Special Education Caucus

The Mayor's Youth and Family Initiative will hold a Special Education Caucus on Tuesday, April 27, at 7:00pm, at the Roosevelt High School Library.

The Youth and Families Initiative is an program announced by Mayor Mike McGinn during his inaugural address. The goal of the Initiative is to identify challenges youth and families face and to collectively mobilize towards solutions so that all children in Seattle can succeed. The Initiative will help shape the agenda on issues affecting youth and families from a child's birth to their successful career track.

The caucus takes 90 minutes and culminates with each group choosing a delegate to represent its priority issues and potential solutions at the city-wide Congress at Seattle Center on June 5.

This is a chance to focus specific attention on Special Education issues in Seattle.

Comments

ARB said…
For background, worth reading recent KUOW coverage of SPS special ed:

http://kuow.org/program.php?id=19801
4/24/10, 8:10 AM
ARB said…
Highlights from the coverage include:

The Seattle Special Education Parent–Teacher–Student Association (PTSA) echoes these concerns. The parents' organization meets regularly with school district leaders to try to improve services to special ed students. In February, the Special Ed PTSA published a scathing position statement about the ICS system.

It says: "After observing and participating in the new model for the past five months, we judge that the district has no shared vision, no authoritative leadership, and a lack of adequate resources to provide truly inclusive educational services."

...

The Seattle School District does not have a good track record of meeting students' special education requirements as guaranteed by federal law.

In Washington state, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) handles complaints from parents and advocates who claim a district is failing to meet special ed students' needs. A public records request KUOW filed with OSPI showed that between 2005 and 2010, the office handled complaints on behalf of 45 special ed students in the Seattle Schools. OSPI required Seattle Schools to take corrective action in 41 out of those 45 cases.
4/24/10, 8:15 AM
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