If you were in charge of FCPS, what budget cuts would you make?

[Anonymous]

It seems to me that you have decided that you, a random parent of another child in the school who has limited contact with the child and no real knowledge of the child's issues, is able to make a better decision than an IEP team that has knowledge specific to the child's issues and experience and knowledge of the strategies and methodologies pertaining to those issues, including his parents who have know him since birth. That strikes me as incredibly arrogant. You don't know what you don't know.

I am sorry, I can't get past that.

I think you are emotionally too close to the situation to make any objective assessment as to whether or not it is financially viable for the district to continue the aide program as it currently exists.

[Anonymous]

I am a teacher in a FCPS elementary school, and a parent of a child with autism. I can tell you with certainty that the Special Educators and assistants I know are among the most stretched thin I have encountered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Why on earth are there so many SPED kids now?

It was a blip. The grades before and after had enough for one aide and one special ed teacher and they had more kids. We were trying to figure out why our kids had such a high prevalence, but in the end it seems to be a statisical blip/cluster that happens every so often. When they got the MS, their grade (combined with the other 5 or so schools) was not so "out there". As I said, It was a very unusual co-hort.

No, why are there so many SPED kids now in general? Whether it's "attention problems," autism, "spectrum issues," and so forth. We did not have this when we were growing up. And don't say "It just wasn't diagnosed." There were so many kids functionally normally at that time, the SPED kids truly were "special," as in there weren't so many of them. What is happening? Food additives? Environmental issues? Maternal nutrition? What is it?[/quote

I don't know what to say if you will not accept the answer. My son has dyslexia and dysgraphia, in the past he would have been tracked on the tech route for electricians and mechanics. Now, they know how to remedy and accomodate the issues and he can access the highest level curriculum that his intelligence allows.

You are actually talking to a couple of different posters.

I am not the person you just responded to, but I have posted a couple of times.

Whether the increased aides to support inclusion is a good thing for individual students, you cannot deny that it is a budget buster for the school districts.

My kid's class had a student with a one/one aid support. The aide went with the student from class to class, sat with only that student, and worked with only that student. I saw this kid in several non-school activities, and he was able to function quite well without one/one support with just a little extra guidance, but he needed--for reasons that are none of my business---one/one support at school. Lets say his aide fell into the middle of the pay grade for fcps aides. That means the district was paying around $30K, plus benefits, plus payroll taxes for just one student. There is also the normal cost/student that the district puts out for all the students. Is the district paying $40K to educate that one student? $50K? Multiply that aide's cost with all the other aides who are not there for the severely disabled students, and the cost is astronomical.

There has to be a better way to provide a least restrictive environment without raising costs to $40-50K per special ed (aide required) student per year.

I am sorry, but the cost is too high.

Yeah and you are probably the same type of parents who freaks when a SN student in the classroom WITHOUT an aide takes up too much of a teacher's time and robs your child of time. I think some people would be happier just not dealing with SN kids at all.Too expensive to educate, too much of a hassle in the classroom, yada yada. As a mom of a child with SN I have had countless obnoxious things said to me. Teacher doesn't want to follow IEP, but school cannot afford more support. Kids scapegoat my kid because he's the hyper odd ball who does strange things. How do I know? a mom admitted to me her child blamed mine for everything, but eventually overcome with guilt admitted my child had not done this and that. The days my child isn't there another kid still goes home and tells mommy my kid did this and that. One mother was in shock my kid was out for a week, because her child still gave daily reports about mine. Where do you want us to go? I doubt you want the school system paying for our kids to go to private school?

Sorry...this just hit too close to home.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree. I know a family that moved because they were afraid of having too many SN kids in the class. I think this area is a no touch situation with the budget. Find other things to cut or push for higher taxes. We shouldn't have this problem with the wealth in Fairfax County.

[Anonymous]

I say get outside funding for the arts. There are too many crappy music and art teachers safe in the system. Get rid of that and have an outside source company/benefactor/whatever sponsor a truly amazing arts program with gifted teachers and novel teaching approaches. Get feedback on the program and fire and hire accordingly without worrying about a teacher's union protecting the burned out band teacher who hates his job and many of the kids.

[Anonymous]

I asked a friend who is an instructional aide (gened) about the special aides to students--specifically, the one on one. She said that those aides help others as needed when they can. They don't just sit next to the one kid........

[Anonymous]

Esol

[Anonymous]

Cut esil and you solve the farm problem as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cut esil and you solve the farm problem as well

What FARM problem? The rate of FARM students in Fairfax is well below the national average.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cut esil and you solve the farm problem as well

So glad you took your stupid pill today. If you cut ESOL services, the children STILL COME TO SCHOOL and need classrooms and teachers. They just don't progress as quickly as they could and struggle in class to a greater degree.

[Anonymous]

I am also amazed at the lack of empathy for others exhibited in some of these posts. People need to stop and think about what it would be like to walk in another's shoes.

[Anonymous]

Cuts:
What about all of the changing/testing of new curriculum programs every couple of years? How much do they cost to start a new one every couple of years.
What about the electronic AND hard copy text books? Elementary doesn't use either one for the most part!! How much are the others being used?
What about the elementary and middle school AAP programs and AAP centers. (Bring a true AAP program into all schools)
Get rid of the "qualification" board, busing, crazy testing, AART teachers(wasting my money). Put the AAP teachers into the base schools.
Fee's for athletics.
Fee's for IB testing.
What about the IB program? What is wrong with AP which is already in place and has been for years? College's don't care about the extra GPA points and the manpower and student work time are crazy.
Take a closer look at the ESOL program. I think it could use some wasteful spending cuts. It is absolutely HUGE!
What about the "unlimited" resources given to Title 1 schools just to get them up to the basic standards year after year???

Keep:
FLES
Keep Art
Keep Instructional Assistants (although look for wastefulness)
Special Ed.
Cut class sizes so students learn better and teachers teach better(teachers already have enough students)
Teacher's need a raise. Find a way to compensate Great teachers who work year after year under huge class sizes and very little pay and no pay increases for years.
Assistant Principles (really?)
Keep self selected AP classes in middle school to accommodate the advanced learners. (place the AAP center teachers here)

FCPS needs to tread very carefully here with cuts. The quality teachers will move elsewhere and we'll become the next D.C. school system.

[Anonymous]

PP: Have an opt out program for paper distribution of school flyers and send them electronically only!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cuts:
What about all of the changing/testing of new curriculum programs every couple of years? How much do they cost to start a new one every couple of years.
What about the electronic AND hard copy text books? Elementary doesn't use either one for the most part!! How much are the others being used?
What about the elementary and middle school AAP programs and AAP centers. (Bring a true AAP program into all schools)
Get rid of the "qualification" board, busing, crazy testing, AART teachers(wasting my money). Put the AAP teachers into the base schools.
Fee's for athletics.
Fee's for IB testing.
What about the IB program? What is wrong with AP which is already in place and has been for years? College's don't care about the extra GPA points and the manpower and student work time are crazy.
Take a closer look at the ESOL program. I think it could use some wasteful spending cuts. It is absolutely HUGE!
What about the "unlimited" resources given to Title 1 schools just to get them up to the basic standards year after year???

Keep:
FLES
Keep Art
Keep Instructional Assistants (although look for wastefulness)
Special Ed.
Cut class sizes so students learn better and teachers teach better(teachers already have enough students)
Teacher's need a raise. Find a way to compensate Great teachers who work year after year under huge class sizes and very little pay and no pay increases for years.
Assistant Principles (really?)
Keep self selected AP classes in middle school to accommodate the advanced learners. (place the AAP center teachers here)

FCPS needs to tread very carefully here with cuts. The quality teachers will move elsewhere and we'll become the next D.C. school system.

Those Title I "resources" are in the form of dollars from the federal government. Title I is a funding SOURCE of revenue for FCPS, not a cost. Since the dollars come from the fed, there are very strict rules about who gets them and how they are spent.

As for assistant principals (not principles), are you for real? Please go speak with your neighborhood elementary school principal and ask him/her if you can substitute for a week as the asst principal. Then come back and let us know how that went.

[Anonymous]

Agree with 13:31 except Assistant Principals. Even the report said this could be cut. Many schools have more than 1. Cut instructional, math, and reading coaches as much as possible too.