MCPS teachers - what would you tell parents in your class(es) if you could?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would tell parents they are all sabotaging their kids education by sendjng them in with a cell phone. If you think it’s hard to tell your kid to turn off the tv at home, imagine what the is like for one teacher dealing with 30+ kid who are all walking around with a tv/ gaming/ entertainment device in their back pockets at all times, always at their finger tips….they are ALL addicted.

Teachers have no way to manage that, so what happens is they constantly tell kids to put phones away, and then they later give up because they get tired of saying the same thing 100x a class period. So stop please, just sending your kids to school with a phone. They don’t need it.

And the argument that they need an iPhone to contact mom and dad is bonkers… there are devices that do the same without the tv, games, and social media: flip phones and dumb phone still exist. They don’t need an iPhone. They need an education

I thought all phones were left in the locker otherwise turned in to the principal office. But as a parent, we need it to contact students if they have after school activities and mass shooting concerns me too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do general education teachers receive any training in how to teach or even how to understand SN children? Are teachers aware of what adhd, autism, etc are? So many are mainstreamed into general Ed that SN teachers aren't even in their lives.

Yes. Every teacher needs to take at least 6 credits of special education classes to be certified. We also receive ongoing PD.

What we don’t receive are a lot of additional resources or support. I’ve had classes in which 1/3 of my students have 504s and IEPs.

This. Plus, there are many students with other special needs among the remaining 2/3. Often 1/3 are English language learners (or in MCPS, Emerging Multilingual Learners), some of whom might have other needs as well: FARMS and EML, IEP and EML, 504 and EML, or GT and EML. I’ve taught triple-coded and even quadruple coded students in classrooms with 10 IEP/504 students without a second adult to assist.

Having 1/3 of kids with special needs sounds hard to believe, unless the parents are claiming iep for mild problems which in the past would be considered within the range of normal. Is that what's going on? Are parents over diagnosing, and expecting the school to solve their kids problems, instead of just supplementing at home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would tell parents they are all sabotaging their kids education by sendjng them in with a cell phone. If you think it’s hard to tell your kid to turn off the tv at home, imagine what the is like for one teacher dealing with 30+ kid who are all walking around with a tv/ gaming/ entertainment device in their back pockets at all times, always at their finger tips….they are ALL addicted.

Teachers have no way to manage that, so what happens is they constantly tell kids to put phones away, and then they later give up because they get tired of saying the same thing 100x a class period. So stop please, just sending your kids to school with a phone. They don’t need it.

And the argument that they need an iPhone to contact mom and dad is bonkers… there are devices that do the same without the tv, games, and social media: flip phones and dumb phone still exist. They don’t need an iPhone. They need an education

I thought all phones were left in the locker otherwise turned in to the principal office. But as a parent, we need it to contact students if they have after school activities and mass shooting concerns me too

I'm guessing you grew up and went to school without a phone. I did, and we coordinated after-school activities just fine. And school shooting... I hope that never happens, an vast probability is it never will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would tell parents they are all sabotaging their kids education by sendjng them in with a cell phone. If you think it’s hard to tell your kid to turn off the tv at home, imagine what the is like for one teacher dealing with 30+ kid who are all walking around with a tv/ gaming/ entertainment device in their back pockets at all times, always at their finger tips….they are ALL addicted.

Teachers have no way to manage that, so what happens is they constantly tell kids to put phones away, and then they later give up because they get tired of saying the same thing 100x a class period. So stop please, just sending your kids to school with a phone. They don’t need it.

And the argument that they need an iPhone to contact mom and dad is bonkers… there are devices that do the same without the tv, games, and social media: flip phones and dumb phone still exist. They don’t need an iPhone. They need an education

I thought all phones were left in the locker otherwise turned in to the principal office. But as a parent, we need it to contact students if they have after school activities and mass shooting concerns me too

I'm guessing you grew up and went to school without a phone. I did, and we coordinated after-school activities just fine. And school shooting... I hope that never happens, an vast probability is it never will.

I don't care if kids bring their phones to school, but they should not be out in class. If they are, they should have to hand them in until the end of the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would tell parents they are all sabotaging their kids education by sendjng them in with a cell phone. If you think it’s hard to tell your kid to turn off the tv at home, imagine what the is like for one teacher dealing with 30+ kid who are all walking around with a tv/ gaming/ entertainment device in their back pockets at all times, always at their finger tips….they are ALL addicted.

Teachers have no way to manage that, so what happens is they constantly tell kids to put phones away, and then they later give up because they get tired of saying the same thing 100x a class period. So stop please, just sending your kids to school with a phone. They don’t need it.

And the argument that they need an iPhone to contact mom and dad is bonkers… there are devices that do the same without the tv, games, and social media: flip phones and dumb phone still exist. They don’t need an iPhone. They need an education

I thought all phones were left in the locker otherwise turned in to the principal office. But as a parent, we need it to contact students if they have after school activities and mass shooting concerns me too

I'm guessing you grew up and went to school without a phone. I did, and we coordinated after-school activities just fine. And school shooting... I hope that never happens, an vast probability is it never will.

I don't care if kids bring their phones to school, but they should not be out in class. If they are, they should have to hand them in until the end of the day.

Read upthread to understand why what 'should' happen doesn't happen. Just leave the smartphones at home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do general education teachers receive any training in how to teach or even how to understand SN children? Are teachers aware of what adhd, autism, etc are? So many are mainstreamed into general Ed that SN teachers aren't even in their lives.

Yes. Every teacher needs to take at least 6 credits of special education classes to be certified. We also receive ongoing PD.

What we don’t receive are a lot of additional resources or support. I’ve had classes in which 1/3 of my students have 504s and IEPs.

This. Plus, there are many students with other special needs among the remaining 2/3. Often 1/3 are English language learners (or in MCPS, Emerging Multilingual Learners), some of whom might have other needs as well: FARMS and EML, IEP and EML, 504 and EML, or GT and EML. I’ve taught triple-coded and even quadruple coded students in classrooms with 10 IEP/504 students without a second adult to assist.

Having 1/3 of kids with special needs sounds hard to believe, unless the parents are claiming iep for mild problems which in the past would be considered within the range of normal. Is that what's going on? Are parents over diagnosing, and expecting the school to solve their kids problems, instead of just supplementing at home?

My BIL grew up with an undiagnosed mental health condition that we now recognize because our DC has it. BIL never got any treatment because it was "considered within the range of normal". His adult life has been a nightmare because he never got the help that he needed. We are investing a lot of time, money and effort into addressing DD's issues, but the IEP is a critical piece because it is a condition that particularly impacts her at school. We can't just "supplement at home". Her condition prevents her from meeting her basic needs at school and makes it impossible for teachers to properly assess her academic progress. Therefore she qualifies under federal law for special education services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do general education teachers receive any training in how to teach or even how to understand SN children? Are teachers aware of what adhd, autism, etc are? So many are mainstreamed into general Ed that SN teachers aren't even in their lives.

Yes. Every teacher needs to take at least 6 credits of special education classes to be certified. We also receive ongoing PD.

What we don’t receive are a lot of additional resources or support. I’ve had classes in which 1/3 of my students have 504s and IEPs.

This. Plus, there are many students with other special needs among the remaining 2/3. Often 1/3 are English language learners (or in MCPS, Emerging Multilingual Learners), some of whom might have other needs as well: FARMS and EML, IEP and EML, 504 and EML, or GT and EML. I’ve taught triple-coded and even quadruple coded students in classrooms with 10 IEP/504 students without a second adult to assist.

Having 1/3 of kids with special needs sounds hard to believe, unless the parents are claiming iep for mild problems which in the past would be considered within the range of normal. Is that what's going on? Are parents over diagnosing, and expecting the school to solve their kids problems, instead of just supplementing at home?

My BIL grew up with an undiagnosed mental health condition that we now recognize because our DC has it. BIL never got any treatment because it was "considered within the range of normal". His adult life has been a nightmare because he never got the help that he needed. We are investing a lot of time, money and effort into addressing DD's issues, but the IEP is a critical piece because it is a condition that particularly impacts her at school. We can't just "supplement at home". Her condition prevents her from meeting her basic needs at school and makes it impossible for teachers to properly assess her academic progress. Therefore she qualifies under federal law for special education services.

I don't have the words to express condolences, and I don't know what's best for your dd. I cant imagine how mainstreaming could be best for a child who can't meet her basic needs or even be evaluated. But I do know that the school system would have more resources for your dd if more parents supplemented for mild deficiencies on their own. I also know that people will game the system, and I suspect that's causing a tragedy of the commons situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do general education teachers receive any training in how to teach or even how to understand SN children? Are teachers aware of what adhd, autism, etc are? So many are mainstreamed into general Ed that SN teachers aren't even in their lives.

Yes. Every teacher needs to take at least 6 credits of special education classes to be certified. We also receive ongoing PD.

What we don’t receive are a lot of additional resources or support. I’ve had classes in which 1/3 of my students have 504s and IEPs.

This. Plus, there are many students with other special needs among the remaining 2/3. Often 1/3 are English language learners (or in MCPS, Emerging Multilingual Learners), some of whom might have other needs as well: FARMS and EML, IEP and EML, 504 and EML, or GT and EML. I’ve taught triple-coded and even quadruple coded students in classrooms with 10 IEP/504 students without a second adult to assist.

Having 1/3 of kids with special needs sounds hard to believe, unless the parents are claiming iep for mild problems which in the past would be considered within the range of normal. Is that what's going on? Are parents over diagnosing, and expecting the school to solve their kids problems, instead of just supplementing at home?

My BIL grew up with an undiagnosed mental health condition that we now recognize because our DC has it. BIL never got any treatment because it was "considered within the range of normal". His adult life has been a nightmare because he never got the help that he needed. We are investing a lot of time, money and effort into addressing DD's issues, but the IEP is a critical piece because it is a condition that particularly impacts her at school. We can't just "supplement at home". Her condition prevents her from meeting her basic needs at school and makes it impossible for teachers to properly assess her academic progress. Therefore she qualifies under federal law for special education services.

I don't have the words to express condolences, and I don't know what's best for your dd. I cant imagine how mainstreaming could be best for a child who can't meet her basic needs or even be evaluated. But I do know that the school system would have more resources for your dd if more parents supplemented for mild deficiencies on their own. I also know that people will game the system, and I suspect that's causing a tragedy of the commons situation.

They didn't want to give her an IEP. But I learned the right words to use to get it. A self-contained class would not be appropriate for her, sorry I can't give more details. Many, many children with her condition do not get support, because they don't cause disruption.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do general education teachers receive any training in how to teach or even how to understand SN children? Are teachers aware of what adhd, autism, etc are? So many are mainstreamed into general Ed that SN teachers aren't even in their lives.

Yes. Every teacher needs to take at least 6 credits of special education classes to be certified. We also receive ongoing PD.

What we don’t receive are a lot of additional resources or support. I’ve had classes in which 1/3 of my students have 504s and IEPs.

This. Plus, there are many students with other special needs among the remaining 2/3. Often 1/3 are English language learners (or in MCPS, Emerging Multilingual Learners), some of whom might have other needs as well: FARMS and EML, IEP and EML, 504 and EML, or GT and EML. I’ve taught triple-coded and even quadruple coded students in classrooms with 10 IEP/504 students without a second adult to assist.

Having 1/3 of kids with special needs sounds hard to believe, unless the parents are claiming iep for mild problems which in the past would be considered within the range of normal. Is that what's going on? Are parents over diagnosing, and expecting the school to solve their kids problems, instead of just supplementing at home?

My BIL grew up with an undiagnosed mental health condition that we now recognize because our DC has it. BIL never got any treatment because it was "considered within the range of normal". His adult life has been a nightmare because he never got the help that he needed. We are investing a lot of time, money and effort into addressing DD's issues, but the IEP is a critical piece because it is a condition that particularly impacts her at school. We can't just "supplement at home". Her condition prevents her from meeting her basic needs at school and makes it impossible for teachers to properly assess her academic progress. Therefore she qualifies under federal law for special education services.

I don't have the words to express condolences, and I don't know what's best for your dd. I cant imagine how mainstreaming could be best for a child who can't meet her basic needs or even be evaluated. But I do know that the school system would have more resources for your dd if more parents supplemented for mild deficiencies on their own. I also know that people will game the system, and I suspect that's causing a tragedy of the commons situation.

They didn't want to give her an IEP. But I learned the right words to use to get it. A self-contained class would not be appropriate for her, sorry I can't give more details. Many, many children with her condition do not get support, because they don't cause disruption.

In that case, congratulations on gaming the system

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do general education teachers receive any training in how to teach or even how to understand SN children? Are teachers aware of what adhd, autism, etc are? So many are mainstreamed into general Ed that SN teachers aren't even in their lives.

Yes. Every teacher needs to take at least 6 credits of special education classes to be certified. We also receive ongoing PD.

What we don’t receive are a lot of additional resources or support. I’ve had classes in which 1/3 of my students have 504s and IEPs.

This. Plus, there are many students with other special needs among the remaining 2/3. Often 1/3 are English language learners (or in MCPS, Emerging Multilingual Learners), some of whom might have other needs as well: FARMS and EML, IEP and EML, 504 and EML, or GT and EML. I’ve taught triple-coded and even quadruple coded students in classrooms with 10 IEP/504 students without a second adult to assist.

Having 1/3 of kids with special needs sounds hard to believe, unless the parents are claiming iep for mild problems which in the past would be considered within the range of normal. Is that what's going on? Are parents over diagnosing, and expecting the school to solve their kids problems, instead of just supplementing at home?

My BIL grew up with an undiagnosed mental health condition that we now recognize because our DC has it. BIL never got any treatment because it was "considered within the range of normal". His adult life has been a nightmare because he never got the help that he needed. We are investing a lot of time, money and effort into addressing DD's issues, but the IEP is a critical piece because it is a condition that particularly impacts her at school. We can't just "supplement at home". Her condition prevents her from meeting her basic needs at school and makes it impossible for teachers to properly assess her academic progress. Therefore she qualifies under federal law for special education services.

I don't have the words to express condolences, and I don't know what's best for your dd. I cant imagine how mainstreaming could be best for a child who can't meet her basic needs or even be evaluated. But I do know that the school system would have more resources for your dd if more parents supplemented for mild deficiencies on their own. I also know that people will game the system, and I suspect that's causing a tragedy of the commons situation.

They didn't want to give her an IEP. But I learned the right words to use to get it. A self-contained class would not be appropriate for her, sorry I can't give more details. Many, many children with her condition do not get support, because they don't cause disruption.

In that case, congratulations on gaming the system

It's not gaming the system, it's learning to use the system. They don't understand my child's condition, and they're not just going to give her an IEP without understanding how it impacts her in terminology they can understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do general education teachers receive any training in how to teach or even how to understand SN children? Are teachers aware of what adhd, autism, etc are? So many are mainstreamed into general Ed that SN teachers aren't even in their lives.

Yes. Every teacher needs to take at least 6 credits of special education classes to be certified. We also receive ongoing PD.

What we don’t receive are a lot of additional resources or support. I’ve had classes in which 1/3 of my students have 504s and IEPs.

This. Plus, there are many students with other special needs among the remaining 2/3. Often 1/3 are English language learners (or in MCPS, Emerging Multilingual Learners), some of whom might have other needs as well: FARMS and EML, IEP and EML, 504 and EML, or GT and EML. I’ve taught triple-coded and even quadruple coded students in classrooms with 10 IEP/504 students without a second adult to assist.

Having 1/3 of kids with special needs sounds hard to believe, unless the parents are claiming iep for mild problems which in the past would be considered within the range of normal. Is that what's going on? Are parents over diagnosing, and expecting the school to solve their kids problems, instead of just supplementing at home?

My BIL grew up with an undiagnosed mental health condition that we now recognize because our DC has it. BIL never got any treatment because it was "considered within the range of normal". His adult life has been a nightmare because he never got the help that he needed. We are investing a lot of time, money and effort into addressing DD's issues, but the IEP is a critical piece because it is a condition that particularly impacts her at school. We can't just "supplement at home". Her condition prevents her from meeting her basic needs at school and makes it impossible for teachers to properly assess her academic progress. Therefore she qualifies under federal law for special education services.

I don't have the words to express condolences, and I don't know what's best for your dd. I cant imagine how mainstreaming could be best for a child who can't meet her basic needs or even be evaluated. But I do know that the school system would have more resources for your dd if more parents supplemented for mild deficiencies on their own. I also know that people will game the system, and I suspect that's causing a tragedy of the commons situation.

They didn't want to give her an IEP. But I learned the right words to use to get it. A self-contained class would not be appropriate for her, sorry I can't give more details. Many, many children with her condition do not get support, because they don't cause disruption.

In that case, congratulations on gaming the system

It's not gaming the system, it's learning to use the system. They don't understand my child's condition, and they're not just going to give her an IEP without understanding how it impacts her in terminology they can understand.

translation: in words that legally bind them. Read upthread to understand what problems that leads to

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not a special education teacher but a general education teacher. From what I have seen, no one is trying to lie and hide things on purpose. The special education team at my school genuinely cares about kids and advocates for them. It just becomes impossible sometimes to provide all the supports that some students need. The staff is overwhelmed. Some iep meetings take several hours and that is just for one student. Some parents can also be unreasonable and unrealistic. Lawsuits happen frequently and cause additional stress along with an extra deluge of paperwork.

This is like saying it's impossible for me to stop at all stop signs and red lights. It slows me down, increases gas consumption, wears out brake pads. Sped is governed by a federal law. It's literally your school's admin's job to request the resources. So why bother them with that, right, it's not nice to force the admin to their job and the central to do their job? Why make noise to all these important people who allocate budgets. Instead, in your head you call it "it just becomes impossible" and poof, it's just an amorphous concept. Nobody to blame, it's just how it is. No, dude, no.

Reminds me how they said about Vietnam war in the end "Mistakes were made". Decision makers f'ed up big time, costing lives and resources, hiding their failures, etc... Buck stops somewhere, always. You're enabling people who get paid to allocate resources by pretending that no big deal is happening here.

SPED and FAPE are federal laws, sure. But they don't send the funding to make it happen. Rock, meet Hard Place.

So you’re saying there’s a law that costs organizations money in order to comply it with it? I’m shocked.

Do you similarly complain about the ADA? Accounting requirements for businesses? Car seat laws impacting families?

Besides, the money ultimately comes from (roughly) the same places. Does it really matter whether the taxes were collected at the local, state, or federal level?

There are not enough people in schools to do all the work required by these laws. Why is that so hard for you to understand? Special education already takes up at least 50% of the budget maybe more. No one is going to work 20 hours a day just because there are laws in place. Instead they will quit which is what ends up happening.

So you’re saying MCPS needs a larger budget. Sure. But I don’t see why that would need to come from federal tax dollars as opposed to state/local tax dollars.

And no, special education expenses are nowhere near 50%. What in the world gave you that idea?

Mcps has plenty of money. They need to cut out the wasteful spending.

Time to cut Football. And Bocce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do general education teachers receive any training in how to teach or even how to understand SN children? Are teachers aware of what adhd, autism, etc are? So many are mainstreamed into general Ed that SN teachers aren't even in their lives.

Yes. Every teacher needs to take at least 6 credits of special education classes to be certified. We also receive ongoing PD.

What we don’t receive are a lot of additional resources or support. I’ve had classes in which 1/3 of my students have 504s and IEPs.

This. Plus, there are many students with other special needs among the remaining 2/3. Often 1/3 are English language learners (or in MCPS, Emerging Multilingual Learners), some of whom might have other needs as well: FARMS and EML, IEP and EML, 504 and EML, or GT and EML. I’ve taught triple-coded and even quadruple coded students in classrooms with 10 IEP/504 students without a second adult to assist.

Having 1/3 of kids with special needs sounds hard to believe, unless the parents are claiming iep for mild problems which in the past would be considered within the range of normal. Is that what's going on? Are parents over diagnosing, and expecting the school to solve their kids problems, instead of just supplementing at home?

My BIL grew up with an undiagnosed mental health condition that we now recognize because our DC has it. BIL never got any treatment because it was "considered within the range of normal". His adult life has been a nightmare because he never got the help that he needed. We are investing a lot of time, money and effort into addressing DD's issues, but the IEP is a critical piece because it is a condition that particularly impacts her at school. We can't just "supplement at home". Her condition prevents her from meeting her basic needs at school and makes it impossible for teachers to properly assess her academic progress. Therefore she qualifies under federal law for special education services.

I don't have the words to express condolences, and I don't know what's best for your dd. I cant imagine how mainstreaming could be best for a child who can't meet her basic needs or even be evaluated. But I do know that the school system would have more resources for your dd if more parents supplemented for mild deficiencies on their own. I also know that people will game the system, and I suspect that's causing a tragedy of the commons situation.

They didn't want to give her an IEP. But I learned the right words to use to get it. A self-contained class would not be appropriate for her, sorry I can't give more details. Many, many children with her condition do not get support, because they don't cause disruption.

In that case, congratulations on gaming the system

It's not gaming the system, it's learning to use the system. They don't understand my child's condition, and they're not just going to give her an IEP without understanding how it impacts her in terminology they can understand.

translation: in words that legally bind them. Read upthread to understand what problems that leads to

The words legally bind them because there is a federal law that entitles my child to special education services. I get they have limited resources, but I'm not going to not advocate for my child. My BIL is a reminder of what can happen if I don't advocate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends - if they have an iep? I’d tell them that most of the services are delivered by the general Ed teacher because inclusion spec Ed teachers are stretched too thin and we spend so much time on paperwork and not with kids. I’d also tell them no matter what they “advocate for” in the iep, it doesn’t actually happen during the school day due to limited resources and time so half the time we just agree to make you go away

We know. Thanks for being a failure in your life's work.

NP; When you're considered a failure for not being to clone yourself, you know MCPS parents have high expectations. Keep holding those teachers feet to the physically impossible fire

We are talking about kids with disabilities who have legal rights to an accessible education. Parents aren’t holding teachers to anything unreasonable. There is a legal, moral, and ethical obligation here and if you can’t meet it because of “resources” your beef isn’t with the parents and their expectations aren’t unreasonable. The problem lies elsewhere. Stop taking it out on the kids and their parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not a special education teacher but a general education teacher. From what I have seen, no one is trying to lie and hide things on purpose. The special education team at my school genuinely cares about kids and advocates for them. It just becomes impossible sometimes to provide all the supports that some students need. The staff is overwhelmed. Some iep meetings take several hours and that is just for one student. Some parents can also be unreasonable and unrealistic. Lawsuits happen frequently and cause additional stress along with an extra deluge of paperwork.

This is like saying it's impossible for me to stop at all stop signs and red lights. It slows me down, increases gas consumption, wears out brake pads. Sped is governed by a federal law. It's literally your school's admin's job to request the resources. So why bother them with that, right, it's not nice to force the admin to their job and the central to do their job? Why make noise to all these important people who allocate budgets. Instead, in your head you call it "it just becomes impossible" and poof, it's just an amorphous concept. Nobody to blame, it's just how it is. No, dude, no.

Reminds me how they said about Vietnam war in the end "Mistakes were made". Decision makers f'ed up big time, costing lives and resources, hiding their failures, etc... Buck stops somewhere, always. You're enabling people who get paid to allocate resources by pretending that no big deal is happening here.

SPED and FAPE are federal laws, sure. But they don't send the funding to make it happen. Rock, meet Hard Place.

So you’re saying there’s a law that costs organizations money in order to comply it with it? I’m shocked.

Do you similarly complain about the ADA? Accounting requirements for businesses? Car seat laws impacting families?

Besides, the money ultimately comes from (roughly) the same places. Does it really matter whether the taxes were collected at the local, state, or federal level?

There are not enough people in schools to do all the work required by these laws. Why is that so hard for you to understand? Special education already takes up at least 50% of the budget maybe more. No one is going to work 20 hours a day just because there are laws in place. Instead they will quit which is what ends up happening.

So you’re saying MCPS needs a larger budget. Sure. But I don’t see why that would need to come from federal tax dollars as opposed to state/local tax dollars.

And no, special education expenses are nowhere near 50%. What in the world gave you that idea?

Mcps has plenty of money. They need to cut out the wasteful spending.

Time to cut Football. And Bocce.

Football is a money maker for schools. Boccee was pathetic. Never saw one kit. However, we don't need to be funding things like the kid museum and other non-profits.