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Sunday, September 8, 2013

Is Principal Chris Jackson of Ed White high school breaking the law?

Several different sources have told Education Matters that the Ed White administration has assigned City Year Corp members as in class support facilitators to disabled children.

Okay that’s a lot to digest, please bare with me. A few years ago the state of Florida had the exact opposite of brilliant idea to put moderately disable students in regular education classrooms whether they were prepared for them or not. To help them out they would also place support facilitators in the rooms, a co-teacher of sorts to help the disabled student be successful. 

I think a better idea would have been to place them in smaller classrooms where they could have gotten more individualized instruction and where alternative materials could be used. Regardless these support facilitators are supposed to be certified teachers.

Furthermore, according to the district: …City Year does not provide support facilitation. They provide support for a targeted group of students within the schools involved in the City Year or Diplomas Now projects. Their board approved contracts explicitly outline the students they will serve and specific performance goals related to student outcomes. Their services in no way supplant those provided through ESE support staff. In fact, they actually work with the school staff to ensure alignment and adherence to outlined needs. 

I am almost there. All of our disabled kids have IEPs, which are legal documents that outline the services they are supposed to receive. Well if Ed White isn’t providing those services, ipso facto they are breaking the law. The question now becomes is the administration at Ed White doing so on purpose.

I don't know how much experience Chris Jackson has with ESE issues. I know there has been a lot of upheaval in the ESE department there as well. But regardless our most vulnerable children need the services they are supposed to get.

1 comment:

  1. Hey, did you know the over age academy students were being staffed by CTE teachers for a period of time, and have since been replaced by temporary teachers working on certification, etc.(you know the kind least likely to stay)? The kids do not have schedules yet and we are into the fourth week of school. In addition, some of the teachers that are replacements for the CTE teachers are threatening to leave too. So, how much do you think they have learned at this point, and what is the curriculum being taught to the kids? Hodge Podge 101?

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