Reply #71: We had a presentation by the district lawyer about sped

[Catshrink]

All the regs, parents' rights, kids' rights, etc. and what would happen if we didn't follow the IEP to the fucking letter. This year our class sizes have increased by 20-30% but we're suppoed to follow that IEP - even if it means not teaching the other 35-40 kids in the class. What if a teacher has more than one sped kid in a class and the accommodations "conflict?" What if a student needs to have a test read to him or her, when is the teacher supposed to do that? Stop the class and read to that one student? Read the test to that one kid while the rest try to concentrate (and who is proctoring to be sure the kids aren't cheating?)? The sped department says yes, implying that they only students who matter are those with IEPs.

The lawyer threw out a couple of lines about judges understanding the burdens teachers face but still, if we don't follow the IEP - even though the district's overcrowding make it impossible to do so - we're gonna get sued.

Now the sped department has been militarized and has been demanding the unreasonable and teachers are rebelling. One said, "Well call your lawyers and sue me." Caught in the middle of course are the kids who need help and we want to help them but also have 35+ other students who need our attention. What do we do? The situation is untenable and going to get worse as the Legislature cuts even more education funding - which means fewer teachers and more overcrowding. One solution is to force charter schools to accept their share of sped students instead of turning a blind eye to their exclusion. But that won't happen here when many Legislators either own charter schools or have families who do or sit on their boards.

We're screwn.