Guest guest Posted September 5, 2008 Report Share Posted September 5, 2008 " parents perceive a bias in the system " " trying to work through the system, they either give up, or they withdraw their children from public school ... " Folks, this is not a defense of families facing private law firms who are in it for profit. These law firms that litigate against us are in it for a positive cash flow. They also want to have a lifestyle that says " look at me " . This is acquiescing to the fact that there is no hope for our families against private law firms who control TEA. If Advocacy Inc can do no better than this in testimony before Senators who present the citizens of Texas ... then I say Special Education families should kneel. This is just a terrible defense of Autism families who are desperate for educational teaching of their loved ones. Jeff Advocacy Inc: When we look at where things really are with the special education process in Texas right now, as I've said, I've seen some really good things happening around the state. But unfortunately, I've seen some things that aren't so good either. And I think because of that, what happens is that parents perceive a bias in the system. Parents believe that the system is stacked against them, that districts that have an unlimited supply of money and time are able to control the process, and they believe that their districts also control access to the records and have access to attorneys that they don't have, and all those sorts of things. And so I think that this perception, although I don't think that's true everywhere, it becomes reality for lots of parents. And so what happens is that parents get frustrated and instead of trying to work through the system, they either give up, or they withdraw their children from public school and either homeschool or do something else, or they try to go through a system that they don't understand and aren't equipped to handle and don't have a very favorable result. So what do we do? Well the first thing you'd have to look at is the way that the IDEA is set up. It is definitely set up as a way that parents and educators can work together, which means that you have to have communication, you have to have trust, and you have to have a method for building on that communication and that trust. What happens in my experience is that because parents and educators have different points of view about children and children's programming, inevitably, at times, there is going to be differences of opinion. So the question is, what happens when you get that difference of opinion. And unfortunately the IDEA has a set of procedural safeguards that gives every parent the right to a due process hearing where there's a difference of opinion. But that very process that's guaranteed to a parent is the same thing that tears down that communication and that trust and that relationship that's so vital to the role of the way the IDEA is supposed to work and the development of individual education plans. *** So, it is the parents who need to change ... my God this in just a terrible defense of our families before our Texas Senators. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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