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The findings of a just-released state probe into how Chicago Public Schools handles special education funding and procedures is a good start but doesn’t go far enough, says the group that sought the investigation.
“The findings capture the technical violations, but kids were affected, kids didn’t get aides, kids got injured, they didn’t get summer school, they didn’t get transportation,” said Matt Cohen, an attorney for the advocates who brought the original claim against CPS. “What we really need to see now is what does the board do with the recommendations.”
State investigators held three public meetings in March and also collected some 8,600 pages of documents before releasing their findings Wednesday at the Illinois State Board of Education monthly meeting.
“There is a lack of regular, coordinated and comprehensive trainings to provide CPS special education staff the knowledge that they need to implement the special education system,” ISBE’s general counsel Stephanie Jones told the board.
State probe into special ed at CPS doesn't go far enough: advocates
Actually, it's called give people the run around.
Elizabeth Keenan, the recently installed head of special education for CPS, said the changes were about making sure students got the right help. In the past, services were given out without attention to whether they were working, she said.
“We want to make sure we are creating equitable outcomes and that students, when they are in special ed, continue to see academic growth,” she said.
But CPS’ new rules made it even harder to get children what they needed in a system that has long failed to properly support special-needs students, said Matt Cohen, a lawyer who specializes in special education and has worked in the field for more than 30 years.
“The overall effect is really to wear parents down in every way that they can, and wear the staff down in every way that they can, so that the ultimate outcome is giving less,” Cohen said. “It is equivalent to the old fable about a death by 1,000 lashes. This is a death by 1,000 slow cuts.”
CPS’ Secret Overhaul Of Special Ed Led To Big Service Cuts
By giving them the runaround. CPS is awesome.
“The findings capture the technical violations, but kids were affected, kids didn’t get aides, kids got injured, they didn’t get summer school, they didn’t get transportation,” said Matt Cohen, an attorney for the advocates who brought the original claim against CPS. “What we really need to see now is what does the board do with the recommendations.”
State investigators held three public meetings in March and also collected some 8,600 pages of documents before releasing their findings Wednesday at the Illinois State Board of Education monthly meeting.
“There is a lack of regular, coordinated and comprehensive trainings to provide CPS special education staff the knowledge that they need to implement the special education system,” ISBE’s general counsel Stephanie Jones told the board.
State probe into special ed at CPS doesn't go far enough: advocates
Actually, it's called give people the run around.
Elizabeth Keenan, the recently installed head of special education for CPS, said the changes were about making sure students got the right help. In the past, services were given out without attention to whether they were working, she said.
“We want to make sure we are creating equitable outcomes and that students, when they are in special ed, continue to see academic growth,” she said.
But CPS’ new rules made it even harder to get children what they needed in a system that has long failed to properly support special-needs students, said Matt Cohen, a lawyer who specializes in special education and has worked in the field for more than 30 years.
“The overall effect is really to wear parents down in every way that they can, and wear the staff down in every way that they can, so that the ultimate outcome is giving less,” Cohen said. “It is equivalent to the old fable about a death by 1,000 lashes. This is a death by 1,000 slow cuts.”
CPS’ Secret Overhaul Of Special Ed Led To Big Service Cuts
By giving them the runaround. CPS is awesome.
