Who is the lawyer that regularly represents families before the school board?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard that giving St. Collella's (sp) such a cheap lease on land (or was it a sale) by RFK was an effort to open up a lot of special needs slots via a charter school -- so it can't be said that Williams didn't do anything about this.

I also know from when my dc was at Hyde that there were plans to renovate the former community mental health center next door into a school for gifted kids with learning disabilities. I know that construction has begun. I'm assuming that the plan is the same.

Yes, there are plans to expand special needs services at Hyde and staffing has been ramped up for this purpose. However, Hyde is what - 200 students? The vast majority of whom are in-bounds. It's a lovely plan and I wish them all the success - but it's a bit of a drop in the bucket.

I didn't know about the St. Coletta's expansion under Williams, I thought it had been around for a long time. Thing is, Special Education is a pretty broad category. Just because St. Coletta's does Downs well doesn't mean it's a good placement for, say, HFA.

Thanks for correcting me -- St. Coletta's, not St. Collella's! I think the school has been around for a long time but the site by RFK is new in the last couple of years. Of course, all this is based on a vague memory because I don't want to take the time away from work to google! So I could be wrong.

[Anonymous]

I think part (not all) of the problem is that it is widely known that because of its legal problems DC will have to pay for private school for most special needs kids and so people deciding where to live will decide to live in DC if they have special needs kids. I do not know how often this happens but I do know of at least one situation where a family moved into the District specifically because of the DC situation and I did not find it surprising. I do not think this is any different than parents moving to be in boundary for some other public school that has a reputation or special program they want their children to be part of, it is just a whole heck of a lot more expensive for the district government and the school system as a whole pays the price of having less available for the remaining kids. I am not saying they move to the DC metro area for this, but if a family lives here, has a child with special needs, and is looking around for the best education for their child, this has to come into play. By the way, I am not sure that I resent this. I am grateful every day that (at least so far) my children do not need special accommodations, my focus on getting them the best education I can is a lot simpler. DC will need to become a model district for addressing special needs through public education before this will go away.

[Anonymous]

But here's the problem. I live in a neighborhood with a school full of special needs kids who go to DCPS. When I talked to the elementary school teacher of the kid I tutor, she got defensive when I asked why the kid wasn't tested sooner for learning disabilities. She told me she had a whole classroom full of kids who had learning difficulties. She couldn't send them all out for testing at once.

I know it's the reality that poor parents aren't as good as working the system as middle class and upper income parents but I still find it distressing that the functional middle and upper income families are benefiting from this situation while so many poor families are stuck in substandard schools. Even as I understand exactly why people would choose to work the system this way.

But given that I am now paying full private school tuition for my mildly ADHD kid, sometimes I also wonder if it is fair to middle-class people like me who didn't choose to game the system in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Not that I don't understand the mixed feelings or mild resentment, but I'm inclined to object to calling this "gaming the system." The District is obligated by law to provide a FAPE yet it isn't doing that (and its historical is SO BAD that DCPS is under court order). So how is it "gaming the system" for a parent to demand what the child is - by law - entitled to? I agree 100% that poor children are not getting what they are entitled to, but I don't think it's fair to blame the children who are.

The fault lies squarely at the feet of DCPS, and ultimately (for now - though it's a problem she inherited vs. created) Michelle Rhee. If she'd like to build a first class special needs program, she's got models to work with. Aside from the SpEd program at Hyde, there are several public charter schools with excellent records of testing their students and getting them the services they need - all within the budget confines of DCPS. Bridges (alas, pre-school only) DC Prep and Two Rivers all have solid reputations for providing a wealth of services, special education expertise, and the LRE. Maybe Rhee should send her people to visit those school and try to copy what they're doing.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Sorry that should have read "(and it's history is SO BAD...).

[Anonymous]

Michael J. Eig and Associates. www.lawforchildren.com