Comments on: Time to focus more on student achievement for students with disabilities?

By: @sumpepandwong

@sumpepandwong — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 06:41:25 +0000

Oh and I’m a CAC parent.

By: @sumpepandwong

@sumpepandwong — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 06:39:42 +0000

My daughter for the most part has been lucky by having a phenomenal preschool teacher and kinder teacher (SLPs, OTs, PTs) while in OUSD special education. I know, however, that it’s just a matter of time before her luck runs out. I decided not long ago that education for my daughter with special needs and her younger “typical” sister is about empowerment. I want them to go to school each day feeling empowered – To use their voice, have it be heard, cultivate their curiosity, be independent and self-directed learners all within an inclusive school and classroom environment. I believe my daughters are equals. While each have their own unique needs, I have high expectations of both and give them the respect and love that they deserve. Unfortunately, OUSD’s vision for special education is to disempower children with special needs, their families, and advocates (teachers, OTs, SLPs AND program specialists). These budget cuts disproportionately effects children with special needs vs. their general ed peers. Why? The budget cuts are just the tip of the iceberg. Discrimination and bigotry run rampant and no amount of money can fix that problem. Time for OUSD administration and school board to take a hard look in the mirror and ask themselves to make a change. Not a policy change but a change in viewing children with special needs as equals. Only then can the healing and good work begin for ALL students.

By: Katy Murphy

Katy Murphy — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 05:30:18 +0000

Yep, I have. If there’s something you’d like to add, though, I’m all ears.

By: Anon

Anon — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 02:52:55 +0000

Katy, have you spoken to parents on the CAC for your article?

By: J.R.

J.R. — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:36:00 +0000

Katy,
More material to look at:

http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/other/809SLR_appendix.pdf

http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2003/02/01/bounty-funding-pushes-more-kids-special-ed

The most interesting commonality I have found is addressed by this quote “It is no coincidence that the overwhelming majority of the growth in special education has taken place in the specific learning disability category, which is both among the most subjective disabilities to diagnose and among the cheapest to serve.”

By: J.R.

J.R. — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:01:55 +0000

Katy,
I think you need to take a really hard look at the special ed program implementation itself. As a parent of an autistic child, I wonder about some children in special ed, and whether or not they should even be there. Strange things happen when there is money to be made.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/1999/9906.worth.scandal.html

http://www.lcsc.edu/lgustafs/stats/handouts/special_ed.html

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/12/10/special-education-abuse

http://www.terry.uga.edu/~dawndba/4500FailingBlkBoys.html

http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_32.htm

I hope people really study this issue in depth.

By: Emmy Fearn

Emmy Fearn — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 01:43:01 +0000

Anyone who wants to find detailed demographic info on OUSD special ed students can go to http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/, and choose special education under “Subjects”. You’ll find that top categories of students in OUSD special ed for 2010-11 (latest data available) are learning disabilities at 36.5%, speech/language impairment at 26.0%, developmental disability (aka MR) 11.4%, autism 7.9%, emotional disorder 7.8%.

BTW–Per DataQuest (2010-2011) 10.7% of OUSD students are students with disabilities. 47.0% of OUSD students with disabilities are African-American, but only 30.6% of all OUSD students are African-American. So, African-American students are disproportionately students with disabilities. DataQuest doesn’t provide spec ed numbers by gender (interesting), but looking at OUSD STAR results, twice as many boys as girls were tested using the CMA, California Modified Assessment for students with disabilities, so likely that 2/3 of OUSD students with disabilities are boys.

By: Katy Murphy

Katy Murphy — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 00:10:52 +0000

I’m working on a story about this — please email me at kmurphy@bayareanewsgroup.com if you’d like to share your perspective.

By: Anon

Anon — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 22:59:11 +0000

From: OUSD SpecEd CAC [mailto:cacoakland@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2012 9:55 AM
To: OUSD SpecEd CAC
Subject: Dramatic Cuts and Serious Risks to Children with Special Needs in OUSD

Dear Members of the OUSD Special Education Community:

Programs for Exceptional Children has been instructed by OUSD administration to cut 4.3 million from its budget with dramatic staffing reductions, increase in class sizes, and the certainty that the 2012-2013 school year will begin without the coordination to address placement and other beginning of the year issues. This is largely due to the decision to reduce Program Specialists from 16 to 9 and to require that all Program Specialists re-apply for their positions in the Fall. Additionally, the retirement of Sharon Casanares as PEC Director and the transition to new leadership will seriously complicate this already dire scenario. Please see the notice at the foot of this e-mail that was sent by the Oakland Unified Teachers Association (Oakland OEA).

Our community has spoken over the years about the serious lack of classroom and one-on-one aides and about the need for more effective support for them. Yet, OUSD will not fill any aide or teacher vacancies as part of the budget cuts that have been proposed. At our last CAC meeting parents told horror stories about the impact to their children of not having aides for months at a time even when their IEP’s were largely dependent on the support of an aide. These situations will surely worsen at the same time as classroom size and resource specialist caseloads increase.

These cuts occur while OUSD administration is allegedly reviewing Special Education programs to assess needs and improve quality. It is difficult to see how these dramatic cuts serve any attempt to improve program quality and to support the development of our children. No description of system and service improvements that will benefit our children has been provided.

For more details about the proposed cuts and the reorganization proposal, click here. See below for the Oakland Education Association call to action.

Here is a list of contacts that you can use to voice your opinion about this proposal:
District 1: jody.london@ousd.k12.ca.us
District 2: david.kakishiba@ousd.k12.ca.us
District 3: jumoke.hodge@ousd.k12.ca.us
District 4: gary.yee@ousd.k12.ca.us
District 5: noel.gallo@ousd.k12.ca.us
District 6: christopher.dobbins@ousd.k12.ca.us
District 7: Alice.Spearman@ousd.k12.ca.us
Superintendent Smith: tony.smith@ousd.k12.ca.us
Deputy Superintendent Santos: maria.santos1@ousd.k12.ca.us

If you are unsure which district you live in — you can write all the school board members, or you can look on this map.

You can also contact Superintendent Smith’s office directly by calling (510) 879-8200.

The CAC leadership will be following this closely and we will send additional details very soon. We must mobilize to support the needs of Children with Special Needs in OUSD. Please watch your inbox!

By: Nate Davis

Nate Davis — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 22:02:25 +0000

As I understand it, the program specialists are the ones that do all the administrative detail work to ensure that these needy students get the best they can from the system. So hearing that the district is cutting these positions sounds disastrous and short-sighted. I’ll be writing an email to Superintendent Tony Smith as soon as I’m done here.