WWTBAM Bored

We are girding our loins for the big meeting on Monday--it was called allegedly to discuss teaching and behavioral strategies but a mole told us today to expect a full court press on changing his IEP to remove him from the mainstream.

What are they really worried about--if he is left in the mainstream and therefore counts against their totals on the standardized testing that is part of No Child Left Behind (which can't be defeated too quickly for all the damage it's done to special ed kids) he will fail and bring down the school's scoring.

Now, bear in mind that a meeting to change an IEP, a legally binding document, is supposed to be called with written notice of the meeting's intention with at least one week's notice. If, as our mole indicated, they try to slip this in on us (not having done any of the above) we are walking out and the next meeting will be with our lawyer present.

You know, I am a conservative, member of the federal government, and someone who should be least likely to challenge authority. But this is my kid--and it goes to show you that activists aren't born--they're made.

Good luck, Buff. I know that, whatever the outcome, you will decide on what is best for Lil Buff in the long run.

You know how to reach me if you need to.

Fight the good fight, Buff!

Buffacuse wrote:You know, I am a conservative, member of the federal government, and someone who should be least likely to challenge authority. But this is my kid--and it goes to show you that activists aren't born--they're made.

Exactly. We got involved with the local schools for similar reasons: HS was deaf and needed the different curriculum, and BD had a teacher who was the epitome of the so-called "passing of the lemons" category. I handled much of the IEP stuff, while GW got involved in ousting the lemon. We are quite well known to the school PTB.

I hate No Child Left Behind, what it truly means is that No Child Gets Ahead, every child is taught the same damn thing, there is no room for differentiation.

From what I have always heard, every student enrolled in the school has to take the test, even Special Ed kids. If a child doesn't take the test, then that child counts as a "0" in the formulas dragging the score down even further than if the child had gotten a low score. (This was to discourage schools from not allowing Special Ed kids to take the test.)


(I have learned that an effective bargaining tool is telling the school that you are philosophically opposed to the test and that your child won't be taking the test. A school was trying to keep Maddie in it for her test scores, but it's so much worse to have that "0" counted against them and they let her leave.)


You write:

What are they really worried about--if he is left in the mainstream and therefore counts against their totals on the standardized testing that is part of No Child Left Behind (which can't be defeated too quickly for all the damage it's done to special ed kids) he will fail and bring down the school's scoring.

If you have the time, I would research the guidelines in your state to see who is supposed to take the test and how Special Ed kids are treated in their averages. At least in California, your son would always be counted just because he is a human being in the right age group.

My heart is with you, Buff.