FOR
YOUR INFORMATION
Do
any of these statements sound familiar??
The law says yes but my Special Education Dept says no??
We have kids that are falling through the cracks....
Has a teacher said to you "Don't tell anyone I told you this,
but...
Your child doesn't try hard enough!
Reading is not the ONLY path to learning!
You have the answers for my child...why won't you tell me?
Why do students in detention centers get tutors but for my child you
have no funds?
Is your child jumping through their hoops but learning very little
(except how to jump through hoops!)
Has your child learned how to learn?
Does you child believe he/she can learn?
Does your school accentuate their weaknesses or find their strengths.
Should a student be burnt out at 16?
Does your child only have to go to school to find out how 'stupid' he/she is?
My child isn't lazy, she's depressed
Does your school claim to know your child better than you do?
Is your school equipped with people who can recognize depression in
children (especially teens)?
Trading my child's emotional health for a diploma
Are your child's grades actually letters on a slip of paper that do not represent true learning?
We needs advocates for students who have nothing to lose by standing up
for the rights of the students.
If schools were doing their jobs effectively why are there so many
private learning centers doing such a good business?
The law says yes but my Special Education Dept says no??
Many
times we requested something for my child's educational
plan from the Child Study Team and we were denied the
request. I would seek advice, sometimes from a
mediator provided by the State of New Jersey and he
would inform me that what I was asking for was within my
legal rights. I would contact the Child Study
Team, make the request again, and after much time had
been wasted (chronologically and in my child's
education) the request would be fulfilled.
What is the purpose of wasting precious time on an issue
that will eventually be settled in our favor
anyway? Maybe the plan is to wear us down.
Don't stop pursuing what your child needs and the law
allows.
We have kids that are falling through the cracks...
How
many times I have been in a conversation with a teacher,
counselor or a friend working in a school system and the
remark is said over and over. They are commenting
about the children they see in their school who are not
thriving, who have no real place they fit in and they
are simply falling through the cracks. Quite often these
children perplex the school because they do not conform
to the majority. Each time I hear that comment I
think about the slow and painful dismantling of the
heart and spirit of a child. This happening to one
child is too much! The law does make provisions
but the bureaucracy and budgets do not.
Has a teacher said to you "Don't tell anyone I told you this,
but..............
In
the course of seeking critical information that may have
benefited my child in school I have been told by
administrators, teachers, counselors and even physicians
"Here is what you need to do, just don't tell
anyone that I told you." Again, there are
answers to some of the problems that we encountered and
there are people who have those answers, but who has
them intimidated into keeping this potentially helpful
information a secret from the people it was designed to
help?
Your child doesn't try hard enough!
Imagine
going to the same place every day, giving your best and
still not accomplishing what is expected. Then add
to that the insult of being told you are not trying hard
enough. Would we tell a blind child that they are
not trying hard enough because they are not completing
reading assignments just like all of the other students
or would we provide them with an alternate method of
taking in the information? Braille for instance.
Reading is
the ONLY path to learning!
Many
people might say that reading is not the only path to
learning, but if you spend time in our educational
system it is quite clear that is the preferred method of
learning. Some students actually learn from
hearing, watching or doing. The message is loud
and clear--read or your are a failure. That
message is conveyed to many children each and every
day. We wonder why we have so many depressed and
despondent children in our schools.
You have the answers for my child...why won't you tell me?
In
the long journey through my child's education there were
many educators who came in contact with her, and had
vital information that could have helped her a great
deal. Why is so much of this helpful information
kept a secret? It is only after a parent searches
and searches that they may find some helpful
answers. Time is wasted and again a child's hope
is dashed as the parent seeks the answers. Why
don't we have protection for teachers so they can help
the students without fear of reprisal from their
superiors. Children getting caught up in the
politics of a school is deplorable.
Why do students in detention centers get tutors, but for my child you have no funds?
My
child needed a homebound instructor and some tutoring to
assist her during her high school years. We were
repeatedly denied requests for this help. At one point
it took eight months of letters, meetings, phone calls
before they agreed to provide the help she needed.
The student who called in a bomb threat and was
suspended had a homebound instructor at his house the
very next day. What took us eight months to get,
he was given in one day. Is this the message we
want our children to hear?
Is your child jumping through their hoops but learning very little (except how to jump through hoops!)
Many
students who are in Special Education classes learn how
to give the teachers what they want without even
learning the material. If a student has a great
difficulty reading, they quickly learn how to copy
letters from one punctuation mark to the next and look
as if they have the answer to a question when actually
they have become masters at copying symbols.
Has your child learned how to learn?
Many
students can memorize, copy and repeat back information
that has been given to them but the true accomplishment
is when they have learned how to learn. Sadly, my
child spent many years in a school system school and did
not leave with that accomplished.
Does you child believe he/she can learn?
Again,
shouldn't our children leave a school believing that
they are teachable? or that they can learn? This
was not our experience.
Does your school accentuate their weaknesses or find their strengths.
My
child had many strengths that could have been
acknowledged and improved upon during her school
years. She did have a challenge in reading but
instead of focusing on her talents her reading
difficulties were continuously highlighted.
Should a student be burnt out at 16?
After
struggling through a system that teaches you in a way
that does not work with your learning style for several
years many of our students are burnt out, angry,
violent, despondent, hopeless......
Does your child only have to go to school to find out how 'stupid' he/she is?
She
was successful at her jobs, socially very capable but
she went to school to find out how 'stupid' she
was.
My child isn't lazy, she's depressed
Does your school claim to know your child better than you do?
Ours
did. See Kara's Story
Is your school equipped with people who can recognize depression in children (especially teens)?
Columbine,
school shootings, peer pressure, intimidation in schools
etc....
Depression
is part of our young people's lives whether we like it
or not and we need qualified professionals in our
schools to be able to identify students who need
help. My child had classic signs and no one would
believe me.
Trading my child's emotional health for a diploma.
I
had always thought that a high school diploma was so
important. When it became clear to me that to get
the diploma my daughter would have to forfeit her mental
well-being I began to realize that the diploma was
merely a slip of paper that was not worth the cost.
Are your child's grades
just letters on a slip of paper that do not represent true learning?
That's
what they were in our case.
We needs advocates for students who have nothing to lose by standing up for the rights of the students.
We
have meetings to determine the best programs for our
students. The decisions are being made with
information that is provided by members of the Special
Ed. Dept, Child study teams and teachers. Many
teachers are prohibited from telling you what they know
is best for you child. They have to go along with
the dictates of the Child Study team and Special Ed.
Dept who have budget high on their minds.
Advocates need to accompany students and their families
to IEP meetings to assure the student is getting fair
and unbiased information that they can use to help them
make good decisions for their education
plan.
If schools were doing their jobs effectively why are there so many private learning centers doing such a good business?
What
else needs to be said here!
If
you would like to send a donation in Kara's memory to
help us assist others to have a better school
experience please click the button below
You
can also send it to
Kara's
Way
P.O. Box 641
Somers Point, NJ 08244
