Posted on 10/14/2008 5:58:08 AM PDT by SoftballMominVA
Stephen Knolls School suffered the ignominy of failure under federal law in 2006 and 2007 for low test scores. This year, the Kensington school finally made the grade in reading and math -- only to be sanctioned for poor attendance.
The challenge in this case is not truancy. Stephen Knolls serves medically fragile children with severe physical and cognitive disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida and Rett syndrome.
SNIP
Nine Stephen Knolls students missed 50 or more days of school last school year, some to complications from surgery, others from prolonged respiratory illness or the pain of muscle contractures. Students die at a rate of about one a year. A memorial garden, dedicated last year, remembers 25 deceased students.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I’m sure that wasn’t the intent of the law, but getting government workers to see the logic of making an exception is a multi-year processes and involves about as much frustration as teaching cows to do algebra.
This is why the Department of Education should be abolished. Local control over local situations is the only way education works.
Great comment.
My daughter has spina bifida and had trouble with attendance one year due to heart problems. I had given doctor’s excuses, but got called in to the principles office due to poor attendance. Loe and behold, a DFCS worker was waiting in there. They were concerned because my daughter appeared normal (not all spina bifida causes paralysis or obvious physical signs) and thought I had some form of Munchausen by proxy and was a parental hypochondriac. The nurse, who I had several arguments with because she didn’t believe my daughter when she was having chest pains (the stupid nurse wasn’t even familiar with spina bifida in a non-life threatening form) and was convinced she was making it up. Her stress tests showed otherwise, but I didn’t feel I had to bring in all of her medical records to prove to a b*tch of a school nurse of my daughter’s medical condition.
I finally got tired of the mess, and showed them the letter from her doctor showing her diagnosis (it was in the dang file for why she couldn’t run steady laps and had to walk them instead) and then called her in to have her pull up her shirt in the back and bend over. You could see the obvious deformity in her spine.
They leave me alone, but I was Fuming when I left school that day.
On the positive side, the “sanctions” for NCLB infractions appear to be meaningless in this context. It’s not as if the parents are going to take their children to another school because this one has a poor attendance record!
I am ashamed and embarassed that the school treated you like this. At least in Missouri, if a student is to miss more than 2 weeks, a “home bound” teacher goes to the home and teaches the student in a comfortable environment on a daily basis. My daughter has two friends in this situation - both with cancer.
NCLB is the biggest POS there is. By 2014, every single student needs to meet certain test scores - even the SPED kids. On the surface I can understand this, but deep down in the fine print it is impossible to achieve this without “teaching to the test”. NCLB is a non-funded mandated piece of legislation. And unfortunately funding is tied directly to attendance. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
It's not funded, but funding is tied to attendance? Dude, one of those statements is incorrect.
It's certainly in the running, although if I had to vote, I think I'd choose the Farm Bill.
NCLB is unfunded as in the schools do not get all the money they need for the requirements (which is somewhat of a misstatement. NCLB is a partially funded mandate) But when a school does not meet the requirements, funding can be taken away.
A school that continues to fail can be shut down, the staff dispersed, the administration fired, and the students sent to different centers.
ping
When my now 18 year old was 12 she was treated for cancer and subsequently missed a great deal of school due to operations, healing, etc. I, too, had to justify her absences even though I was a teacher in her school. It left me completely baffled as to why I was even in the situation of explaining what was going to to a DSS worker. Like you, I was pretty upset and very, very annoyed.
Okay, I misunderstood.
I hope your daughter is ok! My worst nightmare is cancer for my kids.
They each have health issues of their own, oldest with Spina Bifida, middle with seizures and youngest a dwarf. But cancer scares the bejebus out of me!
Oh yeah, ironically, when my youngest was born with no spinal problems, no siezures, I thought “Wow, I made a normal kid!” Until she stopped growing at 6 months. Well, not stopped, but was really slow and at 7 is now the size of an almost four year old. So that’s what I get for thinking that too soon!
I pray for your daughter to remain cancer free!
Hopefully yours are doing well too. It's a long journey isn't it?
In our state regular funding is tied to attendance. Believe me, a lot of kids aren’t really wanted at school (i.e., the troublemakers) but each one is a headcount for funding and schools are docked for every day the student isn’t in class.
While I have many friends and a few relatives who are teachers, and would never impugn their worth, the biggest challenge with the education bureaucracy is its almost complete lack of flexibility. The field is hidebound with rules and regulations and is the Procrustes of modern society. I remember when I learned about personality types, the one most comfortable with rules and tradition was also the one selected by about 90 percent of those who go into education careers.
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