Anyone happy with mcps? Special ed edition
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Anonymous
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The mcps forum is full of parents of high achieving kids. But they aren’t happy.
How is your experience on the special education side of the spectrum? (Pun intended) Switched from private to mcps to get special education services. It’s worse than private. At least private had small classes.. DC has a robust IEP which mcps can’t seem to honor because “we don’t do that.” Can’t honor self contained classroom or minor accommodations for specials. Nope, kid must be in mainstream half the day in a class of 26. Barely gets pullouts for services. Anyone happy with mcps? Share your secret to actually getting services.., |
Anonymous
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Your post isn’t clear. Is there an IEP requirement for self contained classes that isn’t being honored? It’s hard to imagine something that they “don’t do” ending up in an IEP.
I was very happy with MCPS. Two kids in special education. One was borderline certificate rather than diploma track and with an IEP and lots of outside support (mostly from me but some paid), he graduated, went on to trade school and is now working full time in a job that pays well and provides health insurance. He is independent. Second kid started out with intense services for cognitive related disabilities, then went to 504 in MS due to no need for services, then to non-mainstream for HS due to mental health issues. Third kid is in gen ed and doing great, thankfully because I’m tired of all the work it takes to get them through school. Was everything perfect? Far from it. But, people were committed, as was I and the rest of the family. When mistakes happened and services didn’t, we worked together to get things back on track. The Covid services were out of this world amazing. The transition out of HS services were excellent and two years after one of mine graduated, they provided some additional services when a need came up that I could not handle on my own. In the end, big picture thinking, the services were successful despite periodic problems along the way. My secret was being prepared for the IEP. I kept my eye on the big picture always. What was the ultimate outcome I was looking for - which was to get the skills necessary to be an independent and successful adult, though the specifics differed for each of my kids. As a result, I didn’t bean count or sweat the small stuff because honestly a missed pullout or speech therapy session here and there wasn’t going to make the difference between ultimate success and failure. Where I focused my attention was on those things that would have affected the ability to achieve the long term goal. This was things like setting the correct goals that would lead to achieving the long term goals, identifying services to achieve goals and monitoring progress on the goals. If progress wasn’t happening, then we needed to regroup, not because a pullout got missed. I also spent a lot of time on the non-mainstream placement selection and the Covid services plan (mine was in 11th and 12th grade at the time of Covid so what happened really would make the difference between graduating or not). There was one year right after my oldest got his IEP that it was not followed to the point where he failed several courses in a semester, which made him ineligible for Thomas Edison. The services were on target, just didn’t happen and, not making excuses, but I think it was because teachers weren’t expecting an IEP, but rather a transfer to non-diploma track and they just forgot. Anyway, I challenged the grades and won, which gave him the opportunity for a redo, He was successful and ultimately got into Edison. With my other son, in ES, there was one teacher who repeatedly punished my child for behaviors that were addressed in the IEP in a very public way. I escalated that as well and it got resolved, though not before a lot of bad feelings. Like I said, it wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty excellent. And given that there were probably close to 250 people involved with my two kids over their time in MCPS, to have a serious issue with only one is pretty amazing. But, again, I think that is because of the way I approach things like special education and IEPs. It is easy to have a different experience if you expect everything to go right and you can’t see the forest for the trees. |
Anonymous
| The problem now is the shortage of special ed teachers, special ed specialists (OT, PT, Speeth Path, etc), paras, etc. So the services are greatly lacking |
Anonymous
| I will chime in to say that teachers are also not happy. I am a specials teacher in a school of about 500, and across all of my classes I have about 75 kids with IEPs or 504s requiring accommodations of some kind. For an art teacher I spend a lot of time signing and promising to abide by plans dozens of pages long that I know won’t be possible. Five classes a day, each one with 25 kids, 5 of which require some combination of reminders, repetition, visual cues, standing option, fidgets, passes to take a break, noise canceling headphones, preferential seating, and calm down corners. Abiding by just a couple of these plans would be a full-time job, but I also have 20 other kids in the class and a lesson to teach. The system is not working where I am. |
Anonymous
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Well, my adhd, asd and anxiety kid can handle big class like 22-24 kids. He is just more hyperand more stimming, other than that, he tries to learn to self regulate himself. I have visited their classroom, lunchtime etc, it is quite loud and chaos to me that causes me headache. Those elementary teachers are saints, and they know how to remain calm and control the classroom. I felt overwhelmed. There is shortage of all special teachers in mcps, so we don't expect too much and I don't really bug them unless it is necesary.
Overall, I think principal and classroom teachers are the main key. I never focus much on special ed teachers. |
Anonymous
Is your kid in elementary school? What special Ed program is he in? There are many. Is your kid attending a school that has self-contained classes? |
Anonymous
+1. You can get a lot of help from this board, but you are going to need to be way more specific. What is the age of your child and what program/school are they at? What is their diagnosis or at least what kind of problems is the IEP addressing. It is very hard to answer your questions without knowing this. "Special needs" is not specific enough. In our experience MCPS plus private therapies was more effective (and cheaper) than private school. |
Anonymous
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I am very happy this year (and most years) with 2 kids with IEP's- one in Bridge and one fully mainstreamed. It's important to recognize that just like in private school, so much is dependent on the teacher and case manager. We have had some incredible ones, but last year we had a dud and it really made it seem disastrous for my child who had been doing so well.
I'm surprised that they are not following the IEP as both my kids' school are very structured in moving the kids in/out of supported classes based on what is on the services page. If they are not following the IEP, call an IEP meeting! If you feel like it is the case manager that is the issue, speak to the RTSE or principal and try to get a change. Or, if you have the means, return to the private school. |
Anonymous
It isn't working anywhere. My perspective is that the federal government really needs to step up dramatically in terms of funding special ed. We are at the point where the number of sped staff needs to triple or quadruple. In order to get people to take those jobs, salaries probably need to double or triple, too. But one gen ed teacher or general specials teacher cannot implement all the required supports. It's not possible. |
Anonymous
| Very happy. Private was a disaster for DD |
Anonymous
| I could not get any help or support and we had to do all therapies privately |
Anonymous
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Former special ed teacher here. Unfortunately, this is only going to get worse as more of us leave. The paperwork and meetings are crushing with no additional time built into your schedule to do it.
Those of you with lawyers and advocates think you will get what your child needs, but you won't. What you get is limited discussion (because the professionals are terrified). I went into special ed believing it was a calling. It was for a long time. But it is now out of control and has reached crisis levels. And the worse it gets, the more will leave |
Anonymous
From the special ed para angle, this feels true. |
Anonymous
It’s been this way for years. |
Anonymous
I regret not hiring an advocate or attorney. Our school staff would not talk to us or listen and the help was a joke. The only way to get what your child needs is with one. |