By donning your advocate’s superhero cape, you improve your advocacy, gain school district respect and make positive, systemic change. Read more in IDEAs on Education in The Jolt.
It’s that time of year again! The gifts have been given, the family has gathered, houses are still glowing with the joy that only twinkling lights can bring, and parents are blowing up my phone demanding to file for due process.
Stop. Breathe. Take a walk. Breathe some more.
Due...
Once upon a time, individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities had no choice but to endure these limitations. It didn’t matter if they spoke up; no one listened.
Life was just like that, until … Read more in IDEAs on Education in The Jolt.
My child is a third grader in NTPS. He has a 504 Plan for ADHD and dyslexia. He gets in trouble a lot for playing and not paying attention, and he won’t do his work. The teachers have started sending him to the office because of his behavior, so he is missing out on class and doesn’t...
“When I read the Procedural Safeguards,” said a foster parent of a child with an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan), “I didn’t know that Yelm had to follow state laws. I thought it was only the federal government.” Read more in IDEAs on Education in The Jolt.
Ask artificial intelligence (AI) about special education, and the online oracle has been trained to respond with such delightful phrases as, “navigating a maze” and “demystifying the jargon.” This is accurate: I have two master's degrees in education, and I still...
The Changing Faces of Our Schools
According to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s, or OSPI’s, school district report cards, the number of students enrolled in the North Thurston, Olympia and Tumwater school districts declined by 1,035 students between 2018 and...
