Think twice before hiring an advocate…

[Anonymous]

I am a special education teacher (I also have a child with an IEP, so I have personal skin in the game). We just got the news that two of our fellow teachers have quit following a prolonged battle with a family and their advocate. This family required at least four IEP meetings to get to an IEP they’d be willing to sign- insulting and demoralizing two excellent teachers in the process who hadn’t even WORKED with the child yet.

Mostly I’m just asking you to assume good will. Stop coming into meetings assuming we want to screw your child’s life up and deny them FAPE. This was a particularly egregious case for me because it’s a child whose academics are so close to grade level!! And we were offering the child a good supportive plan to help them get there.
We are doing the best we can to serve ALL students with needs and come Monday my caseload is about 5 students higher. You don’t need to hire an advocate before you even meet with the team once. We aren’t out to deny your kid what they need to succeed academically.

[Anonymous]

I'm also a teacher and also have 2 kids with IEPs and this is a ridiculous post. Like every teacher I have dealt with my share of PITA parents, and it's no fun. But at the end of the day it's no parent's fault that a teacher decides to quit. And every parent has the right to bring an advocate.

Don't come in the special needs board and shame parents for advocating for their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a special education teacher (I also have a child with an IEP, so I have personal skin in the game). We just got the news that two of our fellow teachers have quit following a prolonged battle with a family and their advocate. This family required at least four IEP meetings to get to an IEP they’d be willing to sign- insulting and demoralizing two excellent teachers in the process who hadn’t even WORKED with the child yet.

Mostly I’m just asking you to assume good will. Stop coming into meetings assuming we want to screw your child’s life up and deny them FAPE. This was a particularly egregious case for me because it’s a child whose academics are so close to grade level!! And we were offering the child a good supportive plan to help them get there.
We are doing the best we can to serve ALL students with needs and come Monday my caseload is about 5 students higher. You don’t need to hire an advocate before you even meet with the team once. We aren’t out to deny your kid what they need to succeed academically.

This is such a disheartening mindset. We all want our children to be thriving, not falling short of the minimum.

[Anonymous]

This is a disgusting post OP. come on.

[Anonymous]

I agree. But only because the school will never give your child what they actually need. Just get your child in tutoring or private if you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a special education teacher (I also have a child with an IEP, so I have personal skin in the game). We just got the news that two of our fellow teachers have quit following a prolonged battle with a family and their advocate. This family required at least four IEP meetings to get to an IEP they’d be willing to sign- insulting and demoralizing two excellent teachers in the process who hadn’t even WORKED with the child yet.

Mostly I’m just asking you to assume good will. Stop coming into meetings assuming we want to screw your child’s life up and deny them FAPE. This was a particularly egregious case for me because it’s a child whose academics are so close to grade level!! And we were offering the child a good supportive plan to help them get there.
We are doing the best we can to serve ALL students with needs and come Monday my caseload is about 5 students higher. You don’t need to hire an advocate before you even meet with the team once. We aren’t out to deny your kid what they need to succeed academically.

Meaning your team came in prepared to give them the bare minimum because you've got more pressing issues on your case load.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a special education teacher (I also have a child with an IEP, so I have personal skin in the game). We just got the news that two of our fellow teachers have quit following a prolonged battle with a family and their advocate. This family required at least four IEP meetings to get to an IEP they’d be willing to sign- insulting and demoralizing two excellent teachers in the process who hadn’t even WORKED with the child yet.

Mostly I’m just asking you to assume good will. Stop coming into meetings assuming we want to screw your child’s life up and deny them FAPE. This was a particularly egregious case for me because it’s a child whose academics are so close to grade level!! And we were offering the child a good supportive plan to help them get there.
We are doing the best we can to serve ALL students with needs and come Monday my caseload is about 5 students higher. You don’t need to hire an advocate before you even meet with the team once. We aren’t out to deny your kid what they need to succeed academically.

Meaning your team came in prepared to give them the bare minimum because you've got more pressing issues on your case load.

Or maybe because they have X number of other students, and the reality is that they can't meet all of the needs some classrooms have.

[Anonymous]

It's the 2e kids who ARE quite close to grade level but could be doing much more if they weren't managing to create their own supports. Also, they are probably struggling with a lot of issues that are non-academic.

I agree that the public school probably can't offer what is actually needed, and I feel for the teachers who are stuck in the middle. We ended up having to go private to get what we need - to a private SN school, even though our kid would have fallen into the category you describe with being almost at grade level.

On the other hand, of course, I agree you need to assume good intent. We went into our first IEP meeting with an advocate because our neuropsych basically told us we would need one, and I felt like she was way too antogonistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's the 2e kids who ARE quite close to grade level but could be doing much more if they weren't managing to create their own supports. Also, they are probably struggling with a lot of issues that are non-academic.

I agree that the public school probably can't offer what is actually needed, and I feel for the teachers who are stuck in the middle. We ended up having to go private to get what we need - to a private SN school, even though our kid would have fallen into the category you describe with being almost at grade level.

On the other hand, of course, I agree you need to assume good intent. We went into our first IEP meeting with an advocate because our neuropsych basically told us we would need one, and I felt like she was way too antogonistic.

What you are saying is 100 percent true. To get a 2E kid their ideal perfect education, you sometimes have to go private. But many families can’t afford that nor afford an advocate, and it’s just not fair that a child who is achieving well but not as well as they COULD earns the resources over a child who is so low that they might not learn to read without supports.

[Anonymous]

I’m a school psychologist who wants to support all students. Generally I try to have positive relationships with families and advocates. When I get frustrated, my biggest issue is the idea that you have to achieve to your IQ. Children have strengths and weaknesses - a 120 IQ and 95 in math calculation does not necessarily mean your child has a learning disability in math .

[Anonymous]

Parents can hire advocates if they want to.

[Anonymous]

We did not hire an advocate and the school screwed my child.
I only found out from talking to neighbors the gap in services that my child was getting vs similar profile student who parent's went to the meeting with an advocate.
My child had 60 minutes of reading intervention a week and was 2 years behind grade level. Same school - same grade - class mate 1 year behind and was getting 150 minutes a week. When I had tried to make a case that I thought more was needed they told me it was the most they could provide.

Parents bring advocates because they have heard these stories. There is no trust in the process because the schools have not delivered FAPE. I could see on the teachers faces and in their body language that they wanted to say more - but they would not cross the school director of special education.

[Anonymous]

If my degree was useful for literally anything other than teaching special education, I would do it. Full stop.

[Anonymous]

OP, sorry for your loss. It really sucks to be a special ed teacher these days. So little support from any direction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the 2e kids who ARE quite close to grade level but could be doing much more if they weren't managing to create their own supports. Also, they are probably struggling with a lot of issues that are non-academic.

I agree that the public school probably can't offer what is actually needed, and I feel for the teachers who are stuck in the middle. We ended up having to go private to get what we need - to a private SN school, even though our kid would have fallen into the category you describe with being almost at grade level.

On the other hand, of course, I agree you need to assume good intent. We went into our first IEP meeting with an advocate because our neuropsych basically told us we would need one, and I felt like she was way too antogonistic.

What you are saying is 100 percent true. To get a 2E kid their ideal perfect education, you sometimes have to go private. But many families can’t afford that nor afford an advocate, and it’s just not fair that a child who is achieving well but not as well as they COULD earns the resources over a child who is so low that they might not learn to read without supports.

FAPE is not about giving kids a perfect education.