America, I made you some cupcakes

Happy Independence Day everybody!! Here at the Smo house, we're celebrating like regular Americans should. Some BBQ, some friends, some family..... and, as always, we know that freedom isn't free and every day we thank the Patriot Act for keeping us safe!!! Because we're good Americans. We are. I'm serious. WE ARE.

  Have a great holiday you guys, and remember, whoever is watching... NO AUDITS. 

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Sick of it

I'm sick of judgment.

I'm sick of the high horse.

I'm sick of high and mighty; of "I'm better than you."

I'm sick of the double standard.

I'm sick of being mocked, for who I am and not because of anything I've done or said.

I'm sick of bullshit, non sequitur semantics arguments.

I'm sick of being made the bully, while others make themselves the victim.

I'm sick of the rallying cry, "come see what this person has said about us!!" while the sycophantic crowds follow.

I'm sick of being the target of somebody else's projections.

But mostly I'm sick of the ignorance. You don't know me. You've never met me. You've never even spoken to me. You've never even tried to communicate with me, and yet you think you know me? You think you know what I think? You don't know shit. You know nothing.

You want me to be your "ally" ? How about YOU FIRST?

I've tried to be reasonable. I've tried to see all sides. But all human beings have their limits and you have pushed me to mine.

I'm sick of being made the enemy. I'm sick of being made the fool; by angry people who do nothing but play out their mommy issues with anybody they encounter who has the title of "parent."

That's not "advocacy." That's fucking irrational insanity.

You don't speak for my child.

You're not a fucking civil rights movement.

You speak for yourself. That's all you do.

And I'm sick of your shit.

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Also? I'm turning off comments, because I'm no longer interested in your opinion.

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I am a feminist

I am a woman, but I am not a victim.

Society may think that I need its protection, but society is wrong.  I don't need your laws protecting my vanity; protecting my womanhood. I can protect myself. Your well crafted, media tested talking points do not speak for me; I can speak for myself.

I am responsible for the choices that I make and the things that I say and do. I will choose what I eat and drink and what medications I take. I am in charge of what I look like, what I wear, how I act, and in the end, I take ownership of the consequences of all of my actions.

I will raise my children as I see fit, and I will own my body in all of its fleshy glory, and I will fuck my husband, while using birth control, and not be ashamed of any of it.

I don't care if you call me a slut, a bitch, a whore, or a cunt. Saying those words might make you an asshole, but they don't affect me in the slightest. Those are just words and your words don't define me: I define myself.

I am a woman, and I am not a victim of men. I am responsible for myself; for my own feelings, for my own sense of self worth. For my own life.

I am a feminist and I am proud to call myself one, because this is what feminism means to me.

It means that I am not weak.

It means that I am not a victim.

It means that I am a woman.

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Thinking globally and acting locally for autism acceptance

This is a half repost, half new post. I've previously said things that I'd like to say again, so I'm not going to rewrite it all. You can find the original one here. 

When Child 1 was first diagnosed, the pediatrician told us, in a nutshell "he has PDD-NOS. It's on the autism spectrum but it isn't autism." As a result, I spent the next 9 months in a complete state of denial. "He's on the autism spectrum but he doesn't have autism," I told myself. This meant that I didn't need to investigate ABA, or any kind of treatment options that the school district wasn't offering me. At my first IEP meeting, I happily accepted everything. I had no idea what I was doing, and after all, these guys are the experts, right? So, great! This nonverbal 3 year old, who is still in diapers, should attend a special day pre-school for 3 hours a day, and that's all. What the hell did I know? I thought I did good for him.

It was only just after he turned 3, and started scripting, that my denial was shattered. He was obviously autistic, and I needed to get off my ass and figure out a way to help him. So, I hit the "books" (internet), and found him a program. I found myself an advocate and I convinced the district to make it all happen. We started our home program when he was 3 3/4 and there were immediate results. Things got better.

Today he's 11 and he's awesome. Totally verbal, super smart, (almost) always happy, and the sweetest, kindest, gentlest person you could ever meet. Every teacher or tutor I've ever had has told me "I wish all my students were like him." He's a joy to work with and to be around, and I can't take credit for all of that, it's just his nature; it's how he was born.

I know that my experience with autism has been much easier than that of some of my friends' experiences. He has no behavioral issues, he has no meltdowns, at this point he has very few sensory issues; he's actually much easier to parent than his typical brother. I also know that I am lucky that this is my experience. I am very much aware that many, many other parents have not had it this easy, and never for a second do I take this for granted. I consider it, now, my personal responsibility to give back to the autism community as much as I possibly can. So that my experience can help others; so that other parents won't feel so alone.

Here in cyberspace, however, there’s a war going on. It’s about autism parents vs. autistics, and ironically I’ve seen some of the worst, most patronizing behavior coming from my fellow autism parents on behalf of autistic people. I’m not interested in participating in a political war, though; politics frustrate and anger me. I can’t even watch the news without getting pissed and I certainly have no desire to fight a cyber war that has no end in sight. My instincts in all of these cases tell me to find a middle ground, but that’s never going to happen if I’m the only one who thinks that, so in general I try to stay out of it.

But when I see my friends being attacked, I will come to their defense. I am not ashamed to say that I am fiercely loyal, and I will jump into the middle of something that doesn't involve me in order to defend a friend under attack. My tools are sarcasm and brutal honesty, and I'm not afraid to use them. You see, I don't care who you are, how important you see yourself to be, or how many followers you have; if you're acting like a bully, I'm going to tell you you're acting like a bully. Some might say the same about me, and I will accept that if I think it is warranted, because I take responsibility for my actions, at all times. I will apologize if necessary but I will also refuse to apologize, if necessary.

In the "real" world, however, my job is not to “fight,” but to support. This morning I spent an hour on the phone with a parent in our district, helping her to navigate the system and find the best services for her daughter who is autistic. Yesterday I met with another parent and did the same. I have three emails in my personal inbox right now from parents in similar situations. This is how I act on behalf of the autism community: helping parents. Helping them find support, for themselves and for their kids. The online dialogue is too much for me to take on, I'm just one person, and so this is the route I have chosen to try to make the world a better place for my son and for autistic people everywhere: one kid at a time.

I try to do the same on my blog, on Twitter and on Facebook. Here are some things I've written that I am particularly proud of that may be helpful if you are a parent trying to find services for your child:

• Getting your GenEd teachers ready for your autistic kid
• About Special Education
• "My child needs an IEP."

As always, you can contact me at jillsmo at gmail.com if you have any questions or if there's anything you think I might be able to help you with.

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Horray for vaginas!

Last night was a victory for vertical smiles across the country!!  Congratulations cooches!!!

Let this be a lesson to the cranky old men who want to wield their power sticks and try to control our love muffs.

Our beavers will not be silenced. Last night they spoke out, taco-style, and discharged a very clear message to politicians: Stay out of our clams!!

HORRAY FOR VAGINAS!!!

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This one's for the nutjobs

Recently one of my tweets, talking about my vagina, was picked up by the hatesite Twitchy.com. Apparently some people who happen to be voting for Mitt Romney this year took some offense to the idea that... well, they just take offense to anything a liberal has to say, do the specifics really matter? And so they created this thread complaining about me, and suddenly I was getting it on twitter from all sides. It was really confusing, I had no idea where they were coming from until somebody told me. I mean, I'm just this little tweeter, who cares what I say? I wasn't at all bothered by it, by the way, so there's no need for you guys to tell me you're sorry about the haters. In fact, thanks to these guys, my little teeny twibbon campaign doubled its number of "supporters," so, actually ... thanks haters!!!!

I don't mean that all conservatives are nutjobs, of course, I just mean these in particular. You know, the ones who spend all their time online talking about how awful liberals are. Liberals do that, too, but I've never actually been targeted by them before, so this is my whole frame of reference. I think that rational people will agree that there are extremists on both sides of everything, but most people are cool and capable of rational discussion. Nutjobs, however, don't care about rational discussion and they create sites called Twitchy.com where people who agree with each other about how evil liberals are can talk to each other about how liberals are evil. Again, I know there are liberal sites that do this, too, I've just never been called out on one of those.

Anyway, I have this thing that Child 2 drew last weekend, and I've been sitting on it because I wasn't sure if I should post it or not. However, after having heard from all these lovely people about how much of a loser I am and how they feel sorry for my kids because of me, I've decided to post it; in their honor.

The back story is that we were having brunch with my parents and my mom asked Child 2 about politics, and he said "I hate Mitt Romney!" My mom said "hate is a really strong word," and so he took a pen and paper and wrote this, instead.

Again, I wasn't going to do anything with this, but now that the nutjobs have found me, I'm posting it for them. You may hate me simply because of what I think, which is fucking stupid, but just so you know.... I'm raising a second generation of liberals and there's not a goddamn motherfucking thing any of you can do about that.

So suck on that, bitches.





P.S. Looking forward to reading your hate comments!!!!

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Dear @AnnCoulter: This is who you insult with your words

Dear Ann Coulter:

I don't post pictures of my kids or of myself here, but if I did, now would be the time where I would show you a picture of my beautiful child, who is autistic. I would show you his picture and I would tell you that when you call people "retard," it is my child, and the adults in the disabled community who help guide his way, that you are insulting with your hate speech. My child, who is sweet and kind and is 1,000 times a better person than you are.

I don't post pictures of my kids or of myself, but my friends do, so I'm putting a linky below for anybody who wants to post a picture of themselves or of their child with special needs, and then link up below so that everybody can see exactly who it is you're insulting with your hateful ugliness.






Contact me at jillsmo at gmail.com with questions about how to use this.

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Won't Back Down needs to back down

So, you know that new movie with the adorable Maggie Gyllenhaal where they "take over the school" and she says "you've heard of those mothers who lift trucks off their babies? They're nothing compared to us" and it's "based on true events" and all that? The preview kind of makes you want to stand up and cheer for this parent who wants to kick ass for her kid, because of course we can relate to that, right? Especially us special needs moms who really would lift a truck if it meant helping our kids get an education.

Well, there's a bit more to know about this movie, which Andrew O'Hehir at Salon describes as "a set of right-wing anti-union talking points disguised (with very limited success) as a mainstream motion-picture-type product." I thought about writing something, but I know that other people can and have done it better and with more success, so I am reprinting (with permission) this article written by Parents Across America (a non-partisan, non-profit grassroots organization that connects parents and activists from across the U.S. to share ideas and work together to improve our nation’s public schools) called What Parents Need to Know: FAQ "Won't Back Down" & Parent Trigger.

I'm posting this because 1. I very much believe in the importance of public education, and 2. I'm really sick of the teacher-hating-union-blaming culture that's been created and this movie is a prime example of that, in my opinion, and 3. Whatever you happen to believe, yourself, it's important to at least know who made this movie and what their intentions were in doing so.

In my opinion the whole "Education Reform" movement comes down to a simple choice: either profit or kids. These two things are mutually exclusive and if your motivation is profit, then your motivation is not the kids. Teachers care about kids; billionaires trying to profit by killing public education do not.

Also check out: Whether or Not They Back Down, Billionaires Don't Care About Our Kids

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What Parents Need to Know: FAQ "Won't Back Down" & Parent Trigger

Parents Across America (reprinted with permission)

I’m hearing there’s a lot of controversy about the movie “Won’t Back Down.” Why? Many people believe the film promotes the privatization of public education and inflames a political climate in which teachers are unjustly disparaged and blamed for the effects of poverty and educational inequity.

What is the movie about? The movie tells the story of a group of parents and teachers who use a “Parent Empowerment” law, better known as the Parent Trigger, to take over a school that is failing their children. Parent Trigger legislation, promoted by the right-wing organization American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), has been passed in several states, including California, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and isbeing considered in others. But while the movie depicts an inspiring story of parental revolt, actual efforts to use the Parent Trigger have been driven by billionaire-funded supporters of privatization, and have sparked acrimony and division. None of these efforts has actually improved a school. [See Beyond the Hype of the Parent Trigger; Just the facts.]

Who is behind the movie? The movie, due to open September 28, is produced by 20th Century Fox, owned by Rupert Murdoch, and Walden Media, owned by Philip Anschutz. Murdoch’s right-wing politics are well known. Anschutz is an oil-and-gas billionaire who co-produced the anti-teacher film, “Waiting for ‘Superman’.” He contributes to organizations that oppose gay rights and support teaching creationism in schools. Anschutz has also donated to Americans for Prosperity, founded by the Koch brothers, which opposes environmental regulations and union rights, and to the political career of Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

What does the Parent Trigger law call for? If 51% of parents at a school can be persuaded to sign a petition calling for any of a narrow set of options – either firing all the teaching staff, closing the school, or privatizing the school by turning it over to a charter operator, this must occur. None of these options has any track record of success.

How did the Parent Trigger law originate? The Parent Trigger was first conceived by a LA-based organization called the Parent Revolution, founded by a charter school operator and funded by the Broad, Walton and Gates Foundations. The legislation was introduced in California by then-State Senator Gloria Romero, who now heads the California branch of the pro-privatization organization, Democrats for Education Reform.

Have Parent Trigger laws worked? The first time the “parent trigger” was tried, Parent Revolution sent operatives into Compton CA, to ask parents to sign a petition saying that their local elementary school should be turned into a charter school. Some parents who signed the petition later said they been misled, the effort was mired in lawsuits and ultimately fizzled. More recently, operatives trained and paid by the Parent Revolution urged parents at the Desert Trails School in Adelanto CA to sign two different petitions: one calling for smaller classes and other positive reforms, the other demanding that the school be turned over to a charter operator. After the organizers submitted only the charter petition to the authorities, nearly 100 parents asked to withdraw their signatures. Yet a judge has ruled that parents could not rescind their signatures and the conversion to a charter school should go forward. Even Gloria Romero, the author of the Parent Trigger law, has criticized the organization’s tactics, and said that presenting Adelanto parents with two different petitions to sign was “needlessly confusing.”

What’s wrong with the Parent Trigger? The idea of “choice” has been manipulated by the corporate reformers and spread by groups like ALEC, who seek to use methods such as the Parent Trigger to turn public schools over to privately-managed charters. This is not real choice; nor is it parent empowerment. Most parents want to see their neighborhood public schools strengthened, with small classes and less emphasis on standardized testing. Even Ben Austin, head of the Parent Revolution has admitted that most parents are not interested in turning their school into a charter, but would rather focus on improving their existing public schools.

But are there other ways to provide better “choices” for parents? There are many ways that districts can provide more and better choices within the public school system, by creating magnet schools and specialized schools that unlike charters, do not drain resources from public schools, privatize public buildings or take decisions out of voters’ hands. Why should a public school built with taxpayer funds be given to a private corporation just because 51% of current users signed a petition? If a local firehouse was ineffective in putting out fires, or a police station in fighting crime, would we choose to hand these public services over to a private company, or would we demand that our elected leaders improve them?

What about “parent empowerment”? Charter schools are run by private corporations that are often more interested in generating profits than in empowering parents. Parents usually have less input into charter schools than public schools. Moreover, most charters do not get better academic results, and many impose harsh disciplinary procedures and push out students who need extra help. Instead, Parents Across America supports true parent empowerment, with real solutions devised from the ground up rather than imposed from above. We want to see the authentic involvement of parents, along with teachers and other stakeholders, in developing school-specific, research-based strategies for improvement.

How can we fight back? Last spring, Florida parent groups, including Parents Across America, banded together to fight Parent Trigger legislation that had been introduced in the state legislature. By holding rallies and press conferences, calling their elected representatives, and speaking out about how the Parent Trigger is a ruse devised by corporate reformers to benefit charter operators rather than children, Florida parents prevented the legislation from being passed.

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Ask me about my vagina

I spent a lot of time, in my college days, being noisy and loud about women's rights; reproductive rights, in particular. You would hope that now, 20+ years later, we wouldn't still have to be loud and noisy to protect our bodies. But not only does it seem like things haven't gotten any better, it has possibly gotten even worse.

I won't go into details, I think you guys know what I mean. Then again, if you want me to go into details, let me know, because I can do that. (You can also read this if you want my uncensored opinion about feminism)

You may have noticed I have this banner in my sidebar

<-------------------- over there

that says "Bow to my magical vagina. Come November it will shut you down." See, I saw that awesome graphic on the website of my friend The Guerilla Mom, and immediately grabbed it and put it in my sidebar. But then I had the idea to create a twibbon (a little graphic that you can find on some twitter avatars that are generally used to relay a message of some sort) to also make the point that I Have A Vagina And I Vote.

I tried to draw one, but quickly discovered that my shitty artistic abilities would not suffice in this instance, so I asked my friend The Animated Woman if she wouldn't mind whipping up something awesome for me. I said I wanted a happy vagina that made people think "Wow! Vaginas are terrific!" when they looked at it.

She, of course, did not disappoint:

This vagina goes to 11

She also made me a twibbon-sized version of Ms. Purple so that I could create a Twibbon page where anybody can go to change their current twitter or facebook avatars to show to the world that you, too, have a vagina and you vote. (Sorry, men. Maybe you can borrow your wives' or girlfriends' for the occasion? Or maybe you can just add one and then when people ask you can make up some awesome story about it.)

So, if you would like, you can go here to add your twibbon. It should be pretty easy, but let me know if you have any problems. (I don't make any money from this or anything; just a point).

And don't forget to Vote Vagina on November 6th!

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Power?

When Child 1 was first diagnosed, the pediatrician told us, in a nutshell "he has PDD-NOS. It's on the autism spectrum but it isn't autism." As a result, I spent the next 9 months in a complete state of denial. "He's on the autism spectrum but he doesn't have autism," I told myself. This meant that I didn't need to investigate ABA, or any kind of treatment options that the school district wasn't offering me. At my first IEP meeting, I happily accepted everything. I had no idea what I was doing, and after all, these guys are the experts, right? So, great! This nonverbal 3 year old, who is still in diapers, should attend a special day pre-school for 3 hours a day, and that's all. What the hell did I know? I thought I did good for him.

It was only just after he turned 3, and started scripting, that my denial was shattered. He was obviously autistic, and I needed to get off my ass and figure out a way to help him. So, I hit the "books" (internet), and found him a program. I found myself an advocate and I convinced the district to make it all happen. We started our home program when he was 3 3/4 and there were immediate results. Things got better.

Today he's 10 and he's awesome. Totally verbal, super smart, (almost) always happy, and the sweetest, kindest, gentlest person you could ever meet. Every teacher or tutor I've ever had has told me "I wish all my students were like him." He's a joy to work with and to be around, and I can't take credit for all of that, it's just his nature; it's how he was born.

I know that my experience with autism has been much easier than that of some of my friends' experiences. He has no behavioral issues, he has no meltdowns, at this point he has very few sensory issues; he's actually much easier to parent than his typical brother. I also know that I am lucky that this is my experience. I am very much aware that many, many other parents have not had it this easy, and never for a second do I take this for granted. I consider it, now, my personal responsibility to give back to the autism community as much as I possibly can. So that my experience can help others; so that other parents won't feel so alone. I do this online as well as in "real" life, where I help parents in our district navigate the system and get services for their kids.

Here in cyberspace, however, there’s a war going on. It’s about autism parents vs. autistics, and ironically I’ve seen some of the worst, most patronizing behavior coming from my fellow autism parents on behalf of autistic people. I’m not interested in participating in a political war, though; politics frustrate and anger me. I can’t even watch the news without getting pissed and I certainly have no desire to fight a cyber war that has no end in sight. My instincts in all of these cases tell me to find a middle ground, but that’s never going to happen if I’m the only one who thinks that.

My friend Elise who blogs at Raising Asperger's Kids recently wrote "one thing I do notice in the autism community is that someone somewhere decided who the leaders are and who they are not." I know who the leaders are, and I am not one of them; the “leaders” have shunned me. I'm not politically correct enough, maybe? I'm too honest about facts and feelings? That makes sense; people don't like to hear the truth all the time, it makes it harder to maintain a morally superior distance from the rest of us. I don't even want to be a leader, although I have tried. I tried to help, I tried to create a dialogue, and it was an utter failure, but you know what? That’s okay; I'm okay with that, because it turns out that I don't have the energy or the interest to constantly argue about something, knowing that I can never win.

This war will not be ended by people talking about each other and not to each other. Long, well written blog posts which appeal to that particular readership are all well and good but unless these two different sides start talking to each other, this shit will never end. And I tell you now that I'm not interested in talking about this unless I'm talking to somebody, so unless somebody wants to directly engage me in a dialogue, you will not be hearing from me about this issue again.

My job here is not to “fight,” but to support. I want to reach out to as many autism parents as I can and say: you're allowed to grieve, you're allowed to be angry, you're allowed to have feelings, you're allowed to say "this sucks." Because I will try to help get you through this. And I will give you as much free advice about navigating the school district as I possibly can. And I will give you a place to speak about how you're feeling, free from judgment, free from criticism, free from the "thought police" which tell you that your feelings are bad and you should feel bad. Life is messy, it can be ugly and mean, and to be told that you must consciously repress your feelings about it is just wrong.

In conclusion, I'm going to quote my very good friend, Dawn, who sums it up perfectly:

In a world in which we are facing constant judgment from Neurotypical parents, to hear we are now facing it from our own community as well is exhausting.... I'm tired of being told i am a crappy parent because my child doesn't "behave" as others think he should, and i'm tired of being told i am abusive and a crappy parent if i don't say the right words.... honestly--i'm done with this discourse. Imma worry about my small family group and the health and well-being of my own kid. I no longer have the desire to be held accountable for the crappy parents other people have had. I am not perfect. and while i hold my son and myself to difficult standards of excellence, i do not expect perfection. And i'm not going to argue with someone if i fall short of perfect-- as humans are wont to do.

I've got your back, Dawn, and I know you've got mine. We're in this together, after all. I wish other people would realize that, too.

Edit: I'd like to add that if anybody has a problem with anything I've said, please tell me. Let's talk to each other, not about each other. If you don't want to put it in the comments, you can email me at jillsmo at gmail.com

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Why I support gay marriage

I'm saying WHY I support it, and not THAT I support it, because honestly there should simply be no question about it. There is no rational reason why somebody should not support the idea of two people who love each other getting married. I don't even want to hear any explanations about it, because if you don't support gay marriage? You're just wrong.

Today is the hubs and my 12th wedding anniversary. Long time, right? We had been together for 8 years before we got married, and we had never really had any plans or intentions to make it all legal, at least not in the beginning. Neither of us really saw the necessity of having a "contract;" because if you love somebody, why do you need a contract?

That was when we were young, though. Young, with no kids and no money. Then my brother got rich and was very generous with his family and suddenly.... hey! We can buy a house! No kids yet, but why not put down roots, right?

So, we have a realtor, and we're making offers, and the realtor asks us how we were planning on taking the title once we made the purchase. There were a couple of options, but it would be a lot easier if we were married. Less paperwork, she tells us.

So, off we went to Vegas, with a couple of friends, and we were married in the back seat of a limo in a drive-thru chapel. No ceremony, no family, no hoopla; let's just get this shit done and then go drink and gamble! 

Because being married would mean less paperwork when we bought the house.

And less paperwork was easier.

And that was the only reason.

And we were able to do this so easily because I'm female and he's male.

Does that seem fair to you? Because it doesn't seem fair to me. 

What does that say about the "sanctity" of marriage?

Oh by the way: Happy Anniversary, Hubs!

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Occupy the DOE - 3/30-4/2, guest post from @thechalkface

So I met this dude on Twitter who calls himself The Chalkface, and he's been tweeting these links about an event that's happening this weekend in Washington DC involving teachers and testing and education reform. So, being the huge fan of teachers that I am, I asked him to tell me some more about this event, and also to explain to my readers why it is that we should even care about this. (I added most of these Wiki links after he sent me the article, fyi).

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I've been invited by Jill to inform readers here, and the special education community, about a little event coming up this weekend called Occupy the Department of Education in DC. This is primarily an educational event premised on an issue our group has been discussing for months: the problems with high-stakes standardized testing in public schools. Less an occupy in the sense of a presence or a nuisance, we are alternatively suggesting an occupation of the conversation on education reform. We feel that those that know the classroom and know students are not having their voices heard in this debate. Rather, legislators, software billionaires, and economists are the ones with the most influence on public education policy. Not teachers. Not parents, and definitely not students.

United Opt Out National, the group planning and "sponsoring" the event (and by sponsoring I mean our own dime), considers this to be a watershed moment for high stakes standardized testing. It has not improved educational outcomes over the last 12 years and state tests certainly have not eradicated the inequities in public education based on race, social class, or special needs. The data pushers failed in all of their illustrious promises a decade ago.

Race to the Top and now the new Common Core are both measures that actually double down on the testing regimes. All this talk of waivers and grant funding come with tremendously complicated strings attached that increase the pressures to succeed on tests. And in a tenuous budget climate, piles of cash are taken out of the classroom and dumped on more testing, whether it's bending to new national assessments and curricula, buying glossy new materials for those national mandates, or test booklets and security.

Educators and parents of children with special needs should especially be outraged at this moment. Now, I must confess: I've been a general elementary classroom teacher and now I'm a teacher educator at a public university. My expertise in special education is limited. But allow me to share one simple anecdote that might make your blood raise a couple of degrees. As we've seen with recent test cheating scandals, the stakes are higher than ever and the pressure to demonstrate annual gains on test scores is intense. It dominates the conversation in schools. I'm not condoning cheating, but I can understand it.

So, I've been privy to a lot of what general education teachers talk about in public elementary schools. The students that appear to receive the most attention right now, at least in tested grades, are those beloved "fence sitters." That is, the students who straddle the line between basic and proficient or failing and passing. Educators and administrators are sort of compelled, with being so strapped for time and resources, to both give up on students who are far below passing and to dismiss students who could use a challenge. Oh, I'm sorry you're finished early, you finished the odds, now do the evens.

Here's where it gets interested. Some are so desperate to meet adequate yearly progress, or some other such nonsense, that meetings are called to get those "fence sitters" labeled so they can receive accommodations, anything just to give them an edge. Force the issue, get an IEP or 504 or whatever for those kids so they can at least get extra time. And mind you, these aren't students who display any kind of learning issue other than your everyday variation or difference, nothing that would or should constitute a label.

So, what's the problem then with getting individual kids what they need to give them an edge on those tests? Isn't increasing those scores a point or two to passing beneficial to the student, the teacher, and the school? Well, it is definitely a problem for students with significant needs that require more intensive accommodations. Who's going to handle the increased caseload? Will there be extra funds? How will this affect the educational experiences for students with more significant needs, like students with autism? You see, with increased testing requirements, with additional formative assessments and benchmarks along with the customary state tests, staff is pulled constantly to sit with students, to read for them and scribe at the expense of the more important duty to actually teach. Forcing accommodations on students who don't really need them, in the interest of getting an extra point or two on the state test, starves a special education system and budget that is already limited in funding and resources. (emphasis added by Jill)

Adherence to a test-driven and data obsessed version of education reform has shown no signs of improving public education and does a tremendous disservice to students, teachers, and communities. The primary justification for No Child Left Behind a decade ago was to disaggregate the data so that schools and teachers can be held accountable for groups like special needs students who have been ignored. That might have actually been true in a lot of cases, with race and income level as well, but we are certainly worse off now post NCLB and will not show progress even under Race to the Top.

United Opt Out National, the group behind the Occupy the DOE event this week, is trying to use the issue of offering parents the choice to opt their children out of destructive testing mandates as an act of disobedience and desperation. Despite the evidence, the dismal results, and continued inequality in public schools, education leaders are doubling down on test-driven reforms and insuring teachers possess no political power to counter them. Rather than occupying a space, the Occupy the DOE event is educational in nature. It's meant to raise consciousness. On another level, if parents can't trust that sound decisions are being made with the data provided by their children, then officials don't need to have it. That's as simple as I can explain it.

Shaun Johnson is a teacher educator and former elementary teacher. He returns to his roots every summer, teaching 5th graders in a DC public charter school. Shaun earned his PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Indiana University and researches and publishes about gender in education, social studies, and education reform. He also blogs At the Chalk Face.

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Take your test prep and shove it

To the Principal and administration of my son's school:

As you know, my autistic son is mainstreamed in 4th grade at your school. While he is quite verbal and sweet-natured, he has a number of issues that affect how he learns within a classroom. In particular, he has difficulty focusing on what the teacher is saying, despite having an aide most of the time.

I understand the necessity of homework in this case; to let him have extra practice on the material he works on during the day. However, it's been rather obvious to me that the quality of his homework has changed significantly since the start of 4th grade. I have noticed a good deal of emphasis being placed on preparing him for "The Test:" four page math quizzes, "Response to Literature" story matrices, a constant flow of fables to "deconstruct," etc.

As my son is autistic, his best method of learning is by rote, and for his "least restrictive environment," he needs repetition for the material to sink in. By making him spend so much time preparing for The Test, you're doing nothing but taking away from the time that could be spend learning his basic academic skills. Please note that I purposely did not write this letter to his teacher, as I fully understand that her hands are tied when it comes to this issue, and have no desire to take her to task over it. Making my son do test prep homework is about our school's AYP, and nothing more.

The point in him even going to school is so that he can learn, not so that he can pass a state test; right now he's in 4th grade and reads at a 1st grade level. He doesn't need to practice for the state 4th grade writing exam, he needs to be able to read and write. He doesn't need to fill in the numbers on a Coordinate Grid, he needs to know how to add and subtract. It doesn't matter how he scores on your test. It doesn't matter about whatever political or economical impact his score or participation may or may not have on your district budget. What matters is that he learns, and by distracting him from his learning with meaningless test prep, you are failing to do your job.

That said, I look forward to squaring off with you over the table at our next IEP meeting in February, because this will be all we talk about.

Sincerely,

jillsmo
Mom to Child 1, in 4th grade

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#SOPASTRIKE

This site is going dark today in order to protest SOPA and PIPA.

EDIT: And we're back!!! I made it 17 hours!!! Impressed???

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Stop Internet Censorship

If information and knowledge is something that is important to you, consider taking a moment today to contact your representatives and tell them to vote no on SOPA and PIPA (more info below). Please pick up the phone and make a call, rather than send an email, as phone calls have a much greater impact. American Censorship has declared today to be a "massive call-in day" and wants Senate phones in particular to be flooded with calls today.

"The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would ruin so much of what's best about the Internet: They will give the government and corporations new powers to block Americans' access to sites that are accused of copyright infringement, force sites like YouTube to go to new lengths to police users' contributions, and put people in prison for streaming certain content online." - StopCensorship.org

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In the House, the bill is called HR 3261: Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA): "This bill would establish a system for taking down websites that the Justice Department determines to be dedicated to copyright infringment. The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against any site they deem to have "only limited purpose or use other than infringement," and the DoJ would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site. It would also make unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty up to five years in prison."

Find your Representative in the House

In the Senate, the bill is called S 968: Protect IP Act (PIPA): "Establishes a system for taking down websites that the Justice Department determines to be "dedicated to infringing activities." The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against the alleged infringer and the DoJ would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site. In some cases, action could be taken to block sites without first allowing the alleged infringer to defend themselves in court."

Find your Senator

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More information & reading:

Stop Censorship
American Censorship, Round 2
Washington Post article, 11/19/11
SOPA Wikipedia article
PIPA Wikipedia article

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I'm turning off commenting for this post. Sorry for censoring you guys, but if you have a comment to make, please call your Senator and tell them.

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I am the 99% #OccupyTogether

Warning: This post isn't funny.

I'm sure you've heard of the protests happening in New York and now all over the country: people are tired of this country being a plutocracy and have decided to protest. If you haven't, go here: Occupy Together.

I support this movement 100%. This may change your opinion of me, in which case, I apologize, but I figure I've got about 400 people who might read this today and I need to take advantage of my modest audience.

If this were 20 years ago and I didn't have kids and autism and soccer and clients, you bet your ass you would find me sitting on the sidewalk of whatever bank was being protested in whatever city I was in. But, I can't do that now, all I can do is use my platform and my voice to try to help them spread the word.

I'm not going to try to convince anybody that they need to support this movement, too, but I am going to repost something that I wrote about 6 months ago and was originally a guest post on Momma Politico. If I tried to write something today, it would be exactly what I already wrote, so I'm just going to share it with you guys again.

By the way, if you disagree with me and want to tell me about it, I'm totally okay with that. Seriously. Don't hold back. But if you do, please use your name. If you have an opinion, own it. Don't be a pussy and hide behind anonymous, otherwise I'll delete it.

For more information on getting involved in your area, or online, go to Occupy Together.

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On Being Powerless

There's a reason why I never talk about politics on my blog. And I'll tell you! I used to be the most politically active person ever. I organized, I ran groups, I did voter registration (that's how I met my husband), I was on fire! Then Gore vs. Bush happened and I was profoundly struck at exactly how powerless I really am. All of that work I'd been doing was pointless. My vote, my voice, my actions: useless. I'm just one person, there's nothing I can do about any of it, so why bother? Why bother even knowing what's happening in the world? I just feel angry and frustrated that these events unfold before my eyes and there's not a goddamn thing I can do about any of it.

Nowadays I try hard to stay away from the news, because things have only gotten worse in the last 10 years. Our country has become a plutocracy, with politicians who care only about getting power and money for themselves and not about the people they supposedly represent. Our national discourse is controlled by a bunch of ego-maniacal talking heads who say things like the earthquake in Japan is a message from God. Corporations have been given the same rights as fucking people, except when it comes to being punished for breaking the law. We've got power hungry Governors deciding for themselves that they have the right to strip the people of all their power, and now teachers are the bad guys? Teachers, police officers, firemen.... they're the enemy now?? Are you fucking kidding me???? Occasionally I (accidentally) happen upon some of it and I get so angry. I'm getting angry right now just thinking about all of it; but why? Why get angry? My anger is meaningless. I'm not a billionaire, nobody cares what I think. It's better for my mental well being to just not know what's happening; it makes me a happier person.

It's a horrible feeling, to be powerless like that. To have a very strong opinion about something that matters to you a great deal and know that it doesn't matter in the slightest what you think about it. I imagine that's how kids feel a good deal of the time, especially kids that are non-verbal or who have trouble expressing themselves.

I am, however, still one of those people who has trouble not saying something when I witness what I consider to be an injustice. I try to focus my attention on things that happen locally; at least there's a smaller audience if I stay in Berkeley. As a result I have had some "tussles" with our school district in the past. (Nothing about either of my kids, it's been entirely political). What I took away from my experiences, though, was that the district and the administration don't care what I think. They're going to pretend to be listening to me when I'm in their face talking about stuff, but once I leave the room they're going to do whatever they wanted in the first place. I'm just a parent. I'm not a major donor, I'm not a sponsor, I'm not an elected official: they don't care what I think. There's that powerless feeling again. Fuck, that sucks.

Recently I had an experience with the principal at our school which originally involved just a few other parents, the principal and myself. Then the principal did this seriously fucked up thing that had implications for parents of kids with special needs district-wide. I was pissed.  So pissed my hands were shaking. So pissed that I had to physically restrain myself from marching into her office and telling her to go fuck herself.

I'm not going to go into detail, but I will tell you that I may be "just a parent," completely powerless on my own, but as part of a group of parents it turns out that I actually do have some power. A bunch of us special needs parents rallied, together, and we got that shit fixed. As a result I was able to send a VERY satisfying email to our principal which essentially said "HA HA I WIN YOU LOSE." Holy fuck was that nice.

My point? Not entirely sure, to be honest, except that I really wanted to say "holy fuck was that nice." Maybe I think our country is due for a revolution; we may be powerless as individuals but what kind of change can we do as a group? I would get behind an uprising; I might even start watching the news again if it would help. But things in this country need to change, and soon.

It's time to find out exactly how much power we actually have.

Fucking bring it on.

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A letter to the anti-Obama vandal on my block

Dear Anti-Obama vandal:

I don't know who you are or who you think I should be voting for instead of Obama, and frankly I don't particularly care. All I know is that during the night you came to my house and ripped the "Obama 2012" bumper sticker off my car, which was parked in my driveway, and discarded it in my flowers.

Putting aside the obvious, which is the astonishing immaturity of this action, I'm writing this letter to inform you of the following:

I had another one and I put it back in the empty space that you created. And I'm going to go online right now and purchase some more stickers so that if you come back and do this again, I will simply replace it again.

So, think of it this way: whenever you commit this act of vandalism against me, you are essentially making a contribution to the Obama 2012 campaign, because every sticker you tear off is just going to be another $3 that I will give them.

So keep it up, if you want! I'm going to get enough stickers to last me for the next 15 months. And just in case you want to do this every day? That will be about $1,350 you'll be "donating" directly to Obama's re-election.

Sincerely,

Jill


Note to my readers: I sent this letter to every local newspaper and mailing list I could think of.

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Nutjob or Satire? Now I'll tell YOU

Okay! How about those (not very) long awaited answers to yesterday's quiz, huh?? Yeah.

I have to say that I was surprised at how few of you got them all right: which was exactly two of you (at the time of this writing, Thursday 9:32pm PST). I actually thought that Dana K had gotten them all right, so I contacted her on Twitter to tell her that she had won the prize, but then when I looked again I noticed she had said both were "nutjob" on #7, so technically, Dana, even though I told you you were the winner, you're really not. But I'll still give you a prize. Because I'm cool like dat. I'm cool like dat. I'm cool like dat. I'm cool like dat. I'm cool like dat. I'm cool like dat. I'm cool like dat. I'm cool.....

Sarcasm Goddess and Stacey at Tangerine Monday are the two people who got all the answers right. Congratulations!! I will give prizes to all three of you, but... I don't feel like thinking of something right now, so.... some other day. When you least expect it? Sure, why not.

And now, the answers.....

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Legend:
Satire is pink  Nutjobbery is green My commentary cannot be constrained by the label of "a color"

1. 2nd Amendment

a. This Christmas I want you to do the most loving thing and I want you to buy each of your children an SKS rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition. Source: Matthew Trewhella, The National Constitution Party. Never heard of this guy before and I've already forgotten who he is.

b. If 8-year-old boys discharging loaded firearms into their own legs isn't necessary to the maintenance of a well-regulated militia, I don't know what is. Source: The Onion. See how I started out so easy? Everybody got this one right.

2. Women's Rights

a. Gov. Tommy Thompson signed a bill yesterday requiring a 24-hour waiting period for women voters. According to the bill, women will come to their polling location and receive counseling and advice concerning their political selections, and will be shown pictures of both candidates to help them decide for whom they want to vote. Thompson stressed that not only do women have a “right to know,” but also that “by having to make two trips to the polls, they will be less likely to make the foolish mistakes their sex is often prone to make.” Source: The Onion. It was hard not to just take all of my satire from the Onion, but I thought I should branch out a bit.

b. If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president.... And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women. It also makes the point, it is kind of embarrassing, the Democratic Party ought to be hanging its head in shame, that it has so much difficulty getting men to vote for it. I mean, you do see it's the party of women and 'We'll pay for health care and tuition and day care -- and here, what else can we give you, soccer moms?' Source: Ann Coulter. Yep, that's right folks! These words were spoken by the lovely Ann Coulter, herself. A WOMAN! (theoretically, anyway) That's assuming, of course, that "lovely" actually means "fire breathing skank."

3. Gay Marriage

a. Fag marriage is the ultimate smash-mouth insult to God, and drives a stake in the heart of the Bridegroom and the Bride. The antediluvian world was the only other time in history where samesex marriage contracts were drawn up – and the Lord destroyed the entire population of the world, save eight souls, because of it. In these the last days of all, fag marriage is THE neon harbinger of the second coming of Christ to destroy this evil world by fire. Source: Westboro Baptist Church. Had anybody ever heard the word "antediluvian" before yesterday? NOBODY.

b. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract. Source: Landover Baptist Church. I originally thought this one was too obvious but then hubs reminded me that there actually are people out there who think dogs have legal standing and can sign a marriage contract. 

4. Education

a. There is no compelling policy reason for the federal government to be involved in K-12 education, and in the long-run America’s schools would be better without it. Source: Downsizing Government.org. This one probably isn't all that "nutjobby," really, since there are a lot of conservatives who believe this, but I wanted to find a quote about education so I could use the one below....

b. There is no better way to democratize education in this country than by bringing the voices of CEOs and hedge fund managers into the equation. Source: Last Stand for Children First. THIS was the dude whose Twitter account fooled me and prompted this whole goddamn motherfucking sucky ass post that I hate. His profile says "created to fight for better education for our country's children by standing up to teachers and reaching out to the wealthy." And I said "are you serious?" and he answered with something equally satirical and I was like "FUCK THAT!" But then I went to the website and had to apologize for misjudging him. Follow him on Twitter @LS4C1 and visit his website at Last Stand for Children First: dedicated to providing all children with a quality education in spite of their teachers.

5. Religion vs. Science

a. The Sun levitates in the sky. No man can levitate the Sun in the sky, so obviously God is doing it. Source: Landover Baptist Church. This was actually taken from a comment in the discussion forum on this site, in response to the actual nutjobbery, below.

b. Tide goes in, tide goes out. Never a miscommunication. You can’t explain that. Source: Bill O'Reilly. Yeah. Bill O'Reilly. Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. He's fair and balanced and he thinks the tides can't be explained. If any of you are redditors, this quote is responsible for the picture below because the dude he said this to (David Silverman, President of American Atheists) made this exact expression when he heard these words (you can see it in the video, at the link):

6. Politics

a. If Governor Perry says he is not Beelzebub, I take his word for it. On the other hand, I don't know all of the particulars, you know where he was born and the circumstances involved. All I can say is that people should do their own due diligence and decide for themselves. Source: The Spoof. Have you ever heard of this site before? I hadn't. I have now, though!

b. Every night I get down on my knees and pray that Dennis Kucinich will burst into flames. Source: Glenn Beck. Mmmmhmmmmm. Glenn Beck. Although, since this was taken out of context, I suppose he could have been joking when he said this. I could probably do some research and find out but I think I've done enough research for this motherfucking goddamn sucky ass post that I hate.

7. Obama

a. Barack Obama and Adolf Hitler are one in the same. Both are very dark men who hide their ancestral roots and claim to be Christians, all to gain power and corrupt the free world with their Satanic ways. I am very afraid of Barack Obama and you should be too. Hitler’s ultimate goal was to commit genocide and Obama supports the endless murder of babies. Source: ChristWire. You guys had a hard time with this one, probably because these two are so similar, but as @elizamccall said in her comment, it's kind of a trick question because it just depends on who said it. Stephen Colbert speaking the above is definitely satire, but Donald Trump saying it makes him a nutjob. So, really, this one was kind of impossible. Sorry....

b. Let there be no mistake, Obama is no natural born American just as Hilter was no natural born German. Look closely and decide your future and the future of your children. There is an evil foreign body infecting America's health, it found a home because America's natural immunity was poisoned by our greed. We like the Germans have turned to charismatic leaders to save us, and in doing so we find we are beyond salvation. Source: Birthers. Picked this one straight off the front page of the official website of the Birther movement. I'm lookin at YOU, Michele Bachmann and whatever that witch chick's name is...

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Nutjob or satire? You tell me!

Note: This is an old post and there is no longer a contest. If you want a prize, though, let me know.... we'll talk.


Okay, well. I originally started writing a post about how I think my funny has been broken lately and this was supposed to be my way of bringing said funny back. But then as I started to explain exactly what I think has happened to my funny, I got this idea about a quiz that I could make which might make you guys laugh and/or think. So, I turned the post in a different direction.

But then as I started researching for it, I ended up spending all. fucking. day. scouring the stupid internet for quotes that I could use, I realized that this post had taken a horrible, horrible turn for the very much not funny at all. In fact, after having spent all. fucking. day. working on this stupid thing, I now feel a little dirty and I kind of hate myself a little bit for having spent so much time on it. But, I can't just throw it away, I have to see the stupid thing through, so here we are. A very not funny post about how I think I've lost my funny lately. I actually think I hate this post now. Awesome. (I swear to god an animal had better die in my house or something this weekend so that I have something funny to write about!!! I'll kill one, myself, if I have to.)

(If you want to read something that I wrote that's not necessarily funny but isn't completely not funny, now is your chance to bail out! Go read my guest post over at my Sister in Shit's blog, Not a Real Princess)

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The other day, on the twitter, I fell for a satirical account by thinking it was real. In my defense, though (such as it is), I had only read one line of this person's profile and didn't visit their website before making this determination (I'm not going to tell you who it is just now because I'm using one of their quotes in the quiz below. I'll tell you tomorrow). Once I went to their website, however, it became rather obvious that they were a satire and not for real.

I felt like a fucking idiot. ME? Being that gullible?? WTF, me?? I'm not supposed to think satire is real, I'm supposed to think that real things are satire!

Something was wrong. My funny must be broken.

As I scrambled for rationalizations on how to defend myself to myself, I realized that the problem is that much of the nutjobbery out there is so over the top nutjobbish that it isn't very much different from the satire. In fact, the profile that I read on Twitter was very much like something somebody might actually say. The line between what is real and what is satire has become so fine that it's almost impossible to tell them apart sometimes. The nutjobs have become satires of themselves, except they're not joking, which is terrifying when you think about it (which is why I generally try not to think about it). So maybe my funny isn't that broken after all?

And so, I have created this quiz: Nutjob or Satire? I have compiled quotes (all of which are taken out of context, of course) on various topic from across the internets. One is from a real, non satirical website (nutjob) and the other is from a satirical website (satire): tell me which is which. Hubs says this has been done before, and I'm sure that's true, it's probably been done to death, but this one is aaaaalllllll mine.

Your job is to take my quiz and put your answers in the comments. The person who gets them all correct will win a prize!! (And you KNOW how awesome my prizes are). I figure that most of these are rather obvious so I will (probably) randomly pick one of the people who get them all right and give that person a prize. Alternatively, if you want to skip the quiz and just mock me in the comments, you may also be eligible for a prize. Or not. I'm not sure how much more of this post I can take...... At any rate, tomorrow I will post the answers and the sources and blah blah blah......

Nutjob or Satire? You Tell Me!

1. 2nd Amendment

1. This Christmas I want you to do the most loving thing and I want you to buy each of your children an SKS rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition.
2. If 8-year-old boys discharging loaded firearms into their own legs isn't necessary to the maintenance of a well-regulated militia, I don't know what is.

2. Women's Rights

1. Gov. Tommy Thompson signed a bill yesterday requiring a 24-hour waiting period for women voters. According to the bill, women will come to their polling location and receive counseling and advice concerning their political selections, and will be shown pictures of both candidates to help them decide for whom they want to vote. Thompson stressed that not only do women have a “right to know,” but also that “by having to make two trips to the polls, they will be less likely to make the foolish mistakes their sex is often prone to make.”
2. If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president.... And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women. It also makes the point, it is kind of embarrassing, the Democratic Party ought to be hanging its head in shame, that it has so much difficulty getting men to vote for it. I mean, you do see it's the party of women and 'We'll pay for health care and tuition and day care -- and here, what else can we give you, soccer moms?'

3. Gay Marriage

1. Fag marriage is the ultimate smash-mouth insult to God, and drives a stake in the heart of the Bridegroom and the Bride. The antediluvian world was the only other time in history where samesex marriage contracts were drawn up – and the Lord destroyed the entire population of the world, save eight souls, because of it. In these the last days of all, fag marriage is THE neon harbinger of the second coming of Christ to destroy this evil world by fire. 
2. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4. Education

1. There is no compelling policy reason for the federal government to be involved in K-12 education, and in the long-run America’s schools would be better without it. 
2. There is no better way to democratize education in this country than by bringing the voices of CEOs and hedge fund managers into the equation. 

5. Religion vs. Science

1. The Sun levitates in the sky. No man can levitate the Sun in the sky, so obviously God is doing it.
2. Tide goes in, tide goes out. Never a miscommunication. You can’t explain that.

6. Politics

1. If Governor Perry says he is not Beelzebub, I take his word for it. On the other hand, I don't know all of the particulars, you know where he was born and the circumstances involved. All I can say is that people should do their own due diligence and decide for themselves.
2. Every night I get down on my knees and pray that Dennis Kucinich will burst into flames.

7. Obama

1. Barack Obama and Adolf Hitler are one in the same. Both are very dark men who hide their ancestral roots and claim to be Christians, all to gain power and corrupt the free world with their Satanic ways. I am very afraid of Barack Obama and you should be too. Hitler’s ultimate goal was to commit genocide and Obama supports the endless murder of babies. 
2. Let there be no mistake, Obama is no natural born American just as Hilter was no natural born German. Look closely and decide your future and the future of your children. There is an evil foreign body infecting America's health, it found a home because America's natural immunity was poisoned by our greed. We like the Germans have turned to charismatic leaders to save us, and in doing so we find we are beyond salvation.

UPDATE: Here are the answers!

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jillsmo goes to Center Street

So, I'm part of this group of parents who have kids in Special Ed at our district; okay, I guess you can say I lead it, but I didn't create it, it's been around for years, I just took over when somebody moved to another state. Anyway, as coordinator, I get emails and phone calls from people all over the place with a variety of different needs and questions about services at our district.

Last week I got an email from a district employee who had specific concerns that kids with IEPs in the district aren't being serviced properly (I'm going to be intentionally vague here, for reasons that will soon reveal themselves). I told her I would look into it, and I did. I talked to some people, I put out a few emails, I started learning some stuff.

The first thing I learned is that there is, in fact, a problem at our district, and kids are not being serviced properly, among other things. This happens because parents don't always know their rights, and the district is happy to take advantage of that by not informing them.  I've heard a bunch of stories today and I'm pretty pissed off about it, and I know there are probably more stories still to come. It reminds me of me at my first IEP meeting, pregnant with #2, totally clueless about what was going on. I had a nonverbal 3 year old with a formal diagnosis of autism, they were offering me 15 hours/week of a special needs only classroom, speech therapy 30 minutes/week and I thought I did pretty well. What did I know? Nobody told me otherwise.

Well, guess what, district? It's not okay to lie to parents about what their rights are in the hopes that they'll just accept what you say because they don't know any better. I know you've pretty much always been successful with that approach, but it's still not fucking okay, and if I have to personally call every parent of a kid with an IEP and inform them of their rights under IDEA 2004, I will do so. (Okay, honestly, I would probably get somebody to help me with this part. I mean, let's not go crazy).

The one thing I heard from every single person, however, is "I am X and and this is my problem but please don't mention my name because I don't want to jeopardize (either my kid or my job) if the district hears I've been talking to you." Everybody is just scared shitless of what kind of wrath the district will bring on them, just for talking. Well, guess what else, district? I'm not scared of you. My son has autism, and a well documented history of needing 1:1 support, are you going to try to deny him services because of something that I do? Fucking bring it on. I dare you.

I don't know yet what I'm going to do, but I'm going to do something. We'll see what happens....

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