Can We Cure this Drop-out Epidemic?

http://crankytaxpayer.org/Schools/dropped_out.htm#dropouts
John Butcher has posted his analysis of the drop-out numbers. While I am happy for the two “crown jewels,” I cannot help but be concerned about our other five comprehensive high schools. Check out the data. What do you think?How can the community help keep these children in school?

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Grant$$$$$ ...Grants $$$$$... Grant$$$$

NASSP/MetLife: Breakthrough Schools

The National Association of Secondary School Principals and the MetLife Foundation Breakthrough Schools program highlights high-achieving middle or high schools, or schools that are making dramatic improvements in student achievement, whose best practices and outstanding results can inform other schools as they further their own improvement efforts. Maximum award: $5,000. Eligibility: high-achieving K-12 schools with 40% or more students eligible for free and reduced priced meals. Deadline: June 30, 2013.

ESA: President's Prizes for Outstanding Achievement in Primary and Secondary Education

The Entomological Society of America's President's Prizes for Outstanding Achievement in Primary and Secondary Education recognize educators who have gone beyond the traditional teaching methods by using insects as educational tools. Maximum award: $400 to the winner's school to purchase teaching materials required to expand the use of insects in the teaching curriculum; $400 to the winner for expenses associated with travel required to present a paper or poster on the use of insects in primary or secondary educational programs at a peer professional venue of their choosing; gratis registration to attend ESA's annual meeting; and an $800 award to the winner for expenses associated with travel, hotel arrangements, and all other costs associated with attending the annual meeting. Eligibility: primary teachers (grades K-6) and secondary teachers (grades 7-12).

Deadline: July 1, 2013.

P. Buckley Moss Foundation: Grants for Teachers of Children Who Learn Differently

P. Buckley Moss Foundation Education Grants aid and support teachers who wish to establish an effective learning tool using the arts in teaching children with learning disabilities and other special needs. Maximum award: $1,000. Eligibility: new or evolving programs that integrate the arts into educational programming.

Deadline: September 30, 2013.

Do Something: Seed Grants

Do Something Seed Grants for youth can be used towards project ideas and programs that are just getting started, or to jump-start a program and realize ideas for the first time. These grants can also be used towards projects that are already developed and sustainable, towards the next steps of a project and organization as it looks to expand and grow impact. Maximum award: $500. Eligibility: community projects that are youth-led and driven. Deadline: rolling.

	Foundation for Technology and Engineering Educators Invites Applications Deadline: December 1, 2013
	Westinghouse Electric Invites Applications for STEM Education Projects Deadline: November 15, 2013
	International Reading Association Invites Applications for Teacher Recognition Grant Deadline: November 15, 2013
	Wild Ones Invites Applications for Native Plant Education Projects Deadline: October 15, 2013
	Multi-Arts Production Fund Invites Letters of Inquiry for Performance Work Embodying Spirit of Exploration Deadline: October 4, 2013 (Letters of Inquiry).
	American Brain Foundation Invites Applications for Clinical Research Training Fellowship in Ataxia Deadline: October 1, 2013
	National Art Education Foundation Seeks Applications for 2013 Art Educator Grants Deadline: October 1, 2013
	Toshiba America Foundation Invites Applications for K-5 Science and Math Projects Deadline: October 1, 2013
	Project Learning Tree Seeks Applications for Environmental Education Projects Deadline: September 30, 2013
	Captain Planet Foundation Seeks Applications for K-12 Environment-Based Projects Deadline: September 30, 2013
	OCLC Research Invites Applications for Innovative Information Science Research Projects Deadline: September 15, 2013

	American Educational Research Association Seeks Applications for Research Using Large-Scale Data Sets Deadline: September 1, 2013

	Family Caregiver Alliance Accepting Nominations for Innovations in Alzheimer's Disease Caregiving Awards Deadline: August 16, 2013

	Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children Invites Letters of Intent for 2014 Access to Care Grants Deadline: August 1, 2013
	Ribbons of Hope—Invest in Women Seeks Applications From Nonprofit Organizations That Benefit Women and Girls Deadline: August 1, 2013

	Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation Invites Applications for Music Donation Program Deadline: August 1, 2013 (Pre-qualification)
	Atlanta Braves Foundation Invites Applications From Atlanta-Area Youth ProgramDeadline: July 31, 2013
	NBCUniversal Foundation Invites Applications for 21st Century Solutions Initiative Deadline: July 31, 2013
	National Institute for Health Care Management Research and Educational Foundation Accepting Letters of Inquiry Deadline: July 19, 2013 (Letters of Inquiry)
	Howard Hughes Medical Institute Invites Applications to 2014 HHMI Professors Competition Deadline: July 16, 2013
	National Resource Center for First-Year Experience and Students and Transition Invites Applications for Research Projects Deadline: July 1, 2013

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"We've got to do a better job recognizing mental health issues in our children, and making it easier for Americans of all ages to seek help. Today, less than 40 percent of people with mental illness receive treatment -- less than 40 percent. Even though three-quarters of mental illnesses emerge by the age of 24, only about half of children with mental health problems receive treatment." -- President Barack Obama, in opening remarks for the National Conference on Mental Health, held at the White House.

Carol Wolf
wolfies@aol.com

Their (Still) Cheating Hearts

Save Our Schools: School Report Cards: Beware Their Cheating ...

Dec 06, 2012

The School Report Cards on the VDOE Web site provide a lot of data but no way to compare schools or divisions except to copy the data out of the individual reports (Can you spell "pain"?). Recently, however, they put up a ...

http://saveourschools-getrealrichmond.blogspot.com/

Save Our Schools: Beware Their Cheating Hearts

Mar 29, 2010

Beware Their Cheating Hearts. (Originally posted 6/21/2009, Revised 3/28/2010). Time was when teachers and school administrators had to concern themselves with the possibility of children cheating on tests. Nowadays, it is the other way ...

http://saveourschools-getrealrichmond.blogspot.com/

According to the Virginia Code

§ 22.1-79. Powers and duties.

A school board shall:

1. See that the school laws are properly explained, enforced and observed;

2. Secure, by visitation or otherwise, as full information as possible about the conduct of the public schools in the school division and take care that they are conducted according to law and with the utmost efficiency;

3. Care for, manage and control the property of the school division and provide for the erecting, furnishing, equipping, and noninstructional operating of necessary school buildings and appurtenances and the maintenance thereof by purchase, lease, or other contracts;

4. Provide for the consolidation of schools or redistricting of school boundaries or adopt pupil assignment plans whenever such procedure will contribute to the efficiency of the school division;

5. Insofar as not inconsistent with state statutes and regulations of the Board of Education, operate and maintain the public schools in the school division and determine the length of the school term, the studies to be pursued, the methods of teaching and the government to be employed in the schools;

6. In instances in which no grievance procedure has been adopted prior to January 1, 1991, establish and administer by July 1, 1992, a grievance procedure for all school board employees, except the division superintendent and those employees covered under the provisions of Article 2 (§ 22.1-293 et seq.) and Article 3 (§ 22.1-306 et seq.) of Chapter 15 of this title, who have completed such probationary period as may be required by the school board, not to exceed 18 months. The grievance procedure shall afford a timely and fair method of the resolution of disputes arising between the school board and such employees regarding dismissal or other disciplinary actions, excluding suspensions, and shall be consistent with the provisions of the Board of Education's procedures for adjusting grievances, except that there shall be no right to a hearing before a fact-finding panel. Except in the case of dismissal, suspension, or other disciplinary action, the grievance procedure prescribed by the Board of Education pursuant to § 22.1-308 shall apply to all full-time employees of a school board, except supervisory employees;

7. Perform such other duties as shall be prescribed by the Board of Education or as are imposed by law;

8. Obtain public comment through a public hearing not less than 10 days after reasonable notice to the public in a newspaper of general circulation in the school division prior to providing (i) for the consolidation of schools; (ii) the transfer from the public school system of the administration of all instructional services for any public school classroom or all noninstructional services in the school division pursuant to a contract with any private entity or organization; or (iii) in school divisions having 15,000 pupils or more in average daily membership, for redistricting of school boundaries or adopting any pupil assignment plan affecting the assignment of 15 percent or more of the pupils in average daily membership in the affected school. Such public hearing may be held at the same time and place as the meeting of the school board at which the proposed action is taken if the public hearing is held before the action is taken. If a public hearing has been held prior to the effective date of this provision on a proposed consolidation, redistricting or pupil assignment plan which is to be implemented after the effective date of this provision, an additional public hearing shall not be required;

9. (Expires July 1, 2015) At least annually, survey the school division to identify critical shortages of teachers and administrative personnel by subject matter, and report such critical shortages to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and to the Virginia Retirement System; however, the school board may request the division superintendent to conduct such survey and submit such report to the school board, the Superintendent, and the Virginia Retirement System; and

10. Ensure that the public schools within the school division are registered with the Department of State Police to receive from the State Police electronic notice of the registration or reregistration of any sex offender within that school division pursuant to § 9.1-914.

(Code 1950, §§ 22-72, 22-97; 1954, cc. 289, 291; 1956, Ex. Sess., c. 60; 1959, Ex. Sess., c. 79, § 1; 1966, c. 691; 1968, c. 501; 1970, c. 71; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 161; 1972, c. 511; 1975, cc. 308, 328; 1980, c. 559; 1985, c. 8; 1987, c. 402; 1991, cc. 553, 668; 1994, c. 596; 1996, cc. 485, 790, 798; 1997, c. 382; 2004, c. 563; 2006, cc. 857, 914; 2009, c. 459.)

School Board Duty

From the Virginia Code: § 22.1-140.

Plans for buildings to be approved by division superintendent. No public school building or addition or alteration thereto, for either permanent or temporary use, shall be advertised for bid, contracted for, erected, or otherwise acquired until the plans and specifications therefore have been approved in writing by the division superintendent and are accompanied by a statement by an architect or professional engineer licensed by the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects that such plans and specifications are, in his professional opinion and belief, in compliance with the regulations of the Board of Education and the Uniform Statewide Building Code. The division superintendent's approval, architect's or engineer's statement, and a copy of the final plans and specifications shall be submitted to the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

(Code 1950, §§ 22-97, 22-152, 22-153; 1954, cc. 257, 291; 1959, Ex. Sess., c. 79, § 1; 1968, c. 501; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 161; 1975, cc. 308, 328; 1978, c. 430; 1980, c. 559; 1991, c. 550; 1993, c. 227; 1998, c. 27.)

Faulkner: An inexhaustible voice ...

“I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal simply because he will endure: that when the last dingdong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.”

~ William Faulkner, Nobel Banquet Speech

WHY MATH MATTERS

"...the most urgent social issue affecting poor people and people of color is economic access. In today's world, economic access and full citizenship depend crucially on math and science literacy. I believe that the absence of math literacy in urban and rural communities throughout this country is an issue as urgent as the lack of registered voters in Mississippi was in 1961... and I believe that solving the problem requires exactly the kind of community organizing that changed the South in the 1960s ..."

~ Robert P. Moses, Radical Equations

LEARNING is the thing ...

"The best thing for being sad, " replied Merlyn ... "is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, ... you may see the world around you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then -- to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the thing for you."

~ T.H. White, The Once and Future King

Politics of Race and Education in Richmond Public Schools

Richmond was so residentially segregated that it frustrated all future attempts to desegregate the public schools. That was perhaps the major reason why freedom of choice never worked. Many people wondered why we [NAACP] didn't tackle segregated housing before we tackled segregated schools. Personally, I was in favor of that strategy, because if we could desegregate the housing then blacks could go to the desegregated neighborhood schools. But judging from the experiences of some places where violence had erupted whenever blacks moved into white neighborhoods, we felt that it might be safer to proceed with school desegregation first, assuming that kids would be less violent than adults. I've always believed that the children could have worked out many of the problems associated with school desegregation if only their parents had left them alone.

~ Oliver W. Hill, Sr.

Veteran Civil Rights attorney

(Click on Mr. Hill's name to read

his New York Times obituary).

Dull Hatchet Job

By John R. Butcher

The RT-D on Dec. 21 published a hit job on Richmond School Board member Kimberly Gray. The piece is based on a really sloppy hatchet job by Ron Broadbent, who appears to be on the staff of the Darden Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education at UVa.

Broadbent’s report is a three-page cover memo to LeAnn Buntrock, Executive Director of the Partnersip, with eleven short memos, each two pages or so, summarizing Richmond School Board meetings during 2010 and one longer memo gushing over the school board’s retreat at Darden on May 21-22.

The RT-D story focuses on Broadbent’s criticism of Gray “who was cited for speaking out and not following protocol during meetings.” The story overlooks the much juicier content in Broadbent’s report.

Who is this Broadbent?

Broadbent’s reports all are directed to the Darden Curry Partnership but neither the Darden faculty directory nor the University’s People Search lists Broadbent.

Broadbent’s cover memo tells us that he is a “former public school educator with over thirty years of experience, twenty-four of which were in administration.” Whatever that experience may have been, it did not leave Broadbent a friend of the Mother Tongue. For example he says:

Warning: Do not read this if you already have a headache:

· James Pughsley in January of 2007 [et al] are examples of where they (sic) board had training on how to be a more effective board . . .

· One of the most positive aspects of the Richmond Public School Board meetings is when . . .

· The board spent 25% of the meeting hearing a final presentation on the proposed budget for 2010-2011, discussing and voting on.

· Ms. Gray voted against the measure sighting (sic) the need for public comment and input.

· Further more, it would appear to be a violation of school board policy and protocol in my opinion.

· By a 5-4 vote, the school board voted to approve an alternative sight (sic) for the Patrick Henry Charter School . . . .

· The board spent 91% of its time . . . on matters related to the Balanced Scorecard. This is the highest percentage in quite sometime.

Perhaps it is a good thing Broadbent got out of teaching and went into administration, where his illiteracy wouldn’t directly harm the kids.

What did he actually say?

As reported in the RT-D, Broadbent criticized Gray repeatedly for speaking out. For example, regarding the August 16, 2010 meeting, Broadbent reports:

Ms. Gray continues to attempt to dominate with her numerous comments and personal opinions on practically every agenda item. Towards the end of the meeting so as to keep the board on task and be able to vote on the “consent agenda”, (comma sic) [Chairman] Bridges had to request of Ms. Gray that she end her comments and questions.

Read that carefully, please: Gray is being assertive (bad!) while the Chairman is not doing her job (no comment!).

Again, regarding the 8/2/10 meeting, Broadbent criticizes Gray for speaking “five different times regarding the audit and four times during the discussion of the A.D.A. report.” He neglects to mention that the Chairman allowed this.

In a related vein, Broadbent chastises Gray & Murdoch-Kitt for voting against the budget on Feb. 16: “By its 7-2 vote, the board did not present itself as a unified/cohesive board with respect to the proposed 2010-2011 budget.”

Then Broadbent praises the board for its deportment on May 3 in the 5-4 vote on the temporary Patrick Henry relocation (Bridges, Gray, Murdoch-Kitt, Scott, & Coleman voting aye; Page, Smith, Wilson, & Henderson, nay). As to the latter meeting he reports: “Concerns: None.” Apparently “no” votes by Page, Smith, Wilson, & Henderson are fine but those by Gray and Murdoch-Kitt demonstrate a lack of cohesion.

Conclusions

1. Broadbent’s reports broadcast both his biases and his inability to tell a straight story, not to mention his distant acquaintance with the English language.

2. Kudos to the Times-Dispatch for posting the Broadbent reports that it so badly misreported.

3. Great Praise to Kim Gray for standing up to the school board that is wasting tens of millions of dollars every year.

VGLA Math Participation Rates/Richmond Public Schools 2009-2010

Bellevue Elementary 76%

Overby-Sheppard Elementary 70%

Oak Grove/Bellemeade Elementary 67%

Woodville Elementary 65%

George W. Carver Elementary 61%

George Mason Elementary 56%

Lucille M. Brown Middle 55%

Ginter Park Elementary 52%

Blackwell Elementary 50%

Henderson Middle 50%

Albert Hill Middle 48%

Binford Middle 46%

Martin Luther King Jr. Middle 45%

Chimborazo Elementary 45%

Thomas C. Boushall Middle 41%

Fred D. Thompson Middle 40%

Westover Hills Elementary 40%

Fairfield Court Elementary 40%

Miles Jones Elementary 39%

Clark Springs Elementary 38%

G.H. Reid Elementary 36%

Summer Hill/Ruffin Road Elementary 35%

Amelia Street Special Education 34%

J.L. Francis Elementary 33%

John B. Cary Elementary 32%

Broad Rock Elementary 30%

Elkhardt Middle 30%

E.S.H. Greene Elementary 26%

Southampton Elementary 25%

Maymont Elementary 24%

J.E.B. Stuart Elementary 23%

Swansboro Elementary 22%

Linwood Holton Elementary 20%

J.B. Fisher Elementary 15%

Elizabeth D. Redd Elementary 14%

Mary Munford Elementary 11%

Source: Virginia Department of Education

VGLA Reading Participation Rates 2009-2010

Overby-Sheppard Elementary 75%

Woodville Elementary 75%

Bellevue Elementary 68%

Blackwell Elementary 68%

George Mason Elementary 68%

Oak Grove/Bellemeade Elementary 67%

George W. Carver Elementary 67%

Clark Springs Elementary 59%

Lucille M. Brown Middle 55%

Miles Jones Elementary 52%

Fairfield Court Elementary 52%

G.H. Reid Elementary 52%

Chimborazo Elementary 51%

Thomas C. Boushall Middle 50%

Albert Hill Middle 49%

Martin Luther King Jr. Middle 48%

Ginter Park Elementary 47%

Henderson Middle 47%

Westover Hills Elementary 44%

Binford Middle 43%

John B. Cary Elementary 42%

Swansboro Elementary 41%

Summer Hill/Ruffin Road Elementary 41%

J.L. Francis Elementary 39%

J.E.B. Stuart Elementary 39%

Linwood Holton Elementary 38%

Fred D. Thompson Middle 37%

Amelia Street Special Education 37%

Broad Rock Elementary 36%

E.S.H. Greene Elementary 35%

Elkhardt Middle 31%

Southampton Elementary 31%

Elizabeth D. Redd Elementary 24%

Maymont Elementary 24%

Mary Munford Elementary 17%

J.B. Fisher Elementary 6%

William Fox Elementary 0%

Source: Virginia Department of Education

Confronting Inequities in Education Report

The key contention in this report is that grantmakers in education will have the most success in advancing equity and access if they focus a great deal of attention and funding on marginalized populations and if they do so by addressing systemic inequality.

This need not entail a wholesale devotion of resources to those singular goals; education grantmaking also can be extremely effective when focused on other pressing needs and worthwhile projects. But this report explores the tensions and tradeoffs, concluding that a far greater focus on marginalized populations and systemic inequality would be beneficial.
http://www.ncrp.org/files/publications/Confronting_Systemic_Inequities_in_Education_lowres.pdf

FREEDOM IS NOT ENOUGH

The voting rights bill will be the latest, and among the most important, in a long series of victories. But this victory--as Winston Churchill said of another triumph for freedom--"is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

That beginning is freedom; and the barriers to that freedom are tumbling down. Freedom is the right to share, share fully and equally, in American society--to vote, to hold a job, to enter a public place, to go to school. It is the right to be treated in every part of our national life as a person equal in dignity and promise to all others.

But freedom is not enough. You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: Now you are free to go where you want, and do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.

You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, "you are free to compete with all the others," and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.

Thus it is not enough just to open the gates of opportunity. All our citizens must have the ability to walk through those gates.

This is the next and the more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity. We seek not just legal equity but human ability, not just equality as a right and a theory but equality as a fact and equality as a result.

For the task is to give 20 million Negroes the same chance as every other American to learn and grow, to work and share in society, to develop their abilities--physical, mental and spiritual, and to pursue their individual happiness.

To this end equal opportunity is essential, but not enough, not enough. Men and women of all races are born with the same range of abilities. But ability is not just the product of birth. Ability is stretched or stunted by the family that you live with, and the neighborhood you live in--by the school you go to and the poverty or the richness of your surroundings. It is the product of a hundred unseen forces playing upon the little infant, the child, and finally the man.

Virginians with Disabilities Act (VDA)

In the 1980's, sixty-four disability organizations formed a coalition known as INVEST (INsure Virginians Equal Status Today) to accomplish passage of the Virginians with Disabilities Act (VDA). This landmark civil rights legislation declared the state's commitment to support and encourage persons with disabilities to participate fully in the social and economic life of the Commonwealth. It preceded the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by five years, and is considered by many to be the model for the federal legislation that created the ADA.

Signed in 1985 by former Gov. Charles S. Robb, the law was a landmark in the protection against discrimination in employment, housing, education, voting transportation and access to public accommodations.

Today, the Virginians With Disabilities Act protects nearly one million state residents.

The act declared "it is the policy of this Commonwealth to encourage and enable persons with disabilities to participate fully and equally in the social and economic life of the Commonwealth and to engage in remunerative employment". The Act protected Virginians with disabilities from discrimination under any state program or activity, by employers in hiring and promotion, by educational institutions receiving state funds, in the use of public places and in places of public accommodation, in housing, and in the exercise of the right to vote.

Dare to Ask Why the Richmond School Board Refuses to Let This Happen Here

We live in a nation in which one out of every four African-American males will either be incarcerated, institutionalized or dead before they are 21 years old. Our city school system continues to suspend and expel far more students than it graduates. Yet, our elected leaders refuse all efforts to open their minds to the possibility that we can -- and must -- do better for the sake of all our children and our city.

As you read the Chicago Tribune story, please know that the members of the Richmond School Board, Supt. Yvonne Brandon, Mayor Dwight Jones, the Legislative Black Caucus and the Crusade for Voters are all absolutely opposed to charter schools -- which means that as long as this mindset prevails, Richmonders cannot ever hope to share in the success that these students in Chicago recently experienced.

I hope you will dare to ask them to re-think their positions. How many more generations must be sacrificed because adults cannot act in the best interests of our children?

And, remember the immortal words of Robert F. Kennedy:

"If we fail to dare, if we do not try, the next generation will harvest the fruit of our indifference; a world we did not want - a world we did not choose - but a world we could have made better ...."

Duties: According to the Virginia Code ....

Duties of Superintendent , Duties of School Board,

Duties of Board of Education: The Board of Education is charged with general supervision of the public school system·

The "core" of Virginia's educational program is the SOL's, created under the first Standard of Quality. The Board of Education has authority to seek compliance with the Standards of Quality and can sue to compel compliance. ·

The Board has the duty and authority to see that the truancy laws are enforced.

The Board can fine, suspend, or remove a division superintendent for "sufficient cause."

Courage Under Fire & Suspensions of Disbelief ...

Two members of the Richmond School Board struck a blow to help dismantle the "School-to-Prison Pipeline" when they voted June 15th against the pro forma acceptance of the RPS Code of Conduct.

By their votes, Adria Graham-Scott (4th District) and vice-chair, Kimberly B. Gray (2nd District), each demonstrated "Courage Under Fire" to stand up to -- and apart from their colleagues -- on behalf of RPS children.

The good news is that the RPS School Board, thanks to a change in state law effective July 1, will no longer be able to suspend students for tardiness or truancy.

High fives to Richmond Free Press reporter, Danny C. Yates, who kept the group honest when some members postured that the action originated with the RPS Board.

"The new suspension policy is the only major change from last year's Standards of Conduct. Some members hoped for additional revisions," reported Yates in the most recent edition of the Richmond Free Press.

Indeed. Change is needed.

RPS' excessive use of school suspensions and abusive zero-tolerance policies are well-documented -- thanks to the hard work of Style Weekly reporter Chris Dovi and Style's editor, Scott Bass.

Click here to read about how RPS suspends far more students -- by 10,000 -- than the Washington, D.C. public schools do. Although the D.C. public schools have 46,000 students — nearly twice Richmond’s enrollment -- only 2,245 children were suspended last year, here to read Jason Roop's excellent article detailing the "how and why" CCP (Community Education Partners) came to be in Richmond and why RPS needs to re-think its zero-tolerance disciplinary policy.

Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)

If you have a child with a disability, your child is entitled to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). This page has articles, law, cases, books, and other resources about FAPE.

You should also review information about these topics: IEPs, Least Restrictive Environment (LRE),Extended School Year (ESY), Evaluations, Tests, and Retention & Social Promotion.

Who is Responsible for Providing FAPE?

In this article, you will learn about the "free, appropriate public education " (FAPE) your child is entitled to under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, who is responsible for providing a free, appropriate public education and how it is delivered. You will also learn strategies you can use if you have a disagreement with your child's IEP team.

How Can I Get the School to Provide an Appropriate Program? Read one parent's journey from emotion to advocacy as she lobbies for the services her son needs.

High-Stakes! Can the School Use a Single Test to Retain My Child?

Should I Allow the School Retain My Child?

Advice to a parent's frequently asked questions about retention - generally, it is not a good idea.

To Promote or Retain? Summary of research on retention which shows that retention is not an appropriate intervention for children who have academic delays.

Homebound Services: Two Hours a Week = FAPE? The IEP controls the services, regardless of where they are delivered - at home or in the public school.

When a School Refuses to Protect a Child with Life-Threatening Allergies. A complaint filed alleging that the child on the basis of her disabilities, was denied a free and appropriate public education that addressed her needs, and failed to ensure a safe educational environment.

Individualized Instruction is Not One-Size-Fits All. You are right. A program the school considers “good”may not be adequate for every child, depending on the child’s needs.The bottom line is the child has a right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE).

What Does "swine flu" Have to do with FAPE? Guidance from US Dept of Education addresses the obligations of, and best practices for, state agencies and local schools with regard to the requirements for providing FAPE for children with disabilities when planning for an H1N1 outbreak.

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Articles about FAPE

Accommodations and Modifications. Some children with disabilities need accommodations and modifications in their special education programs. This 4 page printer-friendly article defines accommodations and modifications and gives examples for books, curriculum, instruction, assignments, and behavior.

Free Appropriate Public Education for Students with Disabilities: Requirements Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. (Rev. September 2007). This pamphlet answers the following questions about FAPE: Who is entitled to a free appropriate public education? How is an appropriate education defined? How is a free education defined?Evans v. Rhinebeck: Your Roadmap to FAPE. How do judges determine if a child is receiving FAPE? Learn about procedural and substantive issues, educational benefit, and how to use test scores to show educational benefit.

FAPE? Ohio Child Entitled to an Education That is Appropriate -- and Free. What is FAPE? Court of Appeals says child entitled to appropriate education that is also free; orders district to reimburse parents for child's tuition at private school.

Garret F: Congress Intended to Open Door to All Qualified Children. U. S. Supreme Court decision clarifies that schools must provide related services when necessary for children to attend school.

IDEA Requirements: Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) & FAPE. The IDEA includes two fundamental requirements: that the child receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). What does least restrictive environment mean? What is mainstreaming?

Loving Parents Want What's Best for Child - But Schools Only Need to Provide FAPE. Learn why you cannot use words like "best" or "maximizing potential" in discussions with school staff; article includes Four Rules About FAPE.

Reexamining Rowley: A New Focus in Special Education Law. Attorney Scott Johnson argues that the "some educational benefit" standard in Rowley no longer reflects the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. State standards and educational adequacy requirements provide requirements of FAPE; these standards exceed the "some educational benefit" benchmark. This requires a fundamental change in how courts, school districts, and parents view special education services.

Unilateral Graduation & Compensatory Education: Kevin T. v. Elmhurst. Court finds that school district did not provide a FAPE, attempted to unilaterally graduate child, orders compensatory education.

Tests and Measurements for the Parent, Teacher, Advocate & Attorney. Because FAPE describes a program that is designed to meet the child's unique needs and from which the child receiveseducational benefit, you need to understand test scores and what your child's test scores mean.

The Untold Story - Florence County School District IV v. Shannon Carter. The inside story of the Shannon Carter case from due process, appeals, to oral argument before the U. S. Supreme Court.

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From Emotions to Advocacy - The Special Education Survival Guide

Our advocacy book, Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy - The Special Education Survival Guide, 2nd Edition , is published by Harbor House Law Press. Use the links below to preview the book. To order

Introduction	Getting Started - Chapter 1
Reviews	SMART IEPs - Chapter 12
Skim Book	Complete Table of Contents

Legal Definition of FAPE

The legal concept of “FAPE” is shorthand for “free, appropriate public education.” You will find FAPE defined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) at 20 U. S. C. § 1401(3)(A)(9) (Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition, page 51) and in the Code of Federal Regulations at 34 C.F.R. § 300.17 (Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition, page 196).

In a nutshell, FAPE is an individualized educational program that is designed to meet the child'sunique needs and from which the child receives educational benefit, and prepares them for further education, employment, and independent living.

How can you tell if your child is receiving educational benefit? If you compare the child's educational achievement test scores over time, you will know if your child is receiving educational benefit.

For more information about educational benefit and test results, download, print and study Tests and Measurements for the Parent, Teacher, Advocate and Attorney.
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Caselaw About FAPE (more caselaw about FAPE & IEPs)

Bd. Ed. Hendrick Hudson Sch. Dist. v. Amy Rowley The first special education decision from the U. S. Supreme Court in 1982 defines FAPE.

Cleveland Heights-University Heights v. Sommer Boss (6th Cir. 1998). School ignores red flags, does not offer an IEP, child placed in private school, parents entitled to reimbursement.Evans v. Rhinebeck (S.D. NY 1996). Learn about FAPE for child with dyslexia; substantive and procedural issues, educational benefit. Includes excellent discussion of IEP goals and objectives.

Kevin T. v. Elmhurst Comm. School Dist. (N.D. IL 2002) Witness credibility, failure to review and revise IEP goals and objectives, regression of skills, assistive technology, statewide assessments, transition plans, unilateral graduation, and compensatory education as a remedy when a school district fails to provide a FAPE.

T. R. v. Kingwood Township (NJ) (3rd Cir. 2000) Clarifies requirement to provide a "free appropriate education (FAPE)" in the "least restrictive environment, meaningful benefit, continuum of placements.
Walczak v. Florida Union Free School Dist. (2nd Cir. 1998). Loving parents want what's best for child but school need only provide an appropriate education
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Books about Special Education Law, NCLB & Advocacy

Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition (ISBN 978-1-892320-16-2) by Peter W. D. Wright and Pamela Darr Wright is published by Harbor House Law Press, Inc.
Available as a print book/e-book combo.
Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy - The Special Education Survival Guide (ISBN 978-1-892320-09-4) by Pam and Pete Wright is published by Harbor House Law Press. The book is supplemented by theFrom Emotions to Advocacy website.
Wrightslaw: No Child Left Behind (ISBN: 978-1-892320-12-4) by Peter W. D. Wright, Pamela Darr Wright and Suzanne Whitney Heath is published by Harbor House Law Press; includes the No Child Left Behind CD-ROM.

Esperemos RPS Escucha

Yo trabajo todos los días con los estudiantes y sus familias en Southside. A continuación se muestra una lista de algunos de los dis-servicios e injusticias que cualquiera que he observado o han dicho acerca de los estudiantes y las familias que asisten a Huguenot High School.

Dos advertencias. A pesar de que estoy tratando de ser específicas para una escuela, estos abusos se producen a menudo en otras escuelas de Richmond. Además, a continuación, me refiero sobre todo a la discriminación que sufrió por los estudiantes latinos. Sin embargo, los estudiantes afro-americanos y otros también se encuentran con el abuso similar.

1. Hace varios meses, el día después de una pelea entre un negro y un estudiante latino, el director de la escuela y de seguridad llamaron a los estudiantes latinos en la cafetería. De acuerdo con varios estudiantes, sus bolsas y las personas fueron registradas por personal de la cafetería, los maestros y los oficiales de seguridad. Supuestamente el director de la escuela amenazó a los estudiantes con la deportación. Luego fueron escoltados hasta sus autobuses en grupos de seis o siete.

2. Los estudiantes afirman que se abusa regularmente por los guardias de seguridad. He oído varias cuentas de intimidación física rayana en asalto, así como el abuso verbal que incluye insultos raciales. Muchos estudiantes sienten que son objeto de búsquedas de poca o ninguna razón, y amenazaron innecesariamente con la detención o expulsión de la escuela. Los estudiantes de ESL también están en peligro de ser enviado a CCP, una escuela alternativa con ningún programa de ESL. A pesar de ser ilegal, la escuela ha intentado enviar varios estudiantes de cualquier manera. Muchos estudiantes latinos son acusados de estar en bandas cuando tienen ninguna afiliación con una. Es más, varios estudiantes me han dicho que los guardias de seguridad han amenazado con denunciarlos a la inmigración y que su deportación.

3. NO HAY INTÉRPRETES imparciales en RPS. La escuela da a menudo la responsabilidad de la interpretación de un guardia de seguridad o un consejero de salud mental. Varias familias han expresado que estos dos trabajadores distorsionar sus palabras y sus significados en el mejor interés de ellos y la escuela.

La falta de un intérprete o de enlace con la comunidad es un obstáculo práctico que permite a los trabajadores de la escuela para que no tengan que hacer frente a las necesidades de los estudiantes y padres que son diferentes a ellos culturalmente y lingüísticamente. Un gran número de padres han llegado a la conclusión de que deben soportar ser ignorado porque no hay ningún punto en la adopción de cuestiones a la escuela. Incluso si las familias traen sus preocupaciones a las escuelas, que sienten que son despedidos o intimidados. Cuando personas que no hablan inglés se sienten ignorados no tienen vías a través del cual presentan denuncias. ¿Quién en la oficina del superintendente de habla española? Nadie.

4. El programa de ESL está diseñado para preparar a los estudiantes para tomar exámenes SOL de Inglés en lugar de enseñarles un nuevo idioma. He conocido a varios estudiantes que han estado en hugonotes 2 a 3 años y siguen siendo incapaces de expresarse en Inglés. A continuación, se ven obligados a clases regulares en los que no son capaces de aprender de los maestros de habla Inglés por causas ajenas a su propia cuenta. No tengo las estadísticas, pero los estudiantes de ESL tienen una tasa sorprendentemente baja graduación.

5. La escuela también deja de lado a los estudiantes latinos de otras maneras. Un ejemplo podría ser la falta de atención del director para el equipo de fútbol hugonotes. Más de 40 estudiantes, hombres y mujeres y en su mayoría latinos, querían formar un equipo de fútbol de la escuela. A pesar de saber que el entrenador anterior se retiraba, la escuela se olvidó de contratar a un entrenador a tiempo para la temporada. Varios estudiantes se acercaron a la capital, pero fueron ignorados.

Un grupo de estudiantes y sus familias se van a reunir con el director miércoles por la mañana para pedir sus quejas y demandas sean escuchadas. Esperemos RPS escucha.

Can We Cure this Drop-out Epidemic?

IXL alignment to Virginia math standard