"the feeling that students with Special Needs are at most an afterthought is now a reality for many parents. I am one of those parents." - Vicky Maronyan
The LAUSD allocates over 20% of its budget toward educating children with disabilities. In the 2019 - 2020 school year these expenditures amounted to about $1.75 billion. With the federal government not funding these efforts at the levels required by law, providing special education services puts significant pressure on the rest of the budget. Unfortunately, a lot of this money is wasted by the Beaudry Bureaucrats as they ignore the input of parents and teachers and implement the latest education "reform" fads.
An example of the lack of attention provided to Special Education programs can be found in Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho's 100-day plan presented at the beginning of this his tenure. While there are about 64,500 students in the LAUSD with disabilities, the words "disabilities" and "disability" only appear five times. The 18-page document only mentions the phrase "special education" twice.
It is also telling how the subject of special education is addressed within the 100-day plan. The first use of the words "special education" is in a section that explains how the district will seek to "re-engage students and families" enrolled in independent study to convince them to shift "back to in-person learning." This includes "an awareness campaign to communicate to families that the District is ready to provide a safe environment for in-person instruction." No mention is made of the fact that this campaign would be unnecessary if the LAUSD had not abandoned many of these children during the height of the COVID crisis.
The only other mention of "Special Education" is in a section calling for "increased inclusion opportunities for students with disabilities." While this is a laudable endeavor, the plan excludes those children for whom forced mainstreaming is not the best option. Schools also need support in developing and implementing protected environments and additionally would benefit from connections with community partners to support these programs. Schools that have successful special education programs where students benefit from being in specialized programs should also be observed and deserve "recognition and a banner." Local District staff should also be provided training to support special day classes. From the Superintendent's performance during his short tenure, it is clear that the failure to include those with severe special education needs was not a simple oversight. Programs that provide services in a self-contained environment are being withheld from parents as an option during the IEP process. This has resulted in a crisis situation as many families have still not received placements for the rapidly approaching new school year.
The LAUSD has an army of dedicated teachers, special education aids, and administrators who have spent their careers helping all children achieve their full potential. The District needs to get out of their way so that they can partner with parents to build the special education system these children deserve. The Superintendent's plans need to be replaced with action that immediately accomplishes the following:
- Make a commitment to students with severe Special Education needs: These are the most vulnerable students in the LAUSD. They deserve to have their needs recognized and to not have their education program limited to what works best for children without these same challenges.
- Streamline the IEP process: Teachers and Administrators must be given broader authority to negotiate these agreements with parents. District staff should be available by phone with the ability to approve requests that fall outside the norm and prevent the need to go into mediation. This would not only improve results for students but would also reduce the legal fees incurred by the current adversarial system.
- Share best practices: Eliminate the current confidentiality rules that forbid parents from discussing their settlements after mediation. Students benefit when best practices are shared.
- Treat parents as partners: The Special Education Committee should be made a standing committee so that it is not subject to shutdown at the whim of the Board President. The right of parents to speak at board meetings should be protected. The board should adopt a rule that prohibits the use of phones or other distractions during public comment.
- Fully engage with the Community Advisory Committee (CAC): This group of parents, students, teachers, and members of the community is basically a user group of consumers of special education services. Instead of trying to control this committee, the district should listen very carefully to how they are affected by the district's policies.
- Pressure the federal government to provide the promised funding: H.R.5984, the IDEA Funding Act, would provide "permanent, mandatory funding for the grant program that assists states and outlying areas in providing special education and related services to children with disabilities." Supporting this bill should be the district's top legislative priority.
- Charter schools: Schools receive funding for special education programs based on their total enrollment not the number of students who receive these supports. This puts schools with higher percentages of students who have disabilities at a competitive disadvantage with schools that exclude these students. To introduce fairness back into the system, the Charter School Division needs to hold charter schools accountable for not serving an equal percentage of students with special education needs. This should include closure for schools that cannot convince parents that their programs serve all students regardless of need.
Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He was elected to the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and is the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.
