Starting Over: A Post-Katrina Education

This morning, I was thinking about the progress we’ve made in the past month. The New Year started off well for us at McDonogh 42 Elementary Charter School. We’ve been able to hire a bright, young man for our middle school math position. The students’ reception was positive at their first meeting. We’ve also hired a Special Education para to work with regular education teachers in classrooms that have students with special needs. We almost hired a second person as a para, but she got a better offer from RSD as a Math teacher, her area of concentration. Although she has a degree, she’s not certified yet and we must make every effort to hire certified teachers according to our charter agreement. We can’t honestly say that we’ve exhausted all possible sources until we advertise the vacancies in the newspaper.

Our new speech therapist is working very well. She has already screened quite a few children identified by the teachers. I expect that she will have a full schedule of students once all of the new students have been evaluated. She’s also working on compensating the students who have IEPs. She is making up their time lost in the first semester when speech services were not available.

We are finalizing the paperwork for our Social Worker, who will be with us full-time. She will report soon, but must give notice to her current employer before she can start working with us. Her work is cut out for her because we hope to offer Family Services in addition to meeting the needs of our students. Hopefully, she can assist with medical and mental health referrals for our families who are returning to New Orleans. There are lots of agencies offering assistance; we need someone to coordinate the resources and maintain contacts.

Just as I became gleeful about these new hires, this afternoon,I learned that one of our great teachers will be leaving for a new position with RSD. The central office position is a good opportunity/growth experience that pays about $5,000 more than the regular teacher salary. This teacher was in a similar position pre-Katrina, so I can’t be angry about the move [Good-bye and good luck, friend] , just disappointed. Good teachers are a valuable commodity here (and everywhere).We seem to be taking two steps forward and one step back in stabilizing our staff. How hard can it be to staff one school?

We made a decision to only hire people who were not already obligated to another local school. Although several teachers from different schools have inquired about transferring to our school, we have not hired anyone who is working at one of the RSD-operated schools or another charter school since September. I want to suggest that an agreement on teacher transfers be drafted among the charter schools to avoid the “musical chairs” that is going on with our teachers. This would not include promotions or new job categories. People must be allowed to move up in their careers or they will move out.

Our principal wants to hire someone as a Curriculum Coordinator. His first choice is a teacher(a former principal) who is currently teaching fourth grade in another part of the state. I wouldn't think about asking her to move before the high-stakes testing in March. I know she is anxious to get back on an administrative track. We can wait a little while; her fourth graders are short on time.

I think we should have a brief period—midyear—when transfers can occur. By now, we have listed the teachers on our state employee report, created budgets based upon their specific salaries and benefits, and turned away potential employees in favor of the ones we’ve hired. Yet, some teachers are willing to hopscotch from one school to another without any concern for the students they leave in a lurch. Even the lure of a contract that guarantees employment in an “at will” hiring environment does not always help.

This is not a new problem. Pre-Katrina when the district had 128 schools, we had a written agreement in our collective bargaining contract which prohibited the unorganized movement of staff that we are now experiencing in our multi-agency school districts. The state takeover and the subsequent opening of charter schools may seem unfriendly to union organizers. But, the lessons we learned when the teachers had a union should not be forgotten. We also had a time limit on when externally funded programs could cherry-pick our best teachers to move into central office positions. Too often we were left with inexperienced, and uncertified teachers because a newly funded federal program didn't start up until January.

We also need to make a better effort to recruit retired teachers who were forced out of work by the state takeover of 107 of our schools. Many people retired earlier than they had planned because they had no other income. The schools need them back. We have lots of incentives to draw out-of-state teachers to New Orleans. Maybe what we need now is an incentive to draw people out-of- exodus.

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In honor of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, many of our local high school and college students decided to do service projects today. Our school benefited from the services of 12 young men from a nearby boys’ high school. The students arrived at our school promptly at 9:30 a.m. traveling by public service or parent chauffeurs. They were wearing their uniform pants and some type of school tee shirt or sweatshirt. Our task was to unpack and shelve over eighty boxes of library books. We had less than three hours to complete the work.

One of our board members was working with his alumni association and I asked him to see if we could get some help to set up our library. Earlier in the week, when the high school’s newly appointed coordinator of alumni affairs contacted me, I started to envision an inviting place for students and the community. The building was recently repaired and only in need of a thermostat for the HVAC system. It’s furnished with basic tables, chairs, etc. and a start-up collection of books for students in Pre-K to 8th grade.

The school’s principal was there with his own teenage son. Another board member showed up with his wife. I was slightly doubtful that we could finish everything in one day. I had heard that the students might not be exactly volunteers. All of that parochial school’s students are required to do service hours or risk failing certain courses. As it turned out, these young men were not working because they were fulfilling a service requirement. They had volunteered to help a needy school on what would have been a holiday for them. The focused, energetic way they worked steadily for over two hours convinced me that they were doing a labor of love that could not be the result of a requirement.

We did not have a list of the books or an inventory from which to work, so it wasn’t possible to know how much shelf space any particular group of books would require. Luckily, we had the assistance of a librarian from a neighboring parish. Priscilla was my school librarian in the 1990’s. She was able to give us needed information about the approximate size of each section. She shared information such as where we should put the “Easy” books for the younger children and saving enough space for the “History” books in the 900 section. Another librarian friend, Pam, told me to make signs for the different sections. I taped these to the wall and the students put the books in the appropriate area. All of the books are grouped in the right section, if not in strict numerical or alphabetical order.

A few of the students were insistent that they could not leave until the huge fiction collection was in proper alphabetical order. Priscilla was the same way with the reference section which she did solo. At 11:30, we began straightening up the seating area, throwing away trash, and moving extra shelving parts to the workroom. As he surveyed the orderly, attractive room, the principal said, ‘I’m having my next faculty meeting in here.”

We agreed that it would be difficult to find a certified librarian at this time of the year. He’s hopeful that we can hire a teacher, maybe one of the recent fall semester graduates, who can teach study skills and conduct library classes. There’s no circulation desk or card catalog but we’ll manage to expose students to the joy of a school library very soon. Every book on every shelf is new.

I left the school at Noon. The faculty supervisor from the high school was still on the front steps with the last child, waiting for the child’s parents to return. I wish that you could see the digital pictures of the diligent young men at work, helping students that they don’t even know. It was a beautiful sight. I think Dr. King would have been proud of them.

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One of the best things about working is schools is that you have a chance to start a new year twice, once when school opens and a second time when the calendar year changes. We’ve started the new year with a bang.

We hired a full-time speech therapist that started work this week. She has already visited every class and reviewed the records of our identified students who need speech services. We’ve even developed a plan to give them compensatory services for the therapy that they missed. She was so well received by the classroom teachers, receiving smiles, handshakes, and even hugs upon introduction, that she asked me if there was something she didn’t know about the job. I told her that we were all just very happy to have some much needed support for the students.

The principal also interviewed two special education para educators who will be starting in a few days. They will provide assistance to regular classroom teachers who have special needs children on their rolls in our inclusion program. I’ve been looking for housing for our new Math teacher who is arriving soon also. We still have several important positions vacant and applications are being accepted for the social worker and the librarian. Actually, we have a few applications but we are anticipating getting more choices within the week.

Pre-Katrina, we would have staffed all of these positions by the second week of October. Usually, once the official enrollment count was completed, principals would go to a re-staffing meeting. If the school’s enrollment figures were too low, certified teachers could be cut from the staff and surplused to another school. If your numbers were higher than expected, you could pick up extra staff.

Support positions were generally supplemented with federal funds like Title I. High poverty schools were eligible for extra funding. These schools could use some of that money to pay for additional staffing in areas such as social work, nursing, counseling, and staff development. To its credit, the Recovery School District has these support positions filled with mostly full-time employees at every school. That’s our goal.

Unfortunately, we do not have the federal dollars to support these full-time positions yet. Last year, the RSD operated in emergency mode without a budget. Charter schools did not have that luxury. The federal funds were not released until late in the spring. Charter schools that hired support staff, under the assumption that they could claim reimbursements quickly, were disappointed when Title I funds were not released until April. We have been slow to fill every position out of apprehension that the funding would be late again.

Last Monday, January 7, in the Times-Picayune article, “17 in RSD central office will lose jobs” the RSD reported cutting 26 positions to save $1 million. Some of these people are certified Math and Reading Coaches. Our certified teachers were given contracts this year so that they would not have to worry about keeping their jobs or unanticipated lay offs. It also meant that we had to make sure we had funding to pay everyone, in case our enrollment was not strong enough.

Our decision was to delay some of the staffing of support positions to guarantee that those we hired would keep their positions. It’s our first year and we know that many of our employees have high rents and leases that are binding. It seems like an immoral decision to terminate someone who went through the trouble of relocating or returning to New Orleans only to learn after five months that their job is gone.

Even though we don’t have the federal dollars yet, we only have a semester to pay our support staff. Our budget can tolerate that, so we are looking for a part-time nurse (some of them were in the laid off group), a curriculum coordinator, and an aide from those who need new employment, now that they’ve received their pink slips. Once our federal funds start to flow, we should be able to be fully staffed when school opens next year. There’s a huge difference between staffing a building and building a staff.

There are those people who will question our priorities. Others will complain that we are not moving fast enough. The students who survived the traumas of the past two years need the support of social workers and counselors. There is a health care crisis in New Orleans and nurses are a pricey commodity. I’d love to hire an Art teacher and a Spanish teacher, neither of which is on the high priority list. But we decided to hire the classroom teachers first and everyone else later. Our movement is deliberate, if not speedy.

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Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.

--Lee Holz

This morning, I attended a 2-hour meeting at a neighborhood high school. It was a city-wide School Facilities Master Plan for New Orleans meeting to determine the fate of every public school, opened or shuttered, in New Orleans. The meeting had been organized by the leaders of the Orleans Parish School Board and the Recovery School District.

Information from the website at www.sfmpop.org states, “The School Facilities Master Plan is a comprehensive plan for the Orleans Parish public schools. The plan will serve as a blueprint to guide future school renovations and new construction. It is a joint project of the Recovery School District (RSD) and the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB).”
Discussion centered around three questions:

• how many schools are needed and where they should be located
• which buildings should be repaired and brought up to current building codes
• which ones should be torn down and rebuilt new or used for other purposes.

There was an article announcing the series of these planning meetings to be held in specific geographical areas of the city (West Bank, Uptown, Eastern New Orleans, Midcity, and Downtown) in the Times-Picayune on January 9th. I read the article and searched the lists of school sites on the schedule to see when our school was being discussed. McDonogh 42 Elementary Charter School was not listed. I figured it was just an oversight by the reporter.

Later, I went to the web site to see when our school would be discussed and where. It was not on the web site list either. I called the RSD office to ask an administrator why our school was not on any of the lists. He called back later and said he did not know why we were not listed, but that every school was supposed to be a part of one group. I also emailed the planners. All of the schools near us were scheduled for this morning’s meeting. I checked my email to see if anyone had answered my question. At 10:00 a.m. I decided to attend, just in case. I’m glad I went.

The meeting was already in process when I arrived. Each school had a section of a table set up with an agenda, sign in sheets, a map of the schools in question, worksheets for the discussion, and data sheets on the school. Since our school was not in any of the announcements, I didn’t expect to see any of our people. As I looked around the cafeteria, I could not spot anyone that I knew to be associated with the school.

When I finally found the assigned table (after being directed to sit anywhere), I was pleasantly surprised to meet several members of various community groups who were associated with the general area around our school and were interested in its future. Our table group included representatives from two home owners’ associations and a facility architect. I met the new RSD Director of Facility Planning and talked with the consultant hired to help design some of the facilities. I learned that our school kitchen was scheduled to be completed before next year, but not this school year. I have no idea what kitchen equipment costs, but we might need to make some of the purchases ourselves instead of waiting for the big renovation. We borrowed one piece of equipment and I think we’ll have to return it before this year is out.

The meeting’s facilitator was an energetic woman whose work includes helping groups to do strategic plans. I was very happy to meet her. We need to develop a plan to apply for grant funds; it can’t be a one or two year deal. It will need to be long term. When I introduced myself, she said she had read a story about our school related to special education. She was surprised that I admitted we did not have all of the services for our children and said in her experience, most groups would skirt the issue, being less than honest. Full disclosure is not such a challenge for schools, if you understand the laws around public records requests. Anybody can find out information about a school, its programs, student enrollment, even the salaries of the staff. She asked what I thought of the meeting. With the exception of one presentation that I’d already seen three times in the past two years, I thought it went very well. I’m looking forward to the next step in the process.

When the meeting was finished, I had an opportunity to talk to two principals about their observations of the teachers who returned after Hurricane Katrina. They are in schools that reopened in 2006-07. Both principals noticed that teachers from different schools had very unique mindsets about students, teaching, and school philosophy. Although the teachers were working in one school that has its own strong culture, many of them were not happy trying to adjust to the school. This year, those teachers were able to return to their former places of employment. Even though the schools to which they returned had new principals, the teachers seem to be doing better. One size definitely does not fit all.

This meeting was well worth getting up early on a Saturday morning.

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The laptop computers we purchased for the teachers were scheduled for delivery today. They have a fellow teacher to thank for planting the idea with the Board. Like so many of our faculty members, she was teaching in another state last year. When she returned to the city, she shared her experiences and gave us some benchmarks from the school district that she left behind. One of her first questions was, “Are we going to get laptops?” I responded, “Of course,” although we had not budgeted for that specific item, just technology in general. Hopefully, we can get the Help Desk at the central office to set up their email accounts soon.

When we took possession of the school, although the building was furnished, we did not get an inventory of books, equipment, or materials. After several requests to the central office for information, it was determined that there were no lists for this school because it was stocked with items from the warehouse. Nothing had been ordered specifically for McDonogh 42 when it was an RSD-operated school. It had been opened in a hurry to serve wait-listed students.

I have several friends who are working in the RSD schools and they offered to help us. When I checked their inventories and reviewed what we had in our building, some things were missing. We had no televisions, no DVD players, no language centers or tape recorders. We didn’t have globes and only a few maps. We did have overhead projectors for every class. Some classes had chalkboards; some had cork bulletin boards; some had dry erase boards. One or two classes had all three. There were no Promethean Boards on back-order for us. We’ll need to buy those.

A week before Christmas, some the equipment that we ordered began to arrive. We received ten 27-inch television/DVD combinations. The carts came the next day. The principal carefully locked the TVs in a closet on the second floor. When we returned from the two-week break, four of the TVs---still in the boxes—were missing. The lock had been ripped from the door. The police said there was no sign of a break-in from the outside of the building. The three computers from a first floor kindergarten class were also missing.

It did not help to hear that at least two other schools experienced the same type of loss during the holiday break. One charter school reported $15,000 in missing equipment! We were already in the process of making our building more secure by installing new locks on all of the doors. We are considering installing cameras in the corridors. There was a meeting today with the security company that monitors the buildings; the price tag may be a high one.

Creating a safe and secure school is an expensive project. We even paid extra to have the teachers’ laptops installed with a theft protection service that tracks, locates and recovers lost computers, in case they get stolen. The principal is conducting a comprehensive fixed assets inventory. I don’t know how many computers we have but it is at least 100. At this rate, we’ll spend more money this year for lock-down devices than we will spend for instructional software.

Someone told me they couldn’t believe that people would steal from the children. We are in desperate times. Very little surprises me anymore.

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Our State Superintendent, Paul Pastorek (Paul #1), convened a meeting of charter school leaders today. Our topics included discussions around “bureaucratic creep,” a term for increasing supervision and interference by the local education agencies in the autonomy provided to charter schools. Mr. Pastorek listened attentively to each person explain his or her most pressing issues during the hour he was present. He did very little talking.

My own questions were centered on reimbursements for capital projects that should be covered in our charter school agreements with FEMA and the insurance companies and special education dilemmas. These two topics were also high on the state superintendent’s list of concerns as well.

We are spending money of things that should have been repaired in the building before we took possession. The kitchen equipment is not there because we needed to have the RSD consultant do a plan with the architectural staff. They had to dig up the floor plans and blueprints from somewhere. The good news is that the state agents are trying to develop a comprehensive plan for the buildings. The bad news is that there is no capital improvement money provided by the state to make the changes. That hurt.

On the special education issue, everyone admits that it is a tough nut to crack. We were told that the advocate groups had given the RSD a “pass” for this year to get the act together. I was relieved to hear Paul #2, Mr. Vallas, who is the superintendent for RSD, when he said that he had many of the same problems we had. At least, we are not alone. Mr. Vallas talked for almost as long as Mr. Pastorek listened.

We didn’t get much new information for our 2-hour investment. I did meet a few more of the players in the charter school movement. We also had an opportunity to introduce our principal to the other operators. The staff was told to arrange more meetings so that the dialogue could continue. We will learn from each other because there is more cooperation and collaboration than competition.

One or two people surprised me by asking how I was doing, having survived a media blitz. My response was that the issues they were discussing were 2007. We are looking forward in 2008. I have only so much energy and brain power. I refuse to continue rehashing yesterday’s news. Let’s move on. No one is forcing me to work with the charter school. In spite of continued negativism in some quarters and constant distractions by certain instigators, I am as committed as ever to make good things happen for our students. We can do great things with commitment and the right attitude.

Writing the blog has put me in touch with many people who want to help us be successful. Thank you for your encouragement, suggestions, and offers to help us. Your support reminds me of why I am doing this special work. It’s for the children.

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During my 32-year career as an educator, I was approached on several occasions by people who wanted to know if I had considered applying for the Superintendency in the New Orleans Public Schools. This was more prevalent after I received my Ph.D. in 1998. From my perspective, there were several reasons why I would never be a superintendent. None of them had anything to do with the requisite skills needed to do the job well. It was always my feeling that the most important thing a superintendent had to do was to build a strong leadership team of moral, transformational people who had a real focus on academic achievement and were committed to actions that were in the district’s best interest. I could do that.

My main reservation about that type of high profile position was the constant public scrutiny it created for the “poster boy” or “poster girl” who became the face and voice of the district. I did not have the right attitude. A superintendent has to be ready and on call 24/7/365. I never wanted to be recognized by strangers and approached about school issues while shopping for underwear in J.C. Penney or during the sign of peace in Mass on Sunday. I didn’t want to have my private time with my family infringed upon by calls from employees when the heating system failed on frigid winter mornings or air conditioners died in New Orleans’ sweltering August temperatures. I didn’t want to worry about transportation breaking down, late food service deliveries, building repairs, and theft of new televisions still in the boxes, operating budgets, grant writing, health and welfare benefits, job actions, or any of the myriad problems that plague the leader of a school district. No amount of money could ever tempt me to pursue the position that would put me at the top of this persistent heap of challenges. I saw myself as a worker bee, never the queen of the hive.

And yet, I seem to have stumbled (or been thrust) to the top of the swell in my role as President of a charter school board. Writing a blog about “how we are coping with the challenges and overcoming the obstacles” of starting over in the new landscape of education in New Orleans shines a light on our situation and I am caught in that limelight that gets brighter all the time. It’s a small price to pay, if I can help the rest of the nation to understand what’s happening to our schools post-Katrina. How hard can it be for a retired principal and Area Superintendent?

Last week, on January 2, I decided not to return a phone call to a reporter. It was not personal. I just wanted to celebrate my New Year’s holiday week in anonymity. At holiday parties and gatherings, I have been assailed with questions about our school as a result of being the subject of the top news story on December 17, 2007. I did television interviews for every local news station and the daily paper. I’m sorry if you are a new reader and don’t know to what news story I am referring. It will hence forth be referred to as “That which shall not be named,” TWSNBN. I want to go back to being incognito, at least until I lose about 25 pounds. It’s true what they say about the two-dimensional images of television making you look fatter (at least I hope so). Anyway, the article on the FRONT page of today’s newspaper won’t help. Not talking to reporters doesn’t matter, if you’ve written a blog that can be quoted about their topic. [You win, Sarah.] But, for me, reflecting and writing about problems is cathartic; talking about them and answering questions in an interview is taxing. I’d like a minute to move out of the public eye, to hide in plain sight. Here is the link to the news story. Please indulge me and finish reading my story first.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/01/charter_schools_struggle_to_me.html

Years ago, in 1995, I received a huge honor when I was selected Elementary Principal of the Year by the State of Louisiana. Winners from each state received a free trip to Washington D.C. where we were feted in a formal dinner and awards ceremony. We received lots of prizes including a $1,000 personal cash award and computer programs for our schools. This was one of the highlights of my career. One of my most prized possession is an engraved school bell from NAESP. Luckily, it did not get damaged in the Katrina flood waters that ravaged most of my school treasures at home because it was proudly on display in the third floor corner office where I worked.

When I returned home to New Orleans, after the National Distinguished Principals award ceremony, it was nearing the end of the school year. I had made a “bet” with the students that they could not read 2,500 books in the last weeks of the semester. Since I shared that I kept a book next to my bed to read myself to sleep every night, the students picked that visual as the price I would pay, if I lost the bet. I knew that I had “lost” when I saw the school’s librarian rolling carts of books onto the playground during recess. Throughout the final week of school at recess time, all around the hot asphalt yard, groups of students could be seen engaged in reading library books and swapping stories instead of throwing footballs and jumping double-dutch.

On the day that I appeared for morning assembly in blue satin lounging pajamas, fuzzy slippers, and bright yellow hair rollers (partially hidden under a scarf), the children celebrated a day that went down in the school’s history of special memories. The yard was packed with parents and other spectators who came, specifically, to see me pay up my debt. Mixed in the crowd were the news cameras of the station that had the cable access agreement. They had arrived on that day, of all days, to film an interview with the Principal of the Year. My image in PJs, hair curlers, and fuzzy rabbit slippers was replayed every 30 minutes on the news for at least 12 hours. Even with my hair combed and in business attire, people recognized my face in stores and public places all over the city for years after that debut. It was a little embarrassing, but lots of fun. I did it for the students and I’d do it again.

In my new role with the charter school, I keep asking myself “Are we having fun yet?”

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In 1984, I was still a probationary principal at Charles E. Gayarre Elementary School. Although the name of the school was changed to Oretha Castle Haley in 1995, it was in the same Bywater neighborhood in New Orleans’s eighth ward where it had stood since 1896 when it first opened. I was the first African American principal of that school and I wanted to do something to create a legacy.

As the holiday season loomed, I began trying to figure out ways to create a special occasion for the children. Unfortunately, I started thinking about it too late. Everything I wanted to do required more lead time. Specially imprinted items cost too much money and I couldn’t think of what to get that would be suitable for boys and girls of all ages.

Finally, one of our para educators, Curley Ranson (now deceased) found some detailed, die cast pencil sharpeners. The sharpeners came in various styles including miniature cars, globes, sewing machines, radios, and phonographs. They were bronze colored and unique. Although they were very small (about 3 – 4 inches long) they were functional and cute. We had to buy several styles to get enough to distribute to our 700+ student body. It wasn’t a great gift, but I was satisfied that at least we had a token gift for every child.

When the New Year rolled past and we returned to classes, I was discussing how I spent my time off with a group of fourth grade students. We talked about our different family traditions and shared holiday stories. One little boy, whose name or face I can’t remember, was so joyous in his conversation that I remember the sound of his voice. He said it was the best Christmas he’d ever had. They did not have the traditional turkey for dinner, but they did have stewed chicken. He said his mother was the world’s best cook. He didn’t leave town to visit relatives, but his cousins came over to have chocolate cake and ice cream after dinner. He didn’t have a new outfit to wear to church, but he did enjoy the service at midnight Mass.

Listening to him discuss his holiday, minus the trappings we usually envision, made me wonder what made it so great. Finally, I figured out that he must have gotten some of the Transformers that were the rage at that time (ironically they are back!) or some other special toy. “What did you get for Christmas?” I asked in a confident I-know-what-you’re-going-to-say manner. The child looked me in the eye, threw back his head and laughed out loud. I couldn’t imagine what was so funny about my question, so I asked him, “What’s so funny?” He responded, “You should know what I got for Christmas. You gave it to me.” The globe shaped metal die cast pencil sharpener was the only gift he received that Christmas.

I still get full and teary-eyed when I remember this child’s joy and spirit. Since that time, I always try to create special memories for the children in schools where I work. My motto is that school is a place to learn, live, and love. It’s all I want for Christmas—every year. Happy New Year!

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A newspaper reporter called me yesterday to ask if I wanted to make a comment on a story she was writing about Special Education and the charter schools. I’m not sure what her angle was but she mentioned having talked to the parent of one of our school’s students. The parent complained that her daughter was not getting the services she needed from the school. I did not call the reporter back. Simply put, I’m tired of talking to reporters about what our school does not have. I could not think of any way that my conversation with the writer could help the students at McDonogh 42 Elementary Charter School, the parents of the students, the teachers at the school or the academic program. It could help the newspaper company sell a few more papers, if the story were sensational and negative enough to attract the attention of the anti-charter folks. I’m not in the mood to help sell newspapers today.

The special education situation is dire throughout the city's schools. Not only do we have a severe shortage of qualified special education teachers, we don’t have space for self-contained classes, and we don’t have records for all of the students with special needs. In some cases, returning students were already receiving special education services pre-Katrina. These are the easiest to identify and serve because we have evaluations and IEP’s which only need to be updated. Other students were evaluated in far-flung school districts all across the nation. Unfortunately, the parents did not register their children with the proper documents in hand. We have had to wait on paperwork from different states before determining what the children need. The most difficult group to help is the students whose parents wanted to hide the fact that their children had learning problems. Only after identifying the students can we determine what type of assistance they’ll need. Then we have to find teachers for them.

It’s true; some of the charter schools “cherry-pick” students and leave the more difficult to serve students standing outside the door. The state department pledged to monitor the schools to ensure that everyone has their requisite number of special needs students. I know of at least one school that did a blitz for speech only students to meet the designated percentage. That way, they did not have to take the emotional and behavioral disordered students, the autistic students, or the physically disabled students. The mother of a little Chinese boy did not want his school to know her son was blind when she registered him, after he was turned away at one of the prime charter schools. The child is also intellectually gifted. I think this happens more frequently than anyone would like to admit.

So far, we’ve turned away one child, a kindergarten student in a wheelchair. Although she could use a ramp to get into the building, she would not have access to the auditorium, the principal’s office, the computer labs, or the school nurse’s office. There is no elevator and the building, built in 1925, is exempt from the current regulations for handicapped accessibility. Our wheelchair-bound students are sent to a neighboring facility that is more modern than ours. It’s one of a few renovated buildings in the area and is a center for students in wheelchairs. The building is very similar to ours with one exception; they have an elevator.

I was a special education teacher and I’m certified is several areas. How hard can it be for me to get services for our special needs students? Let me tell you, even if you know what to do, you can’t always afford the price. It costs our school $1,900 per child for a full evaluation. We budgeted $38,000 to test about 4% - 5% of our students for special education. We’d already identified 26 students with special needs and three gifted/talented students. Of the 26, 8 are speech only. We finally found a part-time speech teacher who will start working soon. The other 18 students are currently being served in a program we inherited that the RSD called “full inclusion.” To describe it briefly, the regular classroom teachers have the special needs children in class with the regular education students. A Special Education teacher visits the classroom once a day to work with the special students for a little time. In some cases, there will be a para educator or aide to assist. That’s it. The regular education teacher has no prior training on how to work with the special children; they have not read the IEP’s and don’t understand how to teach a student who is 3- 4 years below grade level while preparing the other students for high-stakes tests.

Many of these "full inclusion" students were in more restricted environments pre-Katrina. They still need this higher level of services. In order to give it to them, we’ll need to reevaluate them—at a cost of $34,200. This does not leave us with enough money to test the new unidentified special needs students who are arriving every day. We took one step forward in identifying our students with special needs. Now we will take two steps back in trying to reevaluate them and conduct initial evaluations for our potential special education students.

One idea is to have a resource room with extra opportunities for students to learn in small groups. With a para professional and half a dozen computers, we can monitor work for clusters of students grouped in sets of early childhood, elementary, and middle school students who need individualized attention. It will be handled as an extension of the classroom and lessons will be designed by the teacher of record. Practice with the tutor will be done in the resource room instead of in the back of the classroom. We will have to be careful to avoid making it a regular pull-out program. I don’t think this idea will violate any of the special education rules. There’s nothing that says we can’t give them a little something special.

Posted by Roslyn Johnson Smith, Ph.D. at 9:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)