Sounds like you know the law and your students needs well and you are not getting support from you boss except the challenge to ';figure it out';.
My ';figure it out'; would be to go over and around your boss' head!
It will take effort -- but you are your students best advocate! Enlist the help of others and deligate authority to parents. You may be able to get a parent or two to volunteer a bit in the interim.
1. Talk to parents in very calm objective terms - let them get angry and take action talking to ';boss';, school board, etc. Some parents may be already overwhealmed with daily life, but others may be ready and willing to advocate.
2. Talk to any members of the school board you can in very calm objective terms about how you would like to be able to do your job well and are concerned about parent suing the district for not providing for their kids.
3. Contact the local ';intermediate unit'; or county level educational resource office - explain the situation in a professions manner and humbly ask their advice on how you could meet the needs without an aide - they may have some resources to hire an aide which the ';boss'; has not taken time to look into. They could even meet with you and the special ed coordinator to work out a specific plan -- they may be able to demand that the school board meet and make $$ available.
4. Local lawmakers in your state - find one that might champion the cause of special needs kids - do any of them have a child w/special needs? Invite the parents to write letters to school board, count, %26amp; state send them in a packet to officials along with copies of drawings or photos of projects the class has made - (if you include a class photo be sure to get parental consent)
Whatever you choose to do, may God bless you and allow you to use your learning and talent well for these special children!A true question about Special Education.....What should I do?
I think the law requires a certian student to teacher ratio. I think it might be 5 to 1. Check into the law and see if that would give you back your aide.
Good Luck!
Sounds like your district has more than liklely gone against the IEP for every student in your class as I am sure the amount of one on one time they are to have is clearly stated. The first thing I would do is review every IEP and send a letter to the district pointing out how the loss of your aide has led to these violations. Be clear, use direct quotes from the IEPs. Be sure to send copies to the admin in your own school. I would also send a copy to the special education compliance office for your district as well as one directly to the superintendent of schools and each member of the school board. Include copies of the schedule you could maintain with the aide as well as the various schedules you have tried to implement, but found ineffective and unsuable. Include any documentation from the Program Support officer and, if there is none, ask for a written letter explaining their decsions and feelings on the situation. Keep copies of everything. If the system still refuses to do anything, it may be time to talk with the parents of the students. You will need to do this ';unofficially';...calling them on the weekend or arranging to meet with them off school property, However, my bet is you won't need to contact them. Once they realize that the class has lost the aide and that services are being affected, my bet is they will start asking questions. Answer them simply and honestly and have ready all the contact names and numbers they will need to file formal complaints!
As for creative groupings...only you will know what may or may not work, Anything you try, document the results so you may submit those as proof supporting the return to the origianl structure of the class. The only other idea I can offer is to see if you can possibly have volunteers come in to assist you. Contact the PTA, local colleges that have special education degree programs, etc. And finally, insist that your boss come in and spend at least half a day in the class. Ask him to sit with you and find a plan to accomodate his demands, while maintaining the IEP required levels.
It truely angers and saddens me that our teachers are now being forced to ignore IEP's and the school expects them to just go with it. Many teachers are worried they will negatively impace thier careers if they openly fight the school system. No one wants to see that. If you truely feel there is a risk of negative reprecussions, contact your local union rep. Explain the situation, out line what you have done to try and resolve it and ask what they can do to help. My bet is that is this not only a violation of the kid's IEP's, it is violating your contract as well.
I wish you the best of luck. Thank you for being one of the wonderful people who love our special kids,
talk to the parents Federal law requires an appropriate education for these kid if there are not enough teachers that is not appropriate . Contact the parents even if it's just one that you can trust if your worried about your job. Let them put pressure on the administrators to cut something else ! wonder how many asst coaches the football or basketball team has?
go back to your boss with the problem and lay it all out for her. the problem here is the sstudent to teacher ratio ';laws'; are being totally ignored !! i have kids in sp.ed. i know the problems you face. tell her that the only solution you can come up with is to sendletters home with the child asking for volunteer helpers and explain to them what the school district did. then your boss will hopefully see the light - the parents are going to bi**h and imagine lawsuits on the ';quality of education'; and ect. you really have to show the boss that you tried every kind of scheduling manipulation and it isnt working. by going back to the boss you are also making sure your job is secure because you didnt ';step out of bounds'; and ask parents without bosses approval. oh and not email but face to face ,ask her to come out and observe.
Legally you have to have an aide in your room. You can't have One teacher with 10 students. The district can not legally take away your aide. Let them know that they are breaking the law. If Children and family services knew this the school would be in trouble. The ratio here is 5:1.
You may have been instructed (or encouraged) not to, but I would let the parents know what is going on. If the students' IEPs state the class ratio or an amount of 1:1 time, the school is legally obligated to provide it. Budget cuts or not.
I think that the parents have most of the power in this situation. If they can somehow get together and demand an aide be placed back in your classroom, it will probably happen pretty quickly.
I am surprised that this is happening in Wisconsin. Your state has a pretty good reputation as far as special ed goes.
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