Anonymous wrote:Fellow sped teacher here.

Sadly, it's the same a lot of places. Four years ago, I reported my school to everyone I could think of short of the news outlets. I asked the parents to do the same. They held a big meeting that June, and people with fancy titles showed up to feign outrage and make empty promises. The only thing that happened was that they waited until the start of the new school year to investigate me for the very thing that I reported. I feel like they wanted me to quit, so they could say that it was me all along. I stuck it out and was cleared. Here we are now, and the same stuff continues to happen: we're pulled to cover lunch, to sub classes, to administer all standardized tests, and to help with arrival and dismissal. We don't have any of the resources we're supposed to have for our interventions. It's really sad.

As a parent - how would I know. I get a song an dance at every turn. I believe DCPS strategy is to have parents with means do outside tutoring / therapies - until they can't take it any longer and go private. OR there us enough records they sue for private placement. and for children without support to fail.

Fellow sped teacher here.

Sadly, it's the same a lot of places. Four years ago, I reported my school to everyone I could think of short of the news outlets. I asked the parents to do the same. They held a big meeting that June, and people with fancy titles showed up to feign outrage and make empty promises. The only thing that happened was that they waited until the start of the new school year to investigate me for the very thing that I reported. I feel like they wanted me to quit, so they could say that it was me all along. I stuck it out and was cleared. Here we are now, and the same stuff continues to happen: we're pulled to cover lunch, to sub classes, to administer all standardized tests, and to help with arrival and dismissal. We don't have any of the resources we're supposed to have for our interventions. It's really sad.

This was me last year at a not popular school. The school made a lot of excuses (revising IEPs, not enough staffing, don't qualify for an IEP). They kept saying "DCPS Policy is..." when really it should be "federal law says..." I found it so frustrating that there was no one I could turn to for help. I really do think we need a teacher ombudsman position for things like this. I ended up going to the instructional superintendent who was helpful and got the one thing I wanted addressed done.

You should also clearly document, via e-mail BCCing your personal email, every concern. I have long email threads about accommodations "per our conversation, I understand XYZ." The response was, "no, let's meet to talk." Different story when not in writing. Follow up with an email "per our conversation on X date, I understand XYZ. Please confirm."

If you are in DC, you are also a one-party consent state for recording. You should record all meetings for your own records. Don't let them know you have them until you absolutely need them (ie, you are in court).

The union may also be able to provide some legal assistance, though I've had difficulty getting in touch with anyone and zero response to emails, ever.

Please fight this. DCPS is doing so much wrong and getting away with it.

Having had a kid in sped for 12 years in DCPS I can tell you that violations are so common and rampant that you can whistleblow but nothing happens.

I once had a coordinator tell me, at our implementation meeting attended by her, two teachers and principal that my DC wouldn't be receiving speech therapy, though qualified for it via their testing, since resources were limited and she wasn't black. When I pushed back she said it was clear I could afford private speech therapy so that would be what was best for my child.

I made a complaint. Followd up with complaint. Talked to principal about this ad nauseum. Nothing happened. She is still employed in DCPS terrorizing other families.

That was in pre-k. I have stories from every school and most years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a dcps sped teacher. My school (one that gets lots of love on this board) is violating federal law when it comes to students with special needs. I have brought this to the attention of school admin several times.
Where do I go to report? Ombudsman is for parents & families.
I understand that I will very likely lose my job once I report. I just can’t be a part of this anymore.

Thanks for posting. Can you post a probing question that parent's should ask during parent teacher conferences that will help uncover your observations?

Yes. Is this about kids biot getting their pull out time? Is this about pull out time not being well used?

It could be about anything from missing procedural deadlines, foot dragging on evaluations (and parents don't know better), or hiding or misstating results of evaluations, or not following implemented plans / giving service hours, or more.

Anonymous wrote:You’re an amazing person. As a mother of a child with special needs I thank you. That said I seriously have no idea where you would go. Anyone else?

+1. Thank you so much OP. I second another pp's idea to call AJE. They could point you in the right direction.

DC State Board of Education

https://sboe.dc.gov/page/file-complaint

A complaint may be filed by any individual or organization as long as the student in question attends a District of Columbia Public School or DC public charter school. We accept complaints via our intake hotline (202) 741-0886 and email at ombudsman@dc.gov. We also can conduct intake meetings in person. We prefer that complainants call ahead to schedule a time for an in-person intake meeting. We will ask all complainants to provide us with their contact information, information about the student, a summary of the problem, and their proposed resolution.

Please contact OCR at the US Department of Education. They can advise you. I used to work there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a dcps sped teacher. My school (one that gets lots of love on this board) is violating federal law when it comes to students with special needs. I have brought this to the attention of school admin several times.
Where do I go to report? Ombudsman is for parents & families.
I understand that I will very likely lose my job once I report. I just can’t be a part of this anymore.

You may also want to contact Michael Eig. He is the preeminent special ed attorney for DCPS. Even if he cannot represent you he will be able to point you in the right direction. Calls to attorneys are confidential. You should also contact your union. They may be able to help protect your job. As the parent of more than one kid in DCPS with disabilities and who sees flagrant violations happening frequently I cannot thank you enough for being willing to speak up for our kids.

Calls to attorneys are only confidential if you are seeking their legal advice. Here, you know the lawyer would conflicted (as he represents the entity you are trying to whistle-blow on). His duty would be to his client (DCPS) not you. You can still, of course, call him and try to get him involved with fixing the underlying problem. But don't expect anonymity.

He is not an attorney for DCPS - he is the one you go to when we need to battle DCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a dcps sped teacher. My school (one that gets lots of love on this board) is violating federal law when it comes to students with special needs. I have brought this to the attention of school admin several times.
Where do I go to report? Ombudsman is for parents & families.
I understand that I will very likely lose my job once I report. I just can’t be a part of this anymore.

You may also want to contact Michael Eig. He is the preeminent special ed attorney for DCPS. Even if he cannot represent you he will be able to point you in the right direction. Calls to attorneys are confidential. You should also contact your union. They may be able to help protect your job. As the parent of more than one kid in DCPS with disabilities and who sees flagrant violations happening frequently I cannot thank you enough for being willing to speak up for our kids.

Calls to attorneys are only confidential if you are seeking their legal advice. Here, you know the lawyer would conflicted (as he represents the entity you are trying to whistle-blow on). His duty would be to his client (DCPS) not you. You can still, of course, call him and try to get him involved with fixing the underlying problem. But don't expect anonymity.

Anonymous wrote:I am a dcps sped teacher. My school (one that gets lots of love on this board) is violating federal law when it comes to students with special needs. I have brought this to the attention of school admin several times.
Where do I go to report? Ombudsman is for parents & families.
I understand that I will very likely lose my job once I report. I just can’t be a part of this anymore.

You may also want to contact Michael Eig. He is the preeminent special ed attorney for DCPS. Even if he cannot represent you he will be able to point you in the right direction. Calls to attorneys are confidential. You should also contact your union. They may be able to help protect your job. As the parent of more than one kid in DCPS with disabilities and who sees flagrant violations happening frequently I cannot thank you enough for being willing to speak up for our kids.

Anonymous wrote:I am a dcps sped teacher. My school (one that gets lots of love on this board) is violating federal law when it comes to students with special needs. I have brought this to the attention of school admin several times.
Where do I go to report? Ombudsman is for parents & families.
I understand that I will very likely lose my job once I report. I just can’t be a part of this anymore.

You may also want to contact Michael Eig. He is the preeminent special ed attorney for DCPS. Even if he cannot represent you he will be able to point you in the right direction. Calls to attorneys are confidential. You should also contact your union. They may be able to help protect your job. As the parent of more than one kid in DCPS with disabilities and who sees flagrant violations happening frequently I cannot thank you enough for being willing to speak up for our kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a dcps sped teacher. My school (one that gets lots of love on this board) is violating federal law when it comes to students with special needs. I have brought this to the attention of school admin several times.
Where do I go to report? Ombudsman is for parents & families.
I understand that I will very likely lose my job once I report. I just can’t be a part of this anymore.

Thanks for posting. Can you post a probing question that parent's should ask during parent teacher conferences that will help uncover your observations?

Yes. Is this about kids biot getting their pull out time? Is this about pull out time not being well used?

Anonymous wrote:I would not be surprised if it is Janney - the SPED coordinator is a nightmare to deal with.

I always thought the teachers who interacted with my child did have the best interest of my child in mind - BUT I do not believe the IEP is being implemented per federal law.

For example - I do not believe Federal Law States that - if teachers are needed to proctor PARCC exams, services for children not taking PARCC can be truncated. There is always some story.

Let me be clear - my child is not taking PARCC. The weeks that PARCC is administrated at the school, my child does NOT get pull out services b/c all SPED teachers are needed to support proctoring PARCC for children taking the exam.