ESY

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the comments. Our kid is developmentally disabled and is not expected to ever live independently. Is in the Montgomery County SCB program. Needs therapies (PT, OT, speech, etc.). Virtual DOES NOT WORK. We have attorney. Do not do any IEP meetings without. We have summer covered, but concerned about those w/o our resources. VERY concerned about the fall. Will make a Federal case out of it. Hoping someone in MoCo administration wises up before that. WHY in one of the richest counties in the nation are we not paying our teachers - and especially, our special Ed teachers, working day in and day out with one of our nation’s most challenging - and most vulnerable- populations not being paid a competitive wage?!

Hope you win that case OP. I also hope mcps realizes how severely underpaid their SN staff are. They will never find anyone qualified that wants to work summers for under $75-100 an hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought about teaching ESY. I have a SpEd endorsement even though I am not a special education teacher. but MCPS didn't have a clear curriculum set up for teachers to walk into. This means I would have to do a lot of planning outside the contracted hours. Lots of teachers want to "help out" and basically assist but not enough want to be the main ead teacher in a situation like this.

So, not worth the money especially with the constant student behavior issues lately.

+1 this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t they move Gen Ed summer school online and prioritize special Ed being in person? This is discrimination. A Gen Ed teacher is going to be much more helpful than a random neighborhood college kid getting paid $19/hour by special Ed parents scrambling at the last minute to find a new plan. And it’s not just for retention of content but also routine and being in a school environment around peers.

For a lot of reasons. Because MCPS can’t and shouldn’t force staff to work summer school, including ESY. Do you really want a teacher who has no training or background in working with children with special needs covering your child’s class this summer? Do you want someone who really doesn’t want to be there, but they got transferred like you’re describing? There are also other kids who need and deserve support in the summer too.

If MCPS wants to ensure ESY staffing, they need to make it part of special ed staffing contracts. My youngest is in a private placement at a school on an 11 month schedule. No issues with staffing because it’s built into the calendar. I really think that’s the only way around the problem. I understand your frustration, but please don’t talk about school staff like we aren’t people who deserve to make decisions about our own time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Special Education is in a complete free fall. My child was determined to need compensatory services but they couldn’t find a provider and I cannot hire a private special education teacher at the rate MCPS is offering to reimburse. The net result is that MCPS is way out of compliance with a Letter of Findings from MSDE and my child’s IEP.

Why doesn’t MCPS hire some Special Ed Teachers as 12 month employees? RTSE are 12 month employees. Why don’t they provide Special Ed services?

The OP’s letter went to students who MCPS said qualified for ESY. What about students who had the need but schools denied services due to the lack of teachers?

Finally, what is MCPS doing to fill Special Ed vacancies this fall? So many teachers resigned at the end of the year.

RTSEs are stretched past the breaking point with their existing duties. "Just have a RTSE do it" is not nearly as simple as you assume.

The only solution I can see here is to throw lots of money at this problem. Either to reimburse parents for private services or to make special ed a desirable job to put up with all the stress and paperwork and high caseloads and nasty admin and parents. It's basically two jobs in one so maybe it should pay double (no, I'm not kidding; throwing a measly $2000/year per teacher is not nearly enough).

Either that or Congress needs to take a long look at this massive unfunded mandate they've created with IDEA and either provide funding commensurate with the entitlements they've heaped on school districts, or amend the law to lessen the entitlements and thus the funding burden. Not nice, but what realistic solutions are there? You can scream to the hills what districts MUST do and what you're entitled to but if there's nobody to do the job, well, then what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Special Education is in a complete free fall. My child was determined to need compensatory services but they couldn’t find a provider and I cannot hire a private special education teacher at the rate MCPS is offering to reimburse. The net result is that MCPS is way out of compliance with a Letter of Findings from MSDE and my child’s IEP.

Why doesn’t MCPS hire some Special Ed Teachers as 12 month employees? RTSE are 12 month employees. Why don’t they provide Special Ed services?

The OP’s letter went to students who MCPS said qualified for ESY. What about students who had the need but schools denied services due to the lack of teachers?

Finally, what is MCPS doing to fill Special Ed vacancies this fall? So many teachers resigned at the end of the year.

RTSEs are stretched past the breaking point with their existing duties. "Just have a RTSE do it" is not nearly as simple as you assume.

The only solution I can see here is to throw lots of money at this problem. Either to reimburse parents for private services or to make special ed a desirable job to put up with all the stress and paperwork and high caseloads and nasty admin and parents. It's basically two jobs in one so maybe it should pay double (no, I'm not kidding; throwing a measly $2000/year per teacher is not nearly enough).

Either that or Congress needs to take a long look at this massive unfunded mandate they've created with IDEA and either provide funding commensurate with the entitlements they've heaped on school districts, or amend the law to lessen the entitlements and thus the funding burden. Not nice, but what realistic solutions are there? You can scream to the hills what districts MUST do and what you're entitled to but if there's nobody to do the job, well, then what?

All This!! A as pp noted above, they would work the summer for about 4x their normal pay. And while I don’t begrudge the person for looking out for themselves, their own health and well-being and likely need for a break to be able to come back in the fall, no district is going to be able to pay teachers 2/3/4x what they are currently making without their being big hits elsewhere in their budget. There is policy and then there is implementation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Special Education is in a complete free fall. My child was determined to need compensatory services but they couldn’t find a provider and I cannot hire a private special education teacher at the rate MCPS is offering to reimburse. The net result is that MCPS is way out of compliance with a Letter of Findings from MSDE and my child’s IEP.

Why doesn’t MCPS hire some Special Ed Teachers as 12 month employees? RTSE are 12 month employees. Why don’t they provide Special Ed services?

The OP’s letter went to students who MCPS said qualified for ESY. What about students who had the need but schools denied services due to the lack of teachers?

Finally, what is MCPS doing to fill Special Ed vacancies this fall? So many teachers resigned at the end of the year.

RTSEs are stretched past the breaking point with their existing duties. "Just have a RTSE do it" is not nearly as simple as you assume.

The only solution I can see here is to throw lots of money at this problem. Either to reimburse parents for private services or to make special ed a desirable job to put up with all the stress and paperwork and high caseloads and nasty admin and parents. It's basically two jobs in one so maybe it should pay double (no, I'm not kidding; throwing a measly $2000/year per teacher is not nearly enough).

Either that or Congress needs to take a long look at this massive unfunded mandate they've created with IDEA and either provide funding commensurate with the entitlements they've heaped on school districts, or amend the law to lessen the entitlements and thus the funding burden. Not nice, but what realistic solutions are there? You can scream to the hills what districts MUST do and what you're entitled to but if there's nobody to do the job, well, then what?

All This!! A as pp noted above, they would work the summer for about 4x their normal pay. And while I don’t begrudge the person for looking out for themselves, their own health and well-being and likely need for a break to be able to come back in the fall, no district is going to be able to pay teachers 2/3/4x what they are currently making without their being big hits elsewhere in their budget. There is policy and then there is implementation.

Big hits elsewhere? You mean like cutting out layers of administration. Boo hoo. MCPS has millions of dollars they squander every year and no one cares.

[Anonymous]

OP, If it makes you feel slightly better.... staff that were slated to work ESY got similar notice. And a friend who had set morning hours was given information about her 130-430 time slot to work. So frustrating all around for everyone.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the comments. Our kid is developmentally disabled and is not expected to ever live independently. Is in the Montgomery County SCB program. Needs therapies (PT, OT, speech, etc.). Virtual DOES NOT WORK. We have attorney. Do not do any IEP meetings without. We have summer covered, but concerned about those w/o our resources. VERY concerned about the fall. Will make a Federal case out of it. Hoping someone in MoCo administration wises up before that. WHY in one of the richest counties in the nation are we not paying our teachers - and especially, our special Ed teachers, working day in and day out with one of our nation’s most challenging - and most vulnerable- populations not being paid a competitive wage?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t they move Gen Ed summer school online and prioritize special Ed being in person? This is discrimination. A Gen Ed teacher is going to be much more helpful than a random neighborhood college kid getting paid $19/hour by special Ed parents scrambling at the last minute to find a new plan. And it’s not just for retention of content but also routine and being in a school environment around peers.

For a lot of reasons. Because MCPS can’t and shouldn’t force staff to work summer school, including ESY. Do you really want a teacher who has no training or background in working with children with special needs covering your child’s class this summer? Do you want someone who really doesn’t want to be there, but they got transferred like you’re describing? There are also other kids who need and deserve support in the summer too.

If MCPS wants to ensure ESY staffing, they need to make it part of special ed staffing contracts. My youngest is in a private placement at a school on an 11 month schedule. No issues with staffing because it’s built into the calendar. I really think that’s the only way around the problem. I understand your frustration, but please don’t talk about school staff like we aren’t people who deserve to make decisions about our own time.

This is an excellent idea. Too bad Dawn saw this too and stole your idea and is touting it as her own. That lady will do and say anything to get elected. Did you know she's the greatest person and parent as well? She gave a teacher money today and then screen shot it because she definitely didn't do it with any intention other than the goodness in her heart. *Massive eyeroll*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t they move Gen Ed summer school online and prioritize special Ed being in person? This is discrimination. A Gen Ed teacher is going to be much more helpful than a random neighborhood college kid getting paid $19/hour by special Ed parents scrambling at the last minute to find a new plan. And it’s not just for retention of content but also routine and being in a school environment around peers.

For a lot of reasons. Because MCPS can’t and shouldn’t force staff to work summer school, including ESY. Do you really want a teacher who has no training or background in working with children with special needs covering your child’s class this summer? Do you want someone who really doesn’t want to be there, but they got transferred like you’re describing? There are also other kids who need and deserve support in the summer too.

If MCPS wants to ensure ESY staffing, they need to make it part of special ed staffing contracts. My youngest is in a private placement at a school on an 11 month schedule. No issues with staffing because it’s built into the calendar. I really think that’s the only way around the problem. I understand your frustration, but please don’t talk about school staff like we aren’t people who deserve to make decisions about our own time.

This is an excellent idea. Too bad Dawn saw this too and stole your idea and is touting it as her own. That lady will do and say anything to get elected. Did you know she's the greatest person and parent as well? She gave a teacher money today and then screen shot it because she definitely didn't do it with any intention other than the goodness in her heart. *Massive eyeroll*

Yup. She provides all the "outrage" because she's oso feisty! and fierce! without offering ANY tangible solutions. Any she does eventually come up with, were someone else's ideas. She belittled teachers for an entire year but now is pretending she cares because she needs votes. She backtracks on almost every thing she has said in the past because its come back to bite her. Just a pathetic candidate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe parents will get smart and start putting qualifications of the provider into the IEP like they should do from the beginning. School systems hate this but it’s within parental rights to do so but holds school systems more accountable.

School system has to agree. Even when written into the IEP, MCPS is non-compliant.

Then you sue the pants off of them. IEP is legal and federal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Special Education is in a complete free fall. My child was determined to need compensatory services but they couldn’t find a provider and I cannot hire a private special education teacher at the rate MCPS is offering to reimburse. The net result is that MCPS is way out of compliance with a Letter of Findings from MSDE and my child’s IEP.

Why doesn’t MCPS hire some Special Ed Teachers as 12 month employees? RTSE are 12 month employees. Why don’t they provide Special Ed services?

The OP’s letter went to students who MCPS said qualified for ESY. What about students who had the need but schools denied services due to the lack of teachers?

Finally, what is MCPS doing to fill Special Ed vacancies this fall? So many teachers resigned at the end of the year.

RTSEs are stretched past the breaking point with their existing duties. "Just have a RTSE do it" is not nearly as simple as you assume.

The only solution I can see here is to throw lots of money at this problem. Either to reimburse parents for private services or to make special ed a desirable job to put up with all the stress and paperwork and high caseloads and nasty admin and parents. It's basically two jobs in one so maybe it should pay double (no, I'm not kidding; throwing a measly $2000/year per teacher is not nearly enough).

Either that or Congress needs to take a long look at this massive unfunded mandate they've created with IDEA and either provide funding commensurate with the entitlements they've heaped on school districts, or amend the law to lessen the entitlements and thus the funding burden. Not nice, but what realistic solutions are there? You can scream to the hills what districts MUST do and what you're entitled to but if there's nobody to do the job, well, then what?

Then mcps is breaking federal law and parents need to start suing. They can outsource and pay more until they get their shit together but they have no choice but to fulfill all aspects of an IEP.

[Anonymous]

My kid was found eligible for ESY and I still have no information. When I asked the school they said he would have “access” to ESY at a different school but I didn’t get info from them either. Shouldn’t I have info by now?

[Anonymous]

OP here. Off on PTO today so able to catch up a bit. Went on the news last night…for the third time. Hoping MCPS leadership wises up soon. This situation is UNACCEPTABLE.

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/summer-school-staffing-problems-lead-to-virtual-learning-for-special-needs-students-in-montgomery-co

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/topics/coronavirus/as-their-special-needs-children-fall-behind-these-parents-are-desperate-for-schools-to-reopen/2020/12/02/106b484f-84c7-4b86-9534-1c404ae3984a_video.html

https://wjla.com/news/local/parents-concerned-about-children-with-special-needs-mcps-lays-out-plan-for-fall

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid was found eligible for ESY and I still have no information. When I asked the school they said he would have “access” to ESY at a different school but I didn’t get info from them either. Shouldn’t I have info by now?

Yes - ESY starts on Tuesday. Call your child’s school today and tell them you need the info

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Off on PTO today so able to catch up a bit. Went on the news last night…for the third time. Hoping MCPS leadership wises up soon. This situation is UNACCEPTABLE.

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/summer-school-staffing-problems-lead-to-virtual-learning-for-special-needs-students-in-montgomery-co

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/topics/coronavirus/as-their-special-needs-children-fall-behind-these-parents-are-desperate-for-schools-to-reopen/2020/12/02/106b484f-84c7-4b86-9534-1c404ae3984a_video.html

https://wjla.com/news/local/parents-concerned-about-children-with-special-needs-mcps-lays-out-plan-for-fall

Good for you, OP. Thank you for fighting for all the kids.