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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Unfortunately I don't have advice to offer, but I wanted to encourage you to go to mediation if your advocate and others advise you to do so.

FCPS has been cutting services exponentially over the past few years.  Their special ed programs are archaic and are not meeting the needs of the children of Fairfax County. No one is being held accountable so they keep pushing the line - cutting back on services, refusing to test students, hiring assistants rather than certified special ed teachers, not following ieps, etc.  etc.

Over and over I hear complaints from parents.  Fcps needs to be held accountable. Districtwide changes need to take place and there needs to be accountability.

I wish every parent I've spoken with who is discouraged and unhappy with the special ed services would take their cases to due process to get the message to fcps that parents won't stand for the inadequate education the county is providing our children and changes need to be made.

Fcps wants to avoid lawsuits as it costs them thousands of dollars.  They are betting parents won't go that far. They are gambling on the law of probability.

Your case sounds like a guaranteed win.  The school has failed your child. He is not meeting grade level benchmarks. It is the schools' responsibility to make sure your son has the accommodations and support to "access the curriculum" and "pass the SOLs". The school is not meeting your son's needs and you have documentation to prove it.

Maybe a lawyer would take your case pro bono?  Maybe WrightsLaw.org can help. It's worth a call to them. Maybe a local university could help you.

If you pursue due process I'll be cheering for you every step of the way.  Stay strong.  
[/quote]

One of the things that we've learned in the past year (in Arlington, not in FCPS) is that the system really is stacked against parents and their kids in many ways.  We worked with an advocate last year and probably got a somewhat better - on paper - IEP out of it.  We wanted a cooperative advocate and this advocate was, but perhaps too nice/cooperative.  What hiring the advocate did do for us was really push us as parents to dig a lot deeper and push the school system much harder than we had previously.  There is a lot of BS that goes on and in school systems as wealthy as these, it's really disappointing to see.

Why do I think the system is stacked?  Because due process really isn't an option for parents -- it's basically a lawsuit and you need to hire a lawyer (I am a lawyer), bring in (and pay) witnesses, present evidence.  It's expensive and just not an option for most people -- particularly when you are highly unlikely to win.  We did speak to a local well-regarded special ed attorney and googled that attorney's cases in VA - very few wins.

More broadly, the IDEA needs an overhaul -- the way it's written provides no incentive for school systems to strive for the best -- curriculum, practices -- in special education.  "Free, appropriate public education" is a pretty low standard unfortunately and schools act accordingly.

We have considered private and continue to do so (DC is now in middle school) but, after spending a lot of money over the years on various services, a tutor, and the advocate, I've become a lot more cynical and we are at the point that we don't want to spend the money because nothing seems to bring lasting improvements (DC has LDs and has a lot of school struggles).  We've heard great things about some of the privates but again, we've become a bit skeptical - we have an attorney friend in another state who has practiced some special ed law and he said that, from what he's seen, even special ed schools don't buy the outcomes that you would expect after paying so much money (it's one person's perspective but it was eye-opening - and we've heard criticiques of the various special ed schools locally from helping professionals too)[/quote]

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