Reply to OFFICIAL MCPS BOE Race & Candidates Discussion

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Also, because I went to this candidates website and his whole paragraph on special education really bothers me I'm going to unpack it.

[i]Specifically, in order to gain an unfair advantage in the form of extra time on college admission tests like the ACT or the SAT, parents are paying exorbitant fees to have their children privately tested for learning differences and then pressuring the schools to grant them accommodations in the hopes of getting extended time on college entrance exams.[/i]

No, this is not what I see as an ES special education teacher, and universal screening would impact me. Parents do not pay for testing in the hopes of getting a testing accommodation to help their children get any unfair advantage, they pay for private testing because they are worried about their children.

[i]having students apply for such services ties up funding for the students who truly need them.
[/i]

As far as funding goes, if he's talking about students that have 504's for ADHD and testing accommodations such as extended time; we receive no federal funding for students with 504's. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Section 504 is a civil rights act that carries protections for people with disabilities. Unlike for students with IEP's, protected under different federal legislation, (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)) schools receive no federal funding for students with 504's.

As an aside, the government has never fully funded the IDEA. When IDEA was passed the government committed to funding 40% of the cost of special education and they have never reached that level. Feds cover around 15%. Another reason for the lack of properly funded services, aids, etc.... Advocate for Congress to fully fund the IDEA.

I agree that student access to special education services should depend on need, not affluence, but the way this candidate proposes going about it is an impractical and wasteful use of resources. How does it help less affluent kids get better access to special education services to screen entire populations of affluent elementary schools with costly and time-intensive testing when only a small percentage of children need and qualify for special education services? There is a better way to look for LD's and it is by implementing a response to intervention program and responding to that small percentage of kids who fail to make progress within those increasingly intensive interventions and getting them screened.

He should perhaps talk to some educators.

[/quote]

Which candidate is this?  Can you clarify?[/quote]

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