When a school district violates the basic rights a child has under IDEA/FAPE and are unwilling to admit they are at fault; does one take them to court?
A Sp Ed said she has few, if any parents that advocate for their child…my child has gotten the short end of many sticks at schools…;however, I feel compelled to go to bat for my son. I think he may be reaping the “benefits” of those unable to advocate for their kids.
At what point does one take a stand for the kids in the community?
I am already the ‘bad’ parent in my case….LOL.
I am fortunate to have special ed advocates related to me in the community…but don’t want my son to get in more trouble because of my stepping up…
Comments and info is appreciated.
K
It’s kinda set up so that the parents can only bat for their kids (all that confidentiality stuff).
Most people who try to rally parents end up being very deeply disappointed in the results, but it is worth at least asking other parents if they’re satisfied with their children’s educations.
Retaliation can be a reality (if there were archives, Andy’s posts would tell a very painful story), though it fortunately isn’t all that common. (That doesn’t matter at all, if you’re the one on the receiving end of the stick.)
It is important to be really thorough and organized (document, document, document!!) - you need to be the one that is sane and levelheaded when the *school* folks say things that don’t make sense (like “he seems to be doing well!” - if you respond with “what the heck do you mean???” you’ll look unreasonable. If you respond with “could you please clarify? At the meeting, accommodations a, b, c, d, e, f, and g were removed from his IEP; I did not agree and signed accordingly. I have not seen improvement; I have seen that he is failing English. Had he had the accommodations of … I do not believe that would be happening.)