My Son

My Son

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Update On Missouri Special Education Hearings

The following is taken from several articles and websites.  It is all verifiable.  

Prior to returning to the State of Missouri, Chapel worked in Kansas City as a trial lawyer at the Sly James Firm, at Humphrey Farrington and McClain, and with the Missouri Attorney General.

Charnissa Holliday Scott
After serving as a school district administrator for several years, Charnissa Holliday Scott wanted to make a change in her life.

I've always been interested in law,” Charnissa said. “A friend of mine who was an attorney talked me into taking the LSAT, and I took it. And now I’m here and I'm looking at graduation in May 2011.” (I believe that this friend is Michelle Wimes)

Received a bachelor’s degree from Quincy University in Quincy, Ill. and a master’s degree in Education and an Education Specialist degree in Superintendent Administration from Avila University.


Broke KC charter school leaves teachers without final paycheck

By MARÁ ROSE WILLIAMS

The Kansas City Star


Teachers at the recently shuttered Derrick Thomas Academy charter school haven’t been paid, and no one seems to know when — or if — they ever will be.

“There are limited, if any, options that Derrick Thomas Academy has to help the teachers,” said James Tippin, a lawyer representing the school. “Believe me, no one on the Derrick Thomas board of directors is happy about this.”
Chapel and one of the attorneys at James Tippin Law, Dana Cutler, worked at the Sly James law firm.

Dana Cutler works at the Tippen Law Firm and is listed as contractor contact person for the contract with DESE.

Featured speaker will be Charnissa Holliday-Scott, a law student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law who previously worked as a core data specialist, interim director of exceptional education and compliance officer in urban and suburban school districts.

SHB Sponsors Jackson County Bar Association’s Foundation Scholarship Banquet By Willie Epps, Partner, SHB Kansas City On September 11, 2010, the Jackson County Bar Association and JCBA Foundation hosted the 13th Annual Kit Carson Roque, Jr. Scholarship Banquet at the Kansas City Marriott Country Club Plaza. This annual banquet celebrates the life and legacy of the late Judge Roque and promotes diversity in the profession by providing scholarships to deserving minority law students.

This year, the JCBA Foundation solicited scholarship applications from the four law schools around Kansas City: UMKC, MU, KU, and Washburn. The scholarship selection panel included SHB Partner Jon R. Gray (retired judge), SHB alumna Judge Lisa White Hardwick, and Judge Brian C. Wimes. Scholarships were awarded to Sophia Washington of UMKC Law School, Camille Roe of MU Law School, and Charnissa Holliday-Scott of UMKC Law School. SHB Partner Mischa Buford Epps serves as president of the JCBA Foundation, which has awarded 30 scholarships since 1998.

 The Individual Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was re-authorized this year effective July 1, 2005. Under the guidance of legal assistance provided by Attorneys Kathy Walter-Mack and Michelle Wimes, the information found in this manual contains legal references that are current and aligned with the changes that the new IDEA mandates. This Process Manual is also in alignment with the State Plan for Missouri as it becomes finalized according to the federal guidelines.  (FROM KCMO school district handbook)

Michelle Wimes worked as an attorney for KCMO school district. Charnissa Holiday-Scott was an employee at KCMO school district. Judge Wimes was on the panel for the scholarship that Holiday-Scott won. Holiday-Scott works for the law firm that has the contract with DESE.

Missouri Special Education Hearings

I received this from an attorney that represents families in Special Education lawsuits and due process.


I wanted to update all of you on some information I learned.  It appears that on December 12, 2012, DESE entered into a contract with the Tippin Law Firm to provide services for the Administrative Hearing Commission related to special education administrative hearings in Missouri.  A key person who is providing these services was previously a special education administrator for the Kansas City Missouri Public School District; the law firm has also recently represented at least one charter school.  The special education administrator appears to have been directed toward law school by a school district attorney.  The school district attorney’s husband (a judge) appears to have delivered funds to the special education administrator to assist with paying for law school.  I have also been provided information that Commissioner Nimrod Chapel has strong relationships with this law firm, such as previously working in a law office with one or more partners of the firm. 

Since this contract was entered into, and in comparison to the situation before HB595 was passed, DESE (and in particular Cynthia Quetsch) appears to now be exerting the same if not more, control over these hearings.  In my opinion the interests of DESE are in direct conflict with what the interests of the Administrative Hearing Commission should be, and the interests of DESE in special education matters is only to protect school districts from liability.   Any contracting should be solely between the AHC and a contractor, and DESE should not have any involvement (other than forwarding funds).  Persons previously employed by school districts as administrators should not be permitted to serve as a Commissioner, and the same conflict rules applicable to Commissioners should apply to contractors.  I am very concerned and hope someone will address the situation.  Feel free to pass this on to anyone who you think may be able to help or who may have interest.  Particular contract provisions that I also believe create a huge conflict of interest are as follows: 

I continue to believe that the State should have an audit conducted by unbiased persons (or biased persons on both sides), into DESE’s handling of special education matters in Missouri.  I do not intend to be involved in any more special education administrative hearings in Missouri unless and until changes are made. 

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Most bills set to become law August 28 - My North West Missouri News: Opinion

Most bills set to become law August 28 - My North West Missouri News: Opinion

Bryce’s Law (SB 17)
Another bill that will become law will help provide new resources to assist families with children with special needs such as autism. The legislation, also known as Bryce’s Law, requires the state education department to seek financial resources in the form of grants and donations that may be devoted to scholarship funds or clinical trials for these children. The bill also tasks the department with developing a master list of resources available to the parents of children with autism spectrum disorders.
The goal with the bill is to help families and children enjoy a higher quality of life and to obtain the educational experience they need and deserve. By making new and existing resources easier for families to access, we believe we can better meet the educational needs of the thousands of children in Missouri with autism spectrum disorders.

Bullying of disabled students can violate federal school law, U.S. Department of Education says | MLive.com

Bullying of disabled students can violate federal school law, U.S. Department of Education says | MLive.com

LANSING -- Federal education officials issued a letter Tuesday clarifying the responsibility of schools to prevent bullying of students with disabilities, saying that attacks could violate the federal guarantee of a free appropriate public education if they interfere with educational benefits.
The issue of children with disabilities being bullied has come to the forefront in Michigan recently after the parents of a Livonia Public Schools student filed a federal lawsuitalleging the students and staff of his elementary school are violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by allowing the child to be bullied over his peanut allergy.
"[B]ullying of a student with a disability that results in the student not receiving meaningful educational benefit constitutes a denial of a free appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that must be remedied," the letter states.
The letter includes suggestions of best practices for school districts to address bullying, including parent notification, training for school staff and tracking bullying incidents throughout the school year.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also has a public awareness campaign to reduce bullying in schools, and has scheduled a Twitter chat on back-to-school bullying prevention for Aug. 29.
Michigan state law requires school districts to have an anti-bullying policy in place, and the Michigan Department of Education provides a model policy that school districts can adopt.
Brian Smith is the statewide education and courts reporter for MLive. Email him atbsmith11@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

Another Bullying Lawsuit Targets a Texas School District

Another Bullying Lawsuit Targets a Texas School District

The mother of a former Leander Independent School District student has sued the school district claiming that the district failed to protect her son from bullying, according to a report by The Austin American-Statesman.  According to the lawsuit, the boy was targeted at least in part due to Asperger’s Syndrome, a developmental disorder that impacted how he socialized and interacted with others.
There is no dispute that students with disabilities can be especially vulnerable to bullying.  Further, courts may not look favorably on a school district that has failed to protect a student with special needs from abuse by other students.  The Leander ISD suit is at an early stage and the facts have not been fully developed, so it is yet to be seen whether the district will face any liability in that case.
What is the potential for liability in a bullying suit?  A number of federal anti-discrimination statutes address bullying and harassment and impose responsibilities on school administrators to protect the civil rights of students.  Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits gender discrimination.  In addition, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibit discrimination based on a disability.  Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin.  Each of these statutes offer protections to those who have been harassed or severely bullied based on their protected category.  Further, all states receiving federal education funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) must comply with federal requirements designed to provide a “free appropriate public education” (“FAPE”) for all disabled children.
Several courts have held that a school’s deliberate indifference in failing to prevent bullying of a special education student resulted in the denial of FAPE.  The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Texas, has not directly addressed this issue, however.  One 2011 case, T.K. v. New York City Department of Education, __ F.Supp.2d __, 2011 WL 1549243 (E.D.N.Y. 2011), examined the question of whether bullying can be grounds for finding a denial of FAPE.  T.K. received special education services under the classification of learning disabled.  The parents claimed the T.K. was subjected to repeated bullying at school as a result of her disability, that the school was aware of the conduct, and that the school failed to properly address the issue.  The parents requested a due process hearing complaining that the school denied T.K. FAPE and a hearing officer ruled in favor of the school.  The case proceeded to federal court.  The court developed the following standard in IDEA bullying disputes:

When responding to bullying incidents, which may affect the opportunities of a special education student, a school must take prompt and appropriate action.  It must investigate if the harassment is reported to have occurred.  If harassment is found to have occurred, the school must take appropriate steps to prevent it in the future.  These duties exist even if the misconduct is covered by its anti-bullying policy, and regardless of whether the student has complained, asked the school to take action, or identified the harassment as a form of discrimination.
It is not necessary to show that the bullying prevented all opportunity for an appropriate education, but only that it is likely to affect the opportunity of the student for an appropriate education.  Further, the bullying need not be a reaction to or related to a particular disability.
The record in the T.K. case included evidence of bullying by other students.  The parents showed that they tried to communicate the problems to the school principal.  The school, however, did not produce documentation that it either investigated the claims of bullying or took steps to remedy the conduct.  Finally, evidence supported the finding that the bullying caused the girl to resist attending school, hurt her academically, and damaged her emotional well-being.  According to the court, the parents produced sufficient evidence to create a fact issue as to whether the school’s failure to properly respond to the bullying denied the student FAPE.
Because school districts in violation of these federal anti-discrimination laws may face the withdrawal of federal funding, injunctive relief, damages, and attorneys’ fees, these cases can be very costly and time-consuming for school districts.  That is why it is paramount for school districts to learn to address allegations of peer harassment swiftly and thoroughly, with supporting documentation along the way.  Districts faced with these allegations will need to show that they took action to address the complaints and a genuine effort to stop the harassment.  Separating students, investigating complaints, interviewing students, taking written statements, meeting with parents, and reporting the incident through appropriate channels, are just some examples of steps that district personnel should take when faced with a student complaint of peer harassment.  Further, documenting each of these steps will go a long way in fighting allegations of deliberate indifference to known acts of harassment.  For more practical strategies on how to handle peer harassment and bullying complaints on your campus, see the Texas Legal Handbook on Student Bullying.

Margaret Heffernan: The dangers of "willful blindness" | Video on TED.com

Margaret Heffernan: The dangers of "willful blindness" | Video on TED.com

If only the school district had some that would avoid willful blindness.

Three stripped of duties after Meramec campus assault | FOX2now.com

Three stripped of duties after Meramec campus assault | FOX2now.com

Finally a school that is willing to investigate and do the right thing. 

KIRKWOOD, MO (KTVI)– St. Louis Community College released three employees over a student assault at the Meramec campus last spring.
The chief of police for the entire campus system, plus the police chief at Meramec, and a top campus administrator were let go Thursday
The highly critical report says system wide failures of campus and district law also says administrators up and down the chain of command mishandled the situation.
The internal investigation came after the student was attacked last April in the women’s bathroom.
Jevon Mallory was charged.
The school did not immediately notify students and staff about the attack and they let Mallory go with a warning after the crime.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Missouri governor joins teachers in expressing concerns on impac - KOAM TV 7

Missouri governor joins teachers in expressing concerns on impac - KOAM TV 7

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED AUGUST 26, 2013 BY THE OFFICE OF MISSOURI GOVERNOR JAY NIXON
Gov. Nixon joins teachers in expressing concerns on impact of House Bill 253 on schools
Cuts to public school budgets if House Bill 253 became law would be the equivalent of eliminating more than 5,000 teachers’ jobs
Jefferson city, Mo. – Gov. Jay Nixon issued the following statement regarding an analysis from the Missouri State Teachers Association, the Missouri National Education Association, and AFT-Missouri showing that House Bill 253 would jeopardize the jobs of thousands of Missouri teachers in public schools throughout the state. In fact, cuts to public school budgets if House Bill 253 became law would be the equivalent of eliminating between 5,438 and 9,411 teachers.
“This new report underscores the troubling impact House Bill 253 would have on our public schools and Missouri’s children,” Gov. Nixon said. “Forcing schools to lay off teachers and increase class sizes just so lawyers and lobbyists can get a tax cut will not move our state forward. That is why a growing coalition of Missourians in every corner of the state – including local businesses, chambers of commerce and lawmakers who initially supported this bill – are speaking out in support of public education and against House Bill 253.”
More than 100 organizations, including local school boards, chambers of commerce, businesses, non-profits, faith groups and local governments have come out in support of the Governor’s veto of House Bill 253, which would raise taxes on prescription drugs and force drastic cuts to public schools.
Data released last month by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at the request of the Missouri Association of School Administrators showed a breakdown of district funding levels under two scenarios if House Bill 253 becomes law. The first scenario showed the impact using the General Assembly’s fiscal note, which estimates a total cost of $692 million each year once the bill is fully implemented. The second scenario showed the impact using funding levels if the Federal Marketplace Fairness Act becomes law, which would increase the cost of House Bill 253 to $1.2 billion as early as the current fiscal year.
Findings published last month by the three leading independent credit rating agencies, Standard & Poor’s, Fitch and Moody’s, also show the potential for serious risks to Missouri’s fiscal health and the state’s long-standing AAA credit rating if the Governor’s veto is overridden and House Bill 253 becomes law. A downgrade to the state’s credit rating would increase the interest paid on state and local bond issues.
The Governor’s veto message on House Bill 253 is available here.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Missouri test scores in math drop : News

Missouri test scores in math drop : News

For the first time in five years, math scores on standardized tests for students in Missouri dropped, while overall scores in communication arts remained flat.
The percent of students statewide who passed math decreased from 55.5 percent in 2012 to 53.9 percent this year, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. In reading and writing, 55.6 percent of students passed -- the same rate as 2012. 
Officials made public overall totals for students in the state today after reviewing them with the State Board on Monday. District and school results are expected be available on Friday.
The department noted a change in which students took certain math tests. Previously, eighth graders in Algebra 1 took both the regular grade-level math assessment and the Algebra I end-of-course test. The eighth grade Algebra students in these results took only the end-of-course test, meaning the students most advanced in math were no longer taking the grade level test.  
Science scores increased. The percent of students passing -- scoring proficient or advanced --  rose from 52.2 percent in 2012 to 59.1 percent. In Biology I, there was a sizable jump. The percentage of students passing went from 55.1 percent in 2012 to 74 percent in 2013.
According to the overall state results, white students in Missouri where nearly twice as likely to pass communication arts and math tests than those who are black. The achievement gap between those races has narrowed slightly in math, with 29 percentage points separating white and black students in the state. In communication arts, there was a difference of 28.6 percentage points, the same as last year.
The results of the Missouri Assessment Program tests are from the 2012-2013 school year, when nearly 600,000 students in grades 3 through 12 took them. The scores are part of the measures used to determined a district's accreditation status. 

With new powers, state school board debates best way to help unaccredited districts - St. Louis Beacon

With new powers, state school board debates best way to help unaccredited districts - St. Louis Beacon

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Standing By And Watching Bullying

Lee's Summit R-7 School District: Standing By And Watching Bullying

How many of you have seen the psa with the boy on the bus or the girl in hall being bullied?  The ad is to help children understand how to not be a bystander.  It is a wonderful concept.

What are we teaching these same children when teachers, administrators, bus drivers, aides, etc. or the bullies?  How are they going to address that?

It happens every day.  Thousands of children are bullied by the adults that we entrust our children to.  We are powerless to protect them because of the cover-ups, the lying, the retaliation, and the total failure of the system from the district level all of the way to Washington DC.

When are we going to demand that our legislators, administrators, teachers, and public officials do their job and protect the most innocent of our society?  I'm ready to demand it now.

AASA Document Nothing More Than A Shameful Attack on Parent and Student Civil Rights - Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc.

AASA Document Nothing More Than A Shameful Attack on Parent and Student Civil Rights - Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

August 01st, 2013 - Act to Keep All Students Safe

August 01st, 2013 - Act to Keep All Students Safe

[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CAMBRIDGE, MA.]  – Six parents who put a national spotlight on the deadly use of physical restraints and seclusion rooms with students in schools announce a new campaign to highlight federal legislation to end these abusive practices that are  called “torture and abuse” by the bill’s sponsor, Rep. George Miller (D-CA).  The groundbreaking effort includes a call for parents and others to visit federal representatives in their home offices in August to discuss the bill. 

Action to Keep Students Safe is the brainchild of six parent advocates who have encountered physical restraint and seclusion rooms in schools personally or professionally.  They include Sheila Foster, the mother of Corey Foster, the 16 year-old whose 2012 death while being restrained at a Yonkers, NY school made national headlines, and Bill Lichtenstein, whose recent Sunday New York Times expose about the use of a seclusion room with his 5 year old daughter, Rose, in Lexington, MA, attracted a flood of media attention and “helped coalesce a national effort to end these practices and promote positive behavior interventions in schools” according to a recent honor from the Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism. 

The other parents in the campaign include Scott Bryant-Comstock, CEO and President of the Children's Mental Health Network; and leading child advocates Ellen Chambers, founder of SPEDWatch, a civil rights and advocacy organization, Amy Peterson, an advocate and writer, and Debra Pacheco, whose granddaughter was subjected to restraint and seclusion for years without the school providing notice. 

“No parent should send their child to school and have them not come home,” said Sheila Foster, whose heart-wrenching story involving the death of her son Corey has been featured on ABC News Nightline; Anderson Cooper Live and the New York Times. 

Action to Keep Students Safe is focusing on the federal Keeping All Students Safe Act(HR 1893), introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-CA), which would limit the use of physical restraint and seclusion rooms with students unless required in an emergency to keep a child or others safe.  The Act would require schools to notify parents promptly if a child was restrained or secluded, something that does not often happen currently, and would ban dangerous mechanical and chemical restraints, and restraints that impede breathing.  

“Without Congressional action, children will continue to suffer from these abusive practices.  This legislation would make practices such as duct-taping children to chairs or restricting a child's breathing illegal.  It makes it very clear that there is no room for torture and abuse in America's schools,” said Congressman Miller, the senior Democratic member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, upon re-introducing the bill on the House floor in May 2013.

The campaign will give voice to parents, many of whom have reported being retaliated against for speaking out about the use of these practices in schools, a matter currently being followed by the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Dept. of Education. The group has designated August as Action to Keep Students Safe Month, and is calling on parents, advocates and the public to visit their congressional representatives as they return to their home states and offices for summer recess. The group is providing a one-page informational sheet to bring to meetings at the representatives' local offices, and will post photos and notes from constituents visiting their local congressional offices on its website.

Action to Keep Students Safe offers a website located at KeepStudentsSafe.com, an e-newsletter, is developing an educational outreach video and PSAs, and has an online directory of the phone numbers and email addresses of federal representatives and senators to contact regarding the legislation.  A Back to School Awareness Rally is being planned for September 9, 2013 at the Leake & Watts School in Yonkers, NY, where Corey Foster died after being restrained in April 2012. 

“There's one message we have for parents, students, educators and all who are interested in keeping our kids safe,” said Bill Lichtenstein.  “Pick up your phone now, call your representative and senators and let them know how you strongly you feel about the need for the Keeping All Students Safe Act.”  

The campaign comes at a crucial time as reports of abuse and neglect of students through restraint and seclusion have flooded the media in recent months in the wake of Lichtenstein’s New York Times article and media appearances by Sheila Foster.  These reports of mistreatment and abuse by restraint and seclusion bolster the efforts by Representative Miller and Senator Thomas Harkin (D-IA) to end the improper use of these practices through federal legislation.  

A 2009 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) showed thousands of school children have been secluded and restrained, and that these practices were used disproportionately with students who had special needs and children of color.  The U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights found more than 20 deaths resulting from these practices.  Often parents were not notified, and teachers and staff were not trained in the proper use of restraints.  Currently, 20 states require no parental notification and 19 states have no laws or regulations related to the use of seclusion or restraints in schools.

Dr. Joe Ryan, a researcher at Clemson University and advisor to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, is assisting the campaign by helping create detailed information on research-based, best-practice positive interventions that schools can use to work with students while keeping them safe.

“There's been no way for parents to connect with others about this issue nationally,” Lichtenstein said. “Our goal is to create a national dialog and to give parents a voice. There's no reason these practices should be used the way they are now, and the time has come to stop using them.”

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Lee's Summit Autism: SSI and Disability

Lee's Summit Autism: SSI and Disability

I have a disability attorney and a retired Social Security Judge that would be willing to speak to a group about SSI and disability. I would be glad to host this event, but I need to know that someone is going to show up. Please let me know if you would be interested in this.

Nixon In Springfield Today Talking Education - www.ktts.com

Nixon In Springfield Today Talking Education - www.ktts.com

Gov. Jay Nixon and senior members of his administration will visit theSpringfield Public School District’s Kraft Administrative Center today (August 8) to discuss the impact of House Bill 253 with area school administrators, teachers, school board members and others.  Gov. Nixon vetoed House Bill 253 in June, calling it an unaffordable experiment that would force dramatic cuts to education and raise taxes on prescription drugs.

Data requested by the Missouri Association of School Administrators from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shows that House Bill 253 would drain hundreds of millions of dollars from public schools throughout the state. 

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

seMissourian.com: Local News: Speaker talks problems with Common Core (07/17/13)

seMissourian.com: Local News: Speaker talks problems with Common Core (07/17/13)

The Cape Tea Party invited Gretchen Logue to speak Tuesday evening at the Cape Girardeau Public Library on Common Core Standards, a set of educational standards that have been adopted by 45 states and that will be fully implemented in Missouri schools in the 2014-2015 school year.
Logue is co-editor for Missouri Education Watchdog and an education researcher with the Missouri Coalition Against Common Core. She used research and government documents to better show the audience various aspects of Common Core.
Logue began by explaining that the federal government has a part in the implementation of the Common Core Standards, though it wasn't directly involved in writing the standards. She pointed to the stimulus bill, showing it allotted $4.35 billion to the U.S. Department of Education to fund the Race to the Top Grant and the Testing Consortia.
"Your Department of Education funded Common Core," she said. "If you've been giving money to do a job, are you going to write something that is so antithetical to what the funder wants you to do? No, you're going to use those funds for what the funder wants."
Logue also said the federal government will be able to receive individual student data now. Logue pointed out that while Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act only allows aggregate student data to be handed over to the federal government, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is able to release individual student data, teacher data and principal data to the consortia.
"[DESE] will tell you that our state isn't sending any information to the federal government, but the state signed the memorandum with the consortia to send the information to them," she said. Logue said the consortia then signed a memorandum to hand the information over to the U.S. Department of Education.
Logue also pointed out that the two groups that created Common Core Standards, the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, own the copyright. States are allowed to add 15 percent of their material to the standards if they wish.
"They're giving 15 percent wiggle room, and you can teach about Mark Twain," she said. "And what's going to happen is teachers are going to teach Mark Twain, but students are not going to be assessed on Mark Twain, and if your kids aren't doing well in math or they're not doing well in English, you're going to drop the 15 percent because you want those assessments to be as high as you can hit because it's your job on the line."
Logue also discussed how this would affect student in parochial and private schools, along with families who home-school.
She said if students don't know the curriculum aligned to the assessments, they probably won't do well on the SAT if it is modeled after those standards.
"We have to get out of the mindset that education is hard," Logue said. "It's education. Home-schoolers do it all the time. Do we need choice architects to tell Missouri how we're going to do education?"
Debra Jenkins is a mother of two, one senior and one seventh-grade student, and she home-schooled both.
Jenkins said she's concerned about Common Core because the standards ultimately will affect all the schooling in the state.
"If we're teaching everyone how to color in the lines, how are we going to get those entrepreneurs that think out of the box if we're teaching them to think only in the box?" she asked.

Education Week: Duncan Reluctant to Tweak Accountability-System Oversight

Education Week: Duncan Reluctant to Tweak Accountability-System Oversight

Secretary responds to Indiana grade-change flap

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sees no need to step up the federal role in oversight of new accountability systems that are part of his department’s No Child Left Behind Act waiver program, even in the wake of a school-grading flap that last week cost Florida Commissioner of Education Tony Bennett his job.
In a wide-ranging interview with Education Week last week, Mr. Duncan did not defend Mr. Bennett—embroiled in a controversy stemming from his previous job as Indiana state schools chief—or Mr. Bennett’s actions. Nor did Mr. Duncan say there’s a reason at this point for federal officials to investigate what happened in the Hoosier State, which involved a grading system at the heart of its NCLB waiver agreement.
Instead, the secretary said, it’s important that those systems be developed and implemented transparently. And in the case of Indiana, given that the grading-system changes were exposed in the media, transparency prevailed, he said in the Aug. 1 interview.In a wide-ranging interview with Education Week last week, Mr. Duncan did not defend Mr. Bennett—embroiled in a controversy stemming from his previous job as Indiana state schools chief—or Mr. Bennett’s actions. Nor did Mr. Duncan say there’s a reason at this point for federal officials to investigate what happened in the Hoosier State, which involved a grading system at the heart of its NCLB waiver agreement.
“I’m not worried. See what happens when someone messes up?” Mr. Duncan said, adding that he doesn’t know if Mr. Bennett did anything wrong. “You need maximum transparency, and if anyone’s looking to do something silly, the costs on their lives and careers is profound.”
The Indiana changes came to light after the Associated Press obtained internal state education department emails from last fall.
Indiana is one of 39 states plus the District of Columbia with federal waivers allowing them considerable flexibility to design their own school accountability systems and freedom from many of the constraints of the NCLB law as written in 2001.
Mr. Duncan said that all the facts of the Indiana situation will come out soon enough.
“I think the facts will emerge, and we’ll look at them,” he said.

Waiver Renewals Loom

Even as states continue to work out the kinks in their waiver systems, it’s almost time for those state-federal agreements to be renewed. Federal approval of the waiver plans expire as early as the end of the 2013-14 school year. But Mr. Duncan wouldn’t offer any details about what a renewal process might look like.
“It’s early. We’re starting to think about it; we’d love to figure out if reauthorization has a shot in a bipartisan way,” he said.
By reauthorization, Mr. Duncan meant a rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, whose current version is the NCLB law. While there are bills moving in both chambers of Congress to revamp the outdated law, Mr. Duncan has not been out front as a strong advocate for renewal, as he’s been on other issues, such as President Barack Obama’s proposal to greatly expand access to preschool.
“You want to spend time where people are serious,” said Mr. Duncan, explaining that he doesn’t view the House Republican version of an ESEA reauthorization, approved last month on a party-line vote, as “serious” in a bipartisan way. “I want to spend time where there’s a chance to get things done.”
Even though Mr. Duncan has not been making many public appearances in support of President Obama’s preschool initiative, no bill has yet been introduced, nor is there an appetite in Congress to raise taxes to support public programs. But Mr. Duncan sharply rejects the view that preschool legislation is a lost cause.
“Totally disagree. Why is this not a wild goose chase? Because there is such extraordinary bipartisan investment and support across the country that we’re seeing from governors, Republican and Democrat,” he said. “And while it is not public yet, we have had many, many conversations with Republican leaders in the House and Senate that are frankly encouraging.”
Mr. Duncan said preschool is one of the most important policy initiatives he wants to accomplish in Mr. Obama’s second term.
“You have 3½ years to think about what are the big things you want to get done, and the fact that today so few children in this country have access to high-quality early-childhood education, the fact that so many start kindergarten so far behind, the fact that so many never catch up, to me is morally unacceptable, ” he said.

District Agreements?

Mr. Duncan wouldn’t talk much about the tailor-made waiver that nine California districts are seeking in order to get out from under provisions of the NCLB law just as states have done. That would be a first-of-its-kind waiver and would upend the traditional relationship districts have with states. With the beginning of school just a couple of weeks away, those school districts—which cover about 1 million students and include Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Fresno—are anxious for an answer.
But Mr. Duncan gave no clues about whether he would go forward with granting such a waiver, except to say his staff hasn’t presented him with a proposal to consider.
“Our teams have been working hard,” he said. “At some point, staff will bring a recommendation to me; we’re not at that point yet.”

Former Antioch teacher charged with physically abusing young autistic students - Inside Bay Area

Former Antioch teacher charged with physically abusing young autistic students - Inside Bay Area

PITTSBURG -- A former Antioch special education teacher accused of physically abusing her young autistic students at Mno Grant Elementary School was arraigned Tuesday on six felony counts of child abuse.
Theresa Allen-Caulboy turned herself in Tuesday at the Pittsburg courthouse, complying with a $600,000 warrant for her arrest that was issued last week when the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office filed charges alleging six victims -- boys and girls ages 5, 6 and 7 -- were abused between October 2012 and Jan. 30, 2013.
Allen-Caulboy, 55, of Brentwood, resigned from the Antioch Unified School District in February, a month after parents reported her to police and she was placed on administrative leave.
At a bail hearing Tuesday, prosecutor Melissa Smith said Allen-Caulboy "preyed" on vulnerable children, some of whom are nonverbal, and that there is "nothing to indicate that something prompted her to act out this way."
Less than six months after she started teaching at the school, other district employees began witnessing Allen-Caulboy commit abusive acts, including kneeing a child in the chest, pinching a child's nipples, backhanded slaps, pinning children to the ground and forcing students to "eat boogers," according to Smith. Allen-Caulboy allegedly threatened a school aide that anyone who reported her conduct was "going to get sued," Smith said.
Prosecutors would not say whether there are charges pending against any school district employees who allegedly witnessed or received complaints from parents but did not go to police as mandated by law, before parents sparked the police investigation in January.
"All aspects of this case are still being investigated," said senior Deputy District Attorney Nancy Georgiou.
Defense attorney Elizabeth Grossman described Allen-Caulboy as a "thoughtful, compassionate, hardworking, caring and sensitive human being" who received no prior complaints in her 11 years of teaching.
The defendant was accompanied to court with her family and a former colleague at John Muir Elementary School in Antioch, where Allen-Caulboy taught autistic students in 2011.
"This is a person who very much wants to address these charges," Grossman told the judge, later adding, "I have a lot to say about whether (the DA) will prevail on these counts."
Judge Nancy Davis Stark ordered Allen-Caulboy to electronic house arrest until she can post a $200,000 property bond. The judge further ordered Allen-Caulboy not to teach or care for any minors and issued a restraining order barring any contact with the alleged victims and witnesses in the case.
Allen-Caulboy is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 12 to post bond and enter her plea to the charges.

Monday, August 5, 2013

House Passes Partisan NCLB Rewrite, But Rocky Road Still Ahead - Politics K-12 - Education Week

House Passes Partisan NCLB Rewrite, But Rocky Road Still Ahead - Politics K-12 - Education Week

UPDATED
After two days of partisan debate on an issue that used to bring Democrats and Republicans together in a kumbaya chorus, the House of Representatives passed a GOP-only reauthorization of the long-stalled No Child Left Behind Act.
The bill, approved 221-207, with no Democratic support, would maintain the NCLB law's signature testing schedule and its practice of breaking out student-achievement data by particular groups of students (such as English-language learners and students in special education).
But otherwise it's almost a complete U-turn, policy-wise, from the existing federal school accountability law. States and school districts would get a lot more say on how they hold schools accountable for the progress of all students, including special populations. That has advocates for some school districts (including the American Association of School Administrators) pretty happy. But civil rights organizations, the business community, and urban districts are not on board. More on what's in the bill and who likes and hates the bill here.
What happens next is anyone's guess. The Democratic-controlled Senate education committee approved its own completely partisan and very different version earlier this year. The bill's author, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is hoping to move that legislation to the floor of the Senate this year but it hasn't yet been scheduled. (Harkin's latest comments on the billhere.) It's unclear if the Obama administration, which has its own waiver plan, even wants a reauthorization. And the president has threatened to veto the House GOP legislation.
Yesterday, a key vote illustrated the perils in passing a partisan bill. The measure won support from some of the most conservative members of the House GOP caucus only after Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., the bill's author, gave up the ghost on a policy near and dear to his heart: Requiring school districts to use student outcomes to measure teacher effectiveness. Reps. Rob Bishop, R-Utah and Steve Scalise, R-La., persuaded Kline to make such evaluations optional, not mandatory. And those conservative lawmakers were in lock-step with the National Education Association on this issue.
The teacher-evaluation change brings the House bill much closer in line with legislation introduced by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, the top Republican on the Senate education committee, to rewrite the ESEA law. Alexander supports the idea of teacher evaluation tied to student outcomes, but doesn't think it's the federal government's job to mandate it.
And in fact, Alexander released a statement calling the bill a "kissing cousin" of his own legislation, which has the support of all ten GOP lawmakers on the Senate education committee. Alexander encouraged his colleagues to pass legislation similar to the House bill, which he said would halt the administration's efforts to create "a national school board."
"Senate Republicans are thrilled," a Senate GOP aide said. "The House bill is about as good a piece of legislation as there is and we should go to conference and concede to the House...[The vote] shows that when you offer freedom, freedom wins."
Ultimately, 12 Republicans in the House crossed party lines to vote against the provision. The detractors included some northeastern GOP lawmakers, such as Reps. Michael Grimm and Tom Reed, both of New York, who had worked with the NEA on amendments. And in a somewhat unusual move, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the speaker of the House, and a key architect of NCLB, voted to support the bill. (Typically, the speaker abstains from voting on most legislation.)
Perhaps the high-point today—the final day of debate—came during an exchange between Rep. George Miller of California, the top Democrat on the House education committee, on an amendment introduced by Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., the majority leader. The amendment would allow parents to take Title I dollars to any public school of their choice, including a charter.
Cantor argued this Title I portability amendment would make a huge difference for children who are caught in failing schools. But Miller argued that NCLB already allows those students to transfer to the school of their choice—and the vast majority don't bother to take districts up on that flexibility.
"It's a decision that doesn't work for them because of lack of transportation in poor neighborhoods," Miller argued. He noted that Cantor had originally wanted to allow studentes to transfer to private schools as well and called the policy an "imitation voucher."
The Cantor amendment was ultimately passed on a voice vote. The AASA and the National School Boards Association, two traditional education groups that support the bill but not the Cantor amendment, are continuing to endorse the legislation, even though Title I portability is now part of the deal. Essentially, the organizations are holding their noses and hoping that the school-choice language gets scrapped in conference. (If there ever is a conference. Which is a very big if. More on all that here.)
Here's NSBA's official response to the Title I portability addition: 
"NSBA will support [the bill] in view of the overwhelming shift in direction to ensure that greater flexibility and governance will be restored to local school boards. While there is no perfect bill, HR 5 clearly acknowledges that the footprint of the federal government in K-12 education must be reduced. While NSBA opposed the Cantor's amendment a Title I portability amendment, we believe that this provision—as well as other NSBA concerns—will be addressed when the Senate passes its ESEA bill, and both the House and Senate ESEA bills go to conference. The alternative is to shut down the legislative process and maintain the status quo—which is not acceptable to NSBA."
The House also voted down a substitute amendment, written by Miller, which would have essentially replaced the entire bill with the Democrats' vision for reauthorization. Miller wanted to require states to establish accountability systems that set performance, growth, and graduation targets. On teacher evaluation, the Miller measure would call for districts to craft evaluation systems and use them in professional development and to ensure the equitable distribution of teachers.
In a made-for-C-SPAN-highlights-reel-moment: Miller got very fiery when the House presiding officer tried to cut off debate on his amendment. "Who's running out of time? Children are running out of time in this nation!" he shouted, as the gavel came down.
[UPDATE (5:30 p.m.) On Friday afternoon, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan tweeted his feelings about the so-called "Student Success Act." ]

Education Week: Fla. Schools Chief Resigns Amid Grade-Change Controversy

Education Week: Fla. Schools Chief Resigns Amid Grade-Change Controversy

Florida Commissioner of Education Tony Bennett today resigned his position, following revelations July 29 that during his tenure as Indiana’s K-12 chief in 2012, he altered the state’s A-F school accountability system after discovering that an Indianapolis charter school that was run by one of his political donors received a lower-than-expected score.
Mr. Bennett, who took over the top Florida education job in January, is a nationally prominent K-12 official who is widely admired in some quarters of the education policy community for his aggressive approach to promoting school choice and school accountability, and for overhauling teacher evaluations in Indiana. He also has strong political connections as a member of Chiefs for Change, a group of state superintendents that is affiliated with two K-12 advocacy groups run by former GOP Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Mr. Bennett lost his 2012 re-election bid in Indiana to Glenda Ritz, a Democrat.
During 2012, Mr. Bennett had assured the operator of Christel House Academy in Indianapolis that the school would receive an A grade. But on Sept. 12 of last year, emails published by the Associated Press reveal that he and his staff were spurred to change Indiana’s A-F accountability system when they saw that Christel House would not earn an A.
In a press conference Thursday in Florida, Mr. Bennett called allegations of wrongdoing based on those stories "malicious" and "unfounded," but said he had decided to resign to eliminate distractions for Florida education and political leaders. He also said he would ask Indiana's inspector general to investigate the grade-changing situation in Indiana and was "fearless" about the results of such an investigation.
"It's not fair to the children of Florida that I continue as commissioner and deal with the distractions," Mr. Bennett said.
He announced that Pam Stewart will serve as the interim education commissioner. Ms. Stewart, currently the chancellor of public schools at the Florida education department, had previously served as commissioner between the resignation of former Commissioner Gerard Robinson last year and Mr. Bennett's appointment. The next permanent Florida education commissioner will be the fourth to serve Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican. Mr. Bennett said at his press conference today that Gov. Scott told him that he should stay despite the news.
In a separate conference call on July 30 with reporters, Mr. Bennett denied any wrongdoing, stating that he would never alter accountability measures to benefit charter schools or any political donor.
Last month in Florida, Mr. Bennett shepherded through a change to Florida’s A-F grading system for schools intended to limit the consequences from an expected drop in grades as the Common Core State Standards and tests aligned with them are phased in through the 2014-15 school year. And he is facing pressure from Florida elected officials to drop out of a federally funded consortium developing common-core-aligned tests.
Prior to today’s developments, Tom Loveless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Brown Center on Education Policy, said of the Indiana controversy that Mr. Bennett “has a lot of different things he’s juggling. And this does not help.”
Mr. Loveless said the Indiana revelations also highlight the importance of states’ protecting their accountability systems from the appearance of political influence. “You have to be very careful that you wall off accountability, which should not be influenced by elected officials, from the politics of the state,” he said. “Until you do that, you’re going to have these ethical questions.”

Trail of Emails

SEE ALSO
Read the email exchange Tony Bennett had with his staff regarding Christel House Academy and its grade from the state.
The Indiana firestorm was ignited this week when the Associated Press published emails from September 2012, when Mr. Bennett was still Indiana’s elected state superintendent. At that time, they show, Mr. Bennett and top aides learned that the Christel House Academy charter school would earn a C grade for the 2011-12 school year—largely because of low 10th grade algebra scores.
That prospect set off a flurry of activity by the state education department to see how it could alter the A-F system, an accountability measure that Mr. Bennett had championed.
Mr. Bennett had previously assured the school’s operator, Christel DeHaan, and Indiana Speaker of the House Brian Bosma, a Republican, that the school would receive an A grade. Given the mediocre scores for Christel House, Mr. Bennett wrote to aides that his pledges amounted to “repeated lies.”
Subsequent email correspondence shows that Mr. Bennett and staff members discussed and ultimately made changes to school grading as it related to Christel House and other schools, although it remains unclear exactly what those changes were. The school’s score ultimately rose to an A, or a 3.75 on the scale.
Ms. DeHaan contributed a total of $130,000 to Mr. Bennett’s political campaigns in 2008 and 2012. Campaign-finance records show that for the reporting period from last Oct. 23—after the email exchanges obtained by the Associated Press occurred—through the end of 2012, she gave Mr. Bennett’s campaign $15,000.Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader She has also contributed to Indiana Democrats and to President Barack Obama.
In a July 30 conference call with reporters, Mr. Bennett denied that he had acted improperly. In fact, he said, officials changed the grades for Christel House and 12 other schools that were “unfairly penalized” for not having graduation statistics. At the time, 10th grade was Christel House’s highest grade level.
Mr. Bennett also said that confidence in Florida schools’ A-F grades shouldn’t be compromised as a result of the Indiana disclosures.
“It has never been, and it won’t be, about political donors or making charter schools or private schools look good,” he said.

Florida Debates

Meanwhile, Mr. Bennett, who was hired to lead the Florida schools after losing his Indiana re-election bid, had been dealing with the aftermath of the Florida state board’s July 16 vote to alter the A-F accountability system (on his recommendationRequires Adobe Acrobat Reader) so that no individual school’s grade will drop by more than one letter grade in one year for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years.
The 2013-14 year is the first time the common core will be implemented in all Florida grades, and 2014-15 is the first scheduled year for new assessments aligned with the common core.
“I believe the transition to [the common core] will be an opportunity to provide greater transparency in our state accountability system,” Mr. Bennett wrote to the state board.
Florida’s A-F system was enacted in 1999 and supported by then-Gov. Bush. Patricia Levesque, the executive director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future, a K-12 advocacy group chaired by Mr. Bush, had written a July 15 letter to the board opposing the change.
But in an interview, Mr. Bennett denied the change represented a “relaxation” of accountability along the lines of the state’s decision to lower the cutoff score on its writing test last year, following a drop in student performance.
Mr. Bennett also had to deal with opposition to common-core assessments from Senate President Don Gaetz and Speaker of the House Will Weatherford, both Republicans, who said the state should drop out of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, testing consortium. (On a national level, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also voiced opposition to the common core late last month.)
Before news of his impending resignation, Mr. Bennett said the state is weighing a potential “Plan B” alternative to the PARCC assessment, but said that support for the standards in Florida remains strong. So far, no legislation to repeal the common core in Florida has been introduced.