There have been three complaints filed with the Alabama State Department of Education as of May 31,2011 alleging systematic failures by Montgomery Public Schools to educate children with emotional disturbance(Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law website).
Although this complaint was filed May 31,2011 there has been no media attention brought to the matter until now. I am taking the liberty to post the Press Release and Complaint on Facebook and with the local television stations as well as newspaper so that the general public may be made aware and if they have similar situations contact the legal firm for further information and possible action.
What is more disturbing to this is that MPS continues to brush problems under the rug instead of addressing them with the community. These and other complaints that are critical to the needs of students acquiring equitable education is placed on the back burner while our Superintendent and Board Members continue to spar over land acquisition, closing schools and firing Teachers, Faculty & Staff. Insult over injury is that the Superintendent and Board Members know full well what's going on yet they slip more ridiculous recommendations in Board Meeting to take our focus off the underlying agenda and underlying issues that are occurring and have pending cases to save their hides.
Superintendent Barbara Thompson per her biography on www.mps.k12.al.us states the following "Barbara W. Thompson has a passion for educating students -- particularly those with learning challenges. Her years of service to the teaching profession are marked by a commitment to excellence, creative teaching strategies, and an unwavering belief that all students can learn. During the two years she has been with Montgomery Public Schools she has made some impressive gains. Thompson has also pursued a number of funding opportunities, which have resulted in roughly $28 million in federal, state and other grants for academic purposes. Superintendent Thompson began her teaching career as a special education teacher for Madison Public Schools in Wisconsin, where she spent many summers teaching students with behavioral disturbances and learning disabilities. She also taught students who were incarcerated in Dane County Detention Center."
If we dissect the aforementioned accomplishments of Superintendent Barbara Thompson's accomplishments and history as an educator it is shocking that
- With nearly 32,000 students enrolled in MPS the district has only identified 85 students as qualifying for special services (www.bazelon.org), although Supt. Thompson has a passion for working with students with special needs MPS according to this statistic does not have any for her to be passionate about.
- Her niche for pursuing funding has resulted in $28 million of funds from Federal, State and others for Academic Purposes yet the school budget caused the MPS system to close/consolidate 8 schools with additional savings of roughly $2 million.
- Where was the $28 million applied and what serves as "academic purposes"? Would teacher salaries count as academic purposes or paper & supplies?
- Why is MPS requesting funds from the County & City if her niche for pursuing and acquiring funds is successfully lucrative?
- If she started out as an educator who served special needs students why isn't providing children of Montgomery County with some of those "impressive gains" by accommodating children with special needs the services that are supposed to be provided for them?
According to the Montgomery Advertiser, "About 300 students in the system are over-aged. For example, some middle schools have students as old as 16 and 17 still attending. Such students need additional assistance and resources. Officials have said they envision having the building become a one-stop shop for students to receive tutoring, counseling and various social services (McCallum,June 15,2011)." It seems clear to me that what seems a critical need to close and consolidate schools, build a East High School, Terminate Teachers, Faculty & Staff is not as critical as providing the services as outlined by the State of AL Constitution. "
Section 16-39-1
Short title.
This chapter may be referred to as the "Alabama Exceptional Child Education Act."
(Acts 1971, No. 106, p. 373, §13.)
Section 16-39-4
Implementation of program.
Within 120 days after July 22, 1971, each school board in the State of Alabama shall take a careful and thorough survey of persons who (if thereafter certified by a specialist) would probably qualify as exceptional children residing in its school district, which survey shall show the name, age, sex and type of exceptionality of each exceptional child found by it. All such data descriptive of an individual person (as contrasted with compilations made therefrom which do not reveal information about specific individuals) shall be maintained in strict confidence and shall not be made available to anyone except to the survey-takers (in connection with those individuals who are reported by them), the appropriate superintendent and his staff, the appropriate school principal, the individual child's parent or guardian and such other persons as may be designated in regulations adopted by the State Board of Education and under such conditions as may be provided therein. Within 120 days after the completion of said census, each school board in the State of Alabama shall prepare and adopt an incremental five-year plan commencing with the school year beginning in September 1972 for the implementation of appropriate instruction and special services for exceptional children residing in its school district, including a reasonable procedure for obtaining certifications of exceptional children by a specialist. Such plan shall upon its preparation and adoption be submitted to the State Board of Education for its review and approval or disapproval in accordance with regulations promulgated hereunder by the State Board of Education. If approved by the State Board of Education, such plan shall be binding upon the school board submitting it and shall be adhered to unless subsequent modifications of said plan shall thereafter be approved by the State Board of Education, in which case such modified plan shall be adhered to. If the State Board of Education shall disapprove a plan submitted by a school board, representatives of the state school board shall consult and advise with said school board in an effort to formulate a plan which can be approved; provided, that disapproval of a plan or any amendments thereto shall be only because of failure of the plan to meet minimum standards set out in regulations of the state board adopted in accordance with Section 16-39-5, and any such disapproval must specify in detail the reasons for such disapproval. If no such plan can be agreed upon, the State Board of Education shall provide a plan which shall be adhered to unless the school board shall within 30 days thereafter file an action in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Alabama, to restrain the enforcement of such plan on the ground that it is arbitrary, impracticable, detrimental to the education of exceptional children, or invalid. Only the said court specified above shall have jurisdiction of such actions, and all such actions shall be given a preferred setting.
(Acts 1971, No. 106, p. 373, §4.)
Section 16-39-5
Responsibilities of State Board of Education.
The State Board of Education shall adopt regulations covering:
(1) The qualifications of specialists for each type of exceptionality and standards for certification of exceptional children;
(2) Minimum standards of instruction and special services to be provided for each type of exceptionality at each age or grade level;
(3) Reasonable qualifications for teachers, instructors, therapists and other personnel needed to work with exceptional children;
(4) Guidelines for suitable five-year incremental plans for implementation of the program set forth in this chapter for various types of typical situations likely to be encountered by school boards in the State of Alabama; and
(5) Such other rules and regulations as may be necessary or appropriate for carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
Said regulations may be amended from time to time, said amended regulations to be effective 90 days after written notice of said amendments has been transmitted to each school board in the State of Alabama.
The State Board of Education shall receive, review and approve or disapprove plans submitted by school boards hereunder and shall consult and advise with school boards whose plans are disapproved; provided, that disapproval of a plan or any amendments thereto shall be only because of failure of the plan to meet minimum standards set out in regulations of the state board adopted in accordance with this section, and any such disapproval must specify in detail the reasons for such disapproval. If an approval cannot be worked out satisfactorily, the State Board of Education shall provide a plan which shall be binding on the school board unless its enforcement is restrained as provided in Section 16-39-4.
The State Board of Education shall have the primary responsibility for enforcing compliance with such plans and with compliance of school boards with its regulations and the requirements of this chapter. If any local board fails or refuses to implement the plan provided for under this chapter, the Attorney General shall, upon request of the State Board of Education or upon the request of any private citizen, bring civil injunctive actions to enforce the implementation of such plan. If the state board fails or refuses to carry out any duties required of it by this chapter, the Attorney General shall, upon the request of any private citizen, bring civil actions in Montgomery County to require that such duties be performed.
(Acts 1971, No. 106, p. 373, §5.)
If you have not gathered my theory that I am posing which is the notion that Superintendent Thompson and MPS Board Members do not care about your child with Special Needs and only since they have been under fire for discriminating against children with mental illnesses by recently offering to keep Hayneville Road Elementary Open to house the Alternative Students as a smoke screen to the public please keep your eyes and ears open. We must follow this case and offer parents who are experiencing similar issues with his or her child not being adequately provided the services that they are due and instead are placed in Alternative School primarily for behavioral problems is an injustice that the MPS Supt. and Board Members (aka Injustice League) are providing. Let's keep their foot to the fire! No Child Left Behind program which was supposed to help further a child's education by providing supplemental educational services seems like a joke when MPS is putting kids behind educationally, emotionally, and psychologically. Most of the kids who are overaged, have disciplinary issues because of behavior disorders lack the proper services and are usually placed in the Juvenile Court System because MPS is not addressing the children's critical issues and needs. MPS is not providing the required services and placing them in Alternative School which makes the child even more despondent and or disruptive because they do not understand what is going on and will continue down a destructive path which usually leads to youth violence, crime or increase in the drop out rate.THIS IS A CALL TO ACTION FOR ANY PARENT/GUARDIAN OR COMMUNITY ACTIVIST TO STAND UP AND SPEAK OUT IF YOU CARE FOR OUR CHILDREN. ACCORDING TO AL CONSTITUTIONAL LAW SECTION 16-39-5 THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION IS TO :" have the primary responsibility for enforcing compliance with such plans and with compliance of school boards with its regulations and the requirements of this chapter. If any local board fails or refuses to implement the plan provided for under this chapter, the Attorney General shall, upon request of the State Board of Education or upon the request of any private citizen, bring civil injunctive actions to enforce the implementation of such plan. If the state board fails or refuses to carry out any duties required of it by this chapter, the Attorney General shall, upon the request of any private citizen, bring civil actions in Montgomery County to require that such duties be performed.
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO SPEAK TO AN EXPERT FROM ADAP(ALABAMA DISABILITIES ADVOCACY PROGRAM) OR THE BAZELON CENTER ON THEIR ISSUE CONTACT James Tucker, at jtucker@adap.ua.edu or call (205) 310-5906, or Dominic Holt, at Dominic@bazelon.org or (202)-467-5730 ext. 311.
The Press Release can be downloaded and read at: http://www.bazelon.org/News-Publications/Press-Releases.aspx
The complaint can also be found at www.bazelon.org
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