Comment on SPED director blaming us for high sped costs!

Thanks for posting this DD! I've been cornered several times by the "concerned Framingham citizens" who congregate at the Starbucks near TLC, pissed off at everything from the tax rate to the use of one of TLC's lovely rolling lawns for auxiliary parking while they were constructing a new early education building this year.

Nothing burns a cranky New England retiree more than the thought of paying taxes towards educating children -- especially when they view it as competing for limited resources (!) and among the 'competitors' are special needs kids and immigrants.
 
GendelQ,
What do you think of the recommendations proposed in the articles?

Also I'm wondering how will it impact on LiLi if any of those recommendations are put into practice?

Just curious to hear what you think.
 
Miss-Delectable said:
GendelQ,
What do you think of the recommendations proposed in the articles?

Also I'm wondering how will it impact on LiLi if any of those recommendations are put into practice?

Just curious to hear what you think.
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I see some good there (increasing budget for unexpected [not really] move-ins), but I'm surprised at a couple of the recommendations. Sure, all the towns near TLC have a disproportionately higher number of deaf kids -- there's an excellent school for the deaf nearby. So of course they all need to plan and budget accordingly, just as Newton does for their disproportionately high number of both deaf and blind kids, Northampton does for their deaf kids, and so on.

Reducing referrals to special education seems fine if they really do intend to implement appropriate intervention that actually meets the needs of kids who might otherwise hit the screen -- sort of a preventative approach. But she's pointed to deaf kids/TLC as a driver of cost: it's not like they are going to 'prevent deafness' by having an aide in the room to keep a kid from slipping or losing focus. They might swap the cost of providing aides in class for a sped professional in a resource room -- some economic gain there when addressing the needs of kids with ADHD, but I don't see how there's a preventative approach that's going to address the needs of those pesky and expensive deaf kids and keep them from being considered sped to begin with. I just don't know how many kids they currently have on IEPs and for what issues.

Shifting towards 504 plans rather than IEP (and resulting OOD placements) also isn't going to address the needs of either the local deaf kids or new move-ins that they note as a driver of high cost. A technological accommodation (FM systems and tennis balls on chair legs) isn't enough -- they need TODs, SLPs, interpreters, and a whole lot more resources than are currently available in that public school. So, if the are trying to reduce OOD placements by doing this, investing in an adequate program in-house -- across the grades -- is not low cost, and the population is going to be variable and tough to plan for. In my own district, we have 3 towns sharing one regional high school, and across these 3 towns there are 8 deaf kids between 4-6: and they find it both more cost-effective and academically effective to send 7 of those kids OOD to 3 different schools for the deaf at a rate of ~$95K annual per child rather than develop an ongoing in-house program.

TLC already has a strong co-teaching partnership with Framingham public school -- but not sure that this really would be considered cost neutral. I'd think it involves a whole lot of transportation cost, getting the kids those couple of miles from one school to the other every day -- I don't think it's full-day.

But this is just my outside view as parent, I'd love to see the perspective of someone who really knows the figures -- someone involved with TLC and SPED -- weigh in on whether or not these proposals really would meet both economic and academic goals.

Sure, I'd like Li to be going to school down the street rather than taking a 4 hour bus ride every day, and for her to have local school friends, but I want her to be where she gets the best all-around education, and our local school agrees that they can't serve that with a 504 plan and in-house placement. So Li's not currently affected by this, as we're in an amazing school district far from Framingham, with a truly gifted Special Ed director who gets it, and we hope the state and the fed gov't raise the reimbursement level back to where it was so our own local residents don't get cranky about where their taxes and school budgets are going in terms of supporting SPED OOD placements.
 
A technological accommodation (FM systems and tennis balls on chair legs) isn't enough -- they need TODs, SLPs, interpreters, and a whole lot more resources than are currently available in that public school. So, if the are trying to reduce OOD placements by doing this, investing in an adequate program in-house -- across the grades -- is not low cost, and the population is going to be variable and tough to plan for. In my own district, we have 3 towns sharing one regional high school, and across these 3 towns there are 8 deaf kids between 4-6: and they find it both more cost-effective and academically effective to send 7 of those kids OOD to 3 different schools for the deaf at a rate of ~$95K annual per child rather than develop an ongoing in-house program.
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Three diffferent schools for the deaf? Which ones? (besides TLC) And yeah I agree with you. Public education IS too one size fits all.......I also think that although there are a lot of dhh kids in Framingham, that is NOT what is driving high sped costs! Most sped kids are LD or ADD.
 
If they would take a real good look at response to intervention models, and early childhood education, to PREVENT unnecessary special education placement, they would not have as many placements for students who have problems that have vague etiologies. An adequate corps of volunteers in the schools can further reduce costs. Residential schools for the deaf should be reserved for kids from rural areas, kids from dysfunctional homes, and other problems that are unsolvable in any other way. LRE

As for kids in urban areas, deaf schools are probably the best option for many. Some who have CI, or are very bright and do well learning spoken language might be more appropriately placed in neighborhood schools.

IMHO

Given the consequences of inadequate education for the deaf, and the benefits of investing in the education of deaf children, I think that SPED director is just asking to pay 60 years of SSI for those students he does not want.
 
MCB said:
If they would take a real good look at response to intervention models, and early childhood education, to PREVENT unnecessary special education placement, they would not have as many placements for students who have problems that have vague etiologies. An adequate corps of volunteers in the schools can further reduce costs. Residential schools for the deaf should be reserved for kids from rural areas, kids from dysfunctional homes, and other problems that are unsolvable in any other way. LRE

As for kids in urban areas, deaf schools are probably the best option for many. Some who have CI, or are very bright and do well learning spoken language might be more appropriately placed in neighborhood schools.

IMHO

Given the consequences of inadequate education for the deaf, and the benefits of investing in the education of deaf children, I think that SPED director is just asking to pay 60 years of SSI for those students he does not want.
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:hmm: :barf: Error error error.........................
 
MCB said:
As for kids in urban areas, deaf schools are probably the best option for many. Some who have CI, or are very bright and do well learning spoken language might be more appropriately placed in neighborhood schools.
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Or those bright deaf kids with CIs and fluent grasp of spoken language might be more appropriately placed in a school for the deaf with a strong academic program that addresses all of their needs and provides them with two full languages. Think it depends on the individual child, school, location, resources ...
 
It depends. There is a threshold where the parents demands are excessive. More times than not, those demanding parents are the very ones who are financially able to provide their children with the education that they want for them. I worry more about parents who uncritically accept whatever is given them, and do not know how to advocate for their children.



Or those bright deaf kids with CIs and fluent grasp of spoken language might be more appropriately placed in a school for the deaf with a strong academic program that addresses all of their needs and provides them with two full languages.
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I am not opposed to such, so long as it is not residential, and the district does not have an adequate program because a local deaf school is so well equipped to do it better. Residential placements should be the very last resort.
 
Sorry for the off topic here. It came to mind after seeing Framingham. I used to go through there often when I was married because my ex husband lived near there. Actually about 20 mins away. Funny thing. His father was a teacher at Framingham high school. He had a deaf student in his class. My ex is deaf as well. they did not attend the same school. His father never told him about the deaf student in his class even after 4 years of high school. It was only when both went to the same college that this came to light. I always thought it was selfish that my ex's father never told him about the deaf student at framingham and given him opportunities to be around other deaf.
 
AlleyCat said:
opportunities to be around other deaf.
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One of the most serious consequences of deafness is loneliness. Deaf schools meet that need, and provide the student with a society where they are generally more comfortable. Take a look at the success of this board, where those with poor written communication skills are accepted and encouraged. :hug::ily:
 
MCB said:
One of the most serious consequences of deafness is loneliness. Deaf schools meet that need, and provide the student with a society where they are generally more comfortable. Take a look at the success of this board, where those with poor written communication skills are accepted and encouraged. :hug::ily:
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I could not agree more. Really could not. He grew up oral deaf, learned no sign until college. He is just as deaf as I am (which is profound), yet he had to get through 18 years based on lip-reading only. I can't imagine a life like that - I thought my school years were awful, but at least I had an interpreter to get by with. I have said before I think this kind of raising is what made him be so isolationist (if that's even a word, but I think you get my drift) and what ultimately did not make our marriage succeed.
 
Mostly to Grendel:


When I want to concentrate on my reading and writing, I take my ears out. It is very nice at times. It does help, even though i only have a mi/mo loss in higher frequencies. As for lipreading, I am not conscious of the fact that I do it, other than the fact that I can "hear" better when I am looking at a person's lips.
Now, my point of this is the fact that a person with CI on can "hear" That individual needs to have other skills, should there be a problem with the CI. That is evident. There may be times when that person would not want to hear. That is their option.
Your daughter may be functionally hearing, or hoh, with CI. However, there are times when all the noise is confusing, and she wants to shut down the stimuli.
I remember when I got my ha, and those first few days were overwhelming and tiring, because I was processing sounds that I had not heard for a long time. I remember the sounds of walking, water running, clock ticking, and refrigerator running were overwhelming.

AlleyCat-- I agree. That bitterness from having to survive alone can warp a person. Even though my loneliness issue has a different source, I can understand it. Internet communication ROCKS!!! :P
 
MCB said:
One of the most serious consequences of deafness is loneliness. Deaf schools meet that need, and provide the student with a society where they are generally more comfortable. Take a look at the success of this board, where those with poor written communication skills are accepted and encouraged. :hug::ily:
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Great example.
 
MCB said:
Mostly to Grendel:


When I want to concentrate on my reading and writing, I take my ears out. It is very nice at times. It does help, even though i only have a mi/mo loss in higher frequencies. As for lipreading, I am not conscious of the fact that I do it, other than the fact that I can "hear" better when I am looking at a person's lips.
Now, my point of this is the fact that a person with CI on can "hear" That individual needs to have other skills, should there be a problem with the CI. That is evident. There may be times when that person would not want to hear. That is their option.
Your daughter may be functionally hearing, or hoh, with CI. However, there are times when all the noise is confusing, and she wants to shut down the stimuli.
I remember when I got my ha, and those first few days were overwhelming and tiring, because I was processing sounds that I had not heard for a long time. I remember the sounds of walking, water running, clock ticking, and refrigerator running were overwhelming.

AlleyCat-- I agree. That bitterness from having to survive alone can warp a person. Even though my loneliness issue has a different source, I can understand it. Internet communication ROCKS!!! :P
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Hi MCB, not sure what you mean -- my daughter is profoundly deaf, she's not not hearing or hoh. She uses ASL, her school is a bi-bi school for the deaf. She also fits the description you put up of children who would not be best placed at a deaf school. But I think her placement at a bi-bi school for the deaf is working very well. She's a day student, although the school is also residential.
 
just as Newton does for their disproportionately high number of both deaf and blind kids
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Do you mean for placement/services at Carrol Center for the Blind? I wasn't aware that Newton had a lot of blind kids. You learn something new every day don't you? But that makes sense, since Perkins is now mostly for mildly multihandicapped kids. Actually did you know, most schools for the blind now serve multihandicapped kids?
There is a threshold where the parents demands are excessive. More times than not, those demanding parents are the very ones who are financially able to provide their children with the education that they want for them. I worry more about parents who uncritically accept whatever is given them, and do not know how to advocate for their children.
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Agreed. Demanding that a kid needs C-Print/Cart when they're already making honor roll with minimal accomondations is excessive. There are parents who just really misuse the system. But then again, a lot more have no clue what good resources are out there and how to fight with public schools for good accomondations.
they would not have as many placements for students who have problems that have vague etiologies. An adequate corps of volunteers in the schools can further reduce costs. Residential schools for the deaf should be reserved for kids from rural areas, kids from dysfunctional homes, and other problems that are unsolvable in any other way. LRE

As for kids in urban areas, deaf schools are probably the best option for many. Some who have CI, or are very bright and do well learning spoken language might be more appropriately placed in neighborhood schools. [/QUOTE Right on! Most special ed could be reduced so much, to be reserved for kids who REALLY need the services.
It does seem like a lot of special ed is clogged up with kids who are dealing more with background/enviromental/behavorial issues rather then "traditional" special ed.
Res schools should also be an option for middle schoolers and high schoolers. It would be like prep school for dhh teens! It would also help with independent living skills (a lot of dhh kids or disabled kids can be and are super sheltered) Also, for kids from suburban schools where they have NO fucking CLUE how to teach dhh kids!
I think when you're dealing with dhh kids, most of them need to start out in a dhh specific placement (ie a dhh preschool/kindergarten) I do think many of them could really thrive in a formal sizable dhh program housed at a mainstream school.
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MCB said:
One of the most serious consequences of deafness is loneliness. Deaf schools meet that need, and provide the student with a society where they are generally more comfortable. Take a look at the success of this board, where those with poor written communication skills are accepted and encouraged. :hug::ily:
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:gpost:
 
Ummm...the last I checked a Bi-Bi school was a school for the deaf. Bi-Bi refers to the methodolgy and philosophy of education, but it is still a school for the deaf. Bi-Bi refers to the methodolgy used and the philosophy of education held. It does not refer to the population served. The population served is deaf students, it is therefore, a school for the deaf.
 
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