if the child is in reg ed) agreed that these accomodations are both needed and proper. Once the ink is dry, they represent a contract for performance that the child’s teachers are NOT given the option to ignore.
The Byrne decision allows for teachers who willfully violate the IEP to be pursued civilly for damages which means that they can have both wages and pensions garnished, liens placed against property, and otherwise “punished” for there willful “disobedience”. Afterall, what good are laws if there is no threat of penalty? If the District makes honest attempts to have these teachers comply and they refuse to do so of their own volition, they will find the district does not have to defend them with lawyers paid for from the public coffers.
Hey, paying taxes puts me off, but ya know what? I still pay them.
What you need to do is to very carefully document the instances of teachers refusing to comply with the agreed upon accomodations, time, date, what was done or not done, who, etc. keep these records as meticulously as possible. When you file your complaint with the state, do not give them your notes on this, but summarize the occurances and send them that, making sure you keep xeroxes of all correspondance. You might also insist all contact with you in this matter be placed in writing by all parties, that you will not accept verbal conversations unless they are taped. This letter of intent to tape or have formal correspondance should be filed with the district office, withcc’s sent to the sped director and also toe the principal of the schools.
It is long past time for teachers to be held accountable for their willful conduct.
Re: Not following IEP
First of all, I am a parent of two LD students who are now high school graduates with full diplomas. This took a huge amount of advocating and diligence in getting IEPs to be complied with. I absolutely believe in the legal aspects of IDEA and following the IEP, however, not every problem is best solved by an angry response and trotting out a lawyer. Nor does it help to view the teacher as the enemy. In this particular situation - poor communication about homework - one does not have to approach it as asking the teacher to write especially in a notebook for only one student. While the poor communication may be a major problem for the LD student, it is often a problem for so many students that I cannot understand why any teacher persists in verbally announcing homework or posting it in the corner of the blackboard for students to transcribe. For this particular problem I think it is helpful to propose a classroom policy for teachers to send home a weekly syllabus so all parents know what the expectations are. Anytime classroom procedures in general can be adjusted to suit the LD child’s needs, without making a special case of the child, it is a benefit to the child to feel like every other student in the mainstream classroom.
Teachers must follow an IEP
Unfortunately, the daily home to school notebook I talked about was only one example from his IEP that is not being followed. Yesterday I reviewed the IEP and there are 30 accomodations that are not being followed. I can not sympathize with the teachers that this has created extra work for them. The book was designed so that we know exactly what is going on in school and what we can do to help. It is in the IEP and they have to do it.
We have repeatedly asked that homework be handed out. We even made suggestions on ways the IEP could be implemented without stress to the teacher and to my brother. However, just like last year they just don’t seem to care. We were told by the prinicipal that since the teachers are in a union they realize they can’t get fired and they don’t particularly care if we go into mediation. Getting the Department of Education involved will only drag the process out further and give them more time not to do anything and maybe like last year go the entire year without doing one thing in his IEP.
I also wanted to say, just for the record, this is not the first incident with this school. It took form Aug 1, 2000 to June 1, 2001 to get an IEP written and implemented. This school has had chance after chance, I could write a book on all the stunts they have pulled!! As an example, last year after 2 months of waiting and almost daily contacted, I called to find out when I could pick up the test results from the Woodcock Johnson, the principal informed me they lost the test and didn’t know where to get a new one. Then she said when they got a new one it was revised and no one in the entire district new how to use it. Even though it was a lie and she was “busted” in front of the District Special Ed. Director, nothing happened. These people don’t care. Obviously they have done this many, many, many times before.
Re: Teachers must follow an IEP
Go to http://www.reedmartin.com/gebser.htm and read up on a “Gebser” letter. This is a letter that you write to a teacher who willfully refuses to follow an IEP. If the teacher doesn’t begin to comply with the IEP immediately, you have the right to sue the teacher PERSONALLY ! That means that if you win, the school district doesn’t pay, the individual teacher’s salary or pension in attached. Tenure won’t protect her from that.
Now it won’t get that far. At the same time as you send your letter, send one to the principal, superintendent and school board members. If the teacher’s supervisors don’t stop the willful refusal to follow the IEP, then they are also personally liable. Their salaries can be attached. They won’t want to risk that - it’s easier just to tell the teacher to comply with the IEP. She will suddenly be under a great deal of pressure to comply. Good Luck.
If accommodations are in the IEP they are not optional. Unfortunately, they may be inconvenient and require extra work for the teacher. This puts the child’s advocate (you) in the difficult position of asking for compliance with procedures that are necessary for the child’s success, but a burden on the teacher. Can you have a meeting with the principal to discuss how to get the IEP implemented in every class? Perhaps the teacher can create a homework handout that goes home with every child in a predictable way - such as every Monday parents can expect to find a list of assignments for the week. Perhaps the teacher can dictate a quick note into a tape recorder faster or call and leave a message on your answering machine at a time convenient to the teacher. Some schools have a homework hotline parents can call on which all teachers post all homework assignments. There are many ways in which children misunderstand, hide or forget homework, so really there could be a classwide solution to good home communication about homework that would benefit all students while meeting your brother’s needs.