"I'm happy to look more closely at it and to follow up."
""- Tanya Ortiz Franklin
While the community has expressed support for the proposed Improving Special Education Within the LAUSD resolution, the elected board members have not stepped up to help the District's most vulnerable students. Most disappointingly, Scott Schmerelson, who had expressed support for elements of this proposal during his last reelection campaign, rebuffed several requests to include a discussion of the resolution on an agenda for the Special Education Committee that he chairs.
During a contentious meeting of the Community Advisory Council (CAC) in May, the District forced a reading of the proposed resolution to be removed from the announcements portion of the meeting. However, an end run around the LAUSD's prohibition was found by having a person who is not a committee member read it into the record during public comment. This provided an opportunity to ask visiting School Board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin about the proposal later during her Q&A session.
Franklin's initial reaction to the proposal was that it has "a lot of resolves." Given that I wrote this resolution after years of advocacy on behalf of families that have children with Special Education needs, it does, admittedly, cover a lot of ground. This does not mean that it should be considered an all-or-nothing proposal. Passing any part of the resolution would improve how services are provided and would be a win for families who are desperately in need of a victory. If Franklin is more comfortable with "resolutions with three to five resolves", I am eager to sit down with her to discuss which aspects of my proposal she is most comfortable pursuing. The parts that are left behind could always be addressed at a later date.
What was concerning about Franklin's response was what seemed like a casual acceptance that some resolutions are not implemented, that the "Board can pass a resolution that sits on the shelf." While it is important to work with the Superintendent to ensure that proposals are written so that their intentions are clear, the policies set by elected representatives should never be considered to be optional. Board members should not be asking the Superintendent or his team if a resolution "is actually something that they would do." The Superintendent reports to the elected board and it is his job to implement policies that they have enacted.
In concluding her remarks, Franklin indicated that she is "happy to look more closely at [the proposed resolution] and to follow up." The longer it takes, the more children with Special Education needs and the community that supports them will be harmed. Right now students are being denied the benefits of programs with proven results, district staff is being prohibited from giving parents the advice that they need and school communities are being decimated. They are all depending on Franklin to follow through and provide action.
You can support the district's most vulnerable children by signing the petition asking the Board to pass the proposed "Improving Special Education Within the LAUSD" resolution.
Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs. He was elected to the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and is the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.
