Overview:
This veteran educator discusses the systemic disregard for special education laws urges educators to courageously advocate for themselves and their most vulnerable students.
At the beginning of my teaching career, I benefited from the fierce advocacy of veteran teachers who advocated for students and staff. I was very empowered by their support. As they retired, I often found myself being the only person willing to stand up for our most vulnerable students: students with disabilities and students from low-income families. As we reclaim our peace in education, it is critical that we as teachers have the courage and support to advocate for ourselves and students.
Blatant Disregard for Students and the Law
The following federal law requires that all teachers have access to a child’s IEP: 34 CFR 300.323(d)(1)(2)(i-ii). It is unheard of for a special education teacher to be denied access to IEPs for students they teach. This actually happened to me. Unbeknownst to me, I had a student who wore an assistive listening device. I walked into class one day, and a school staff member said, “Oh by the way, use this device, because he wears a listening device.” If I had access to the student’s IEP, I would have known this information. Fortunately, I tend to speak loudly when I teach, or else the student probably would not have heard everything taught during the lessons.
The disregard for adhering to special education laws is not uncommon in low socioeconomic communities. Parents and guardians in such communities are less likely to be aware of special education laws, and have access to resources that will support them with advocating for the rights of their children who have special needs.
Advocacy for Students is Scary
Advocating for students, with school leaders who don’t seem to care about students with special needs, can be intimidating and scary. I have observed things that have taken place at schools that clearly violated laws and were detrimental to the social-emotional well-being of students. It was traumatizing to witness students being placed in isolation rooms when they were not a danger to self or others, only for punitive purposes. I will never forget, hearing the screeching cry of a young student who has autism, who was assigned to serve an after school detention. Every student in the building had gone home for the day. The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act requires that students receive a Free and Appropriate Public Education. This certainly was not part of an appropriate public education.
Some school leaders will use intimidation tactics to discourage you from reporting violations of special education law. I have experienced being threatened face-to-face by a school leader, because I notified other school leaders about violations of special education laws. This school leader came to my classroom, made me meet with him in the hallway, and indirectly threatened me in a manner that made me feel like he was a leader of a gang. He told me, “Don’t worry about what’s going on in my school. I want you to know that I know people.”
Taking Advantage of Vulnerable Populations
Many students who come from low-income homes, do not have parents/guardians with the financial means to hire special education advocates and attorneys. Some school leaders take advantage of this misfortune. I have attended IEP meetings and observed
the facilitator of the meeting(a school leader) say things that were not in the best interest of students, and carry out procedures that do not align with best practices in special education. Having had fear of retaliation, I would have to stay silent, or possibly suffer the consequences of the school leader’s abuse of power.
There was an instance when I was courageous enough to verbalize my disagreement with the special education team. They wanted to send a student to a separate school for students with severe behavioral issues. The student was technically being educated in the general education setting with resource minutes. Because I mentioned that we were not adhering to LRE, the team changed their vote to keep the student in his current setting. The student had not been provided, per his IEP, with any in-school counseling services.
His previous IEPs noted that his behavior did not negatively impact his learning or the learning of others. The student was scheduled to graduate from eighth grade a few months after the IEP meeting, which means that he would not have been allowed to graduate with his classmates. The student was in foster care at the time of the meeting. When the team agreed to allow the student to stay at the school, the student gave me a high five. Some of the administrators, and ironically the school social worker, met me with overt frowns and eye-rolling.
Action Steps
Email is a very effective manner of documenting your efforts to make school leaders aware of violations related to special education laws. I always followed the chain of command. Notify your immediate supervisor of your concerns, and if necessary notify the top school official and the members of the school board. If no one has resolved your concerns, it is appropriate to file a report with a government agency, as I did. I also recommend the following:
- Seek emotional support from family and friends.
- Seek assistance from a mental health professional, if needed.
- Be sure to have a work-life balance.
- Know that students may not always be able to express their gratitude for your advocacy, but they will never forget how you stood up for them.
There is Hope For Passionate Special Educators
It has given me an overwhelming sense of joy to have had the opportunity to advocate for students who were being failed and mistreated while attending certain educational institutions. In my current position, I work for administrators who genuinely respect students with special needs and special education teachers. I encourage all educators to advocate peacefully for your students, and to eventually find a school that is a great fit for you. Peace in education is not found in silence, it’s reclaimed in courageous truth-telling, in finding allies, and in choosing a workplace where everyone is treated with the utmost dignity and laws are respected. I have reclaimed my PEACE in education, and encourage you to do the same.
Dr. Corie Rivera has been in the field of education for more than twenty years. He has been a strong advocate for students with special needs. He has the following graduate-level degrees: Doctor of Psychology in Educational Psychology, M.Ed. in Educational Administration, M.A. in Special Education, and an M.A. in School Counseling. He has served in the following roles: special education teacher, principal, assistant principal, and school counselor. Has has also taught university courses to pre-service teachers at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
