Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about ethical? It’s hard to work with people who lie in their jobs, especially when they are harming students in the process. Special Education in MCPS is full of staff who point blank tell lies about the process and data at meetings.

This. Special Ed central office staff have lied to the Board of Education, more have lied in individual student meetings, and children are not getting the services and education they are entitled to.

At the same time, MCPS has systemically cut special education funding (from PEP through HS), and increasingly fought parents in court over services. It is disgusting.

The legal fees are not included in the MCPS budget when outside counsel is hired at $500 per hour. MCPS does not bid for legal services so the same law firm in Columbia gets the windfall.

MCPS often spends more money in litigation than just providing the services and accommodations a disabled child needs. Meanwhile, parents pay for private services, private evaluations, advocates, and attorneys to meet the needs of their child. Education is not free in MCPS for students with disabilities.

If MCPS would put as much effort into educating students with disabilities instead of denying services and creating legal fights with parents students would have better outcomes. Overhauling how Special Education, Resolution and Compliance, and the General Counsel’s Office operates should be on Dr. McKnight’s agenda. It’s shameful how MCPS operates.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about ethical? It’s hard to work with people who lie in their jobs, especially when they are harming students in the process. Special Education in MCPS is full of staff who point blank tell lies about the process and data at meetings.

This. Special Ed central office staff have lied to the Board of Education, more have lied in individual student meetings, and children are not getting the services and education they are entitled to.

At the same time, MCPS has systemically cut special education funding (from PEP through HS), and increasingly fought parents in court over services. It is disgusting.

The legal fees are not included in the MCPS budget when outside counsel is hired at $500 per hour. MCPS does not bid for legal services so the same law firm in Columbia gets the windfall.

MCPS often spends more money in litigation than just providing the services and accommodations a disabled child needs. Meanwhile, parents pay for private services, private evaluations, advocates, and attorneys to meet the needs of their child. Education is not free in MCPS for students with disabilities.

Anonymous wrote:What about ethical? It’s hard to work with people who lie in their jobs, especially when they are harming students in the process. Special Education in MCPS is full of staff who point blank tell lies about the process and data at meetings.

This. Special Ed central office staff have lied to the Board of Education, more have lied in individual student meetings, and children are not getting the services and education they are entitled to.

At the same time, MCPS has systemically cut special education funding (from PEP through HS), and increasingly fought parents in court over services. It is disgusting.

All the rats are leaving Dr. Smith’s sinking ship.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Special education isn't going to change for a long time and if you wait your child is going to fall behind. We heavily supplemented in ES and did private therapies.

Here's at least one change coming for MCPS special education...

He failed to provide services to students in Montgomery County during COVID then is given a promotion by a ex MCPS colleague to infect another Maryland public school system.

Just horrible

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s so much transition in MCPS right now. People at the top leaving for other school systems or retiring. People at the school level scrambling for a Central Office job. Principals moving from elementary and middle schools to high schools. AP trying to get a principal position.

With so many vacancies to fill, is MCPS getting the best candidates by their internal search pool? It’s also a lot of new people in new jobs during a difficult time in education after COVID closures.

MCPS doesn't need the best candidates. It's a public school system, not the Olympics. What MCPS needs is competent candidates.

The MCPS people I've interacted with have generally been at least competent. Some have been outstanding. Some have been...not competent.

What about ethical? It’s hard to work with people who lie in their jobs, especially when they are harming students in the process. Special Education in MCPS is full of staff who point blank tell lies about the process and data at meetings.

Anonymous wrote:There’s so much transition in MCPS right now. People at the top leaving for other school systems or retiring. People at the school level scrambling for a Central Office job. Principals moving from elementary and middle schools to high schools. AP trying to get a principal position.

With so many vacancies to fill, is MCPS getting the best candidates by their internal search pool? It’s also a lot of new people in new jobs during a difficult time in education after COVID closures.

MCPS doesn't need the best candidates. It's a public school system, not the Olympics. What MCPS needs is competent candidates.

The MCPS people I've interacted with have generally been at least competent. Some have been outstanding. Some have been...not competent.

There’s so much transition in MCPS right now. People at the top leaving for other school systems or retiring. People at the school level scrambling for a Central Office job. Principals moving from elementary and middle schools to high schools. AP trying to get a principal position.

With so many vacancies to fill, is MCPS getting the best candidates by their internal search pool? It’s also a lot of new people in new jobs during a difficult time in education after COVID closures.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Special education isn't going to change for a long time and if you wait your child is going to fall behind. We heavily supplemented in ES and did private therapies.

Here's at least one change coming for MCPS special education...

He failed to provide services to students in Montgomery County during COVID then is given a promotion by a ex MCPS colleague to infect another Maryland public school system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents can’t demand full time gen-Ed mainstreaming and individualized one on one assistance at the same time. There is no way a solo teacher can manage that. So, we use para support or pull outs, but that also requires a lot of staffing and time. It all comes down to funding.

Exactly- it takes funding. A trained para can certainly work, but there are many paras who are dealing with one difficult behavior issue and do not have time to meet the needs of the others in the class (This is true of teachers too). If some kids need more support, they should get more support. However, under current models, getting that support is almost impossible. Kids are just thrown in with the home school model that is horrible for almost all children and teachers.

Para educators only have to have a high school diplomas. They aren’t a substitute for a highly trained special education teacher. MCPS needs more Special Education teachers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents can’t demand full time gen-Ed mainstreaming and individualized one on one assistance at the same time. There is no way a solo teacher can manage that. So, we use para support or pull outs, but that also requires a lot of staffing and time. It all comes down to funding.

Exactly- it takes funding. A trained para can certainly work, but there are many paras who are dealing with one difficult behavior issue and do not have time to meet the needs of the others in the class (This is true of teachers too). If some kids need more support, they should get more support. However, under current models, getting that support is almost impossible. Kids are just thrown in with the home school model that is horrible for almost all children and teachers.

The services should be driven by the needs of the child. That should come from data including the comprehensive evaluation MCPS is supposed to do for students disabilities.

It’s a discriminatory practice to say all students with disabilities should receive their special education services in a pullout from general education. Students have a right to be educated in the least restrictive setting.

Students with disabilities are a diverse population with strengths and weaknesses. Even a diagnosis of autism is diverse - some students are very gifted intellectually and some need life skills taught - so the IEP teams are supposed to look at the data and needs of each child, not just the label.

MCPS needs to hire more Special Educators to meet the needs of students with disabilities. This is even more necessary after a year of no accommodations or services.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents can’t demand full time gen-Ed mainstreaming and individualized one on one assistance at the same time. There is no way a solo teacher can manage that. So, we use para support or pull outs, but that also requires a lot of staffing and time. It all comes down to funding.

Exactly- it takes funding. A trained para can certainly work, but there are many paras who are dealing with one difficult behavior issue and do not have time to meet the needs of the others in the class (This is true of teachers too). If some kids need more support, they should get more support. However, under current models, getting that support is almost impossible. Kids are just thrown in with the home school model that is horrible for almost all children and teachers.

Often, the behavior issues in HSM are not the special ed kids. Or at least that's my experience from being a para in ES and MS.

Anonymous wrote:Parents can’t demand full time gen-Ed mainstreaming and individualized one on one assistance at the same time. There is no way a solo teacher can manage that. So, we use para support or pull outs, but that also requires a lot of staffing and time. It all comes down to funding.

Exactly- it takes funding. A trained para can certainly work, but there are many paras who are dealing with one difficult behavior issue and do not have time to meet the needs of the others in the class (This is true of teachers too). If some kids need more support, they should get more support. However, under current models, getting that support is almost impossible. Kids are just thrown in with the home school model that is horrible for almost all children and teachers.

Parents can’t demand full time gen-Ed mainstreaming and individualized one on one assistance at the same time. There is no way a solo teacher can manage that. So, we use para support or pull outs, but that also requires a lot of staffing and time. It all comes down to funding.

Anonymous wrote:

Special education isn't going to change for a long time and if you wait your child is going to fall behind. We heavily supplemented in ES and did private therapies.

Here's at least one change coming for MCPS special education...