Special Ed Students at Risk
Pieces in a ParentsTogether’s art installation in August at the U.S. Capitol, which showed the anxieties and hopes of children during the pandemic. The picture on the right was created by Ellery, 7, from Cincinnati, while the other was drawn by 6-year-old Coredae Schmidt of Kansas. Images courtesy of ParentsTogether
Special Education Students Still Waiting for Help as New School Year Starts
Like many parents, Lynn Gabriel of Los Angeles has found keeping her 6-year-old son on track with school to be a grueling endeavor during the pandemic. Last spring, between the two half-hour classes a week and worksheets exchanged on Google Classroom, Gabriel struggled to keep Benjamin engaged.
He missed his friends and basketball games at the park, but there were even more challenges. Unlike most kids, Benjamin struggles with recall, and one of his eyes has trouble focusing. That has made learning how to read frustrating for him as well as for his mother.
“I’ll tell him to sound it out,” Gabriel said. “I say, ‘Look at the word.’ But I don’t know what he sees. He learns differently, and I have no tools to figure it out.”
But over the past five months the single mom has been unable to get help from her local school district.
Many districts up and down California have not assessed students with disabilities in months, preventing them from obtaining services they need during the destabilizing times of the pandemic.
Many districts up and down California have not assessed students with disabilities in months, preventing them from obtaining services they need during the destabilizing times of the pandemic.
Prompted by stay-at-home orders and a hastily passed state law in March, many districts up and down California have not assessed students with disabilities in months, preventing them from obtaining services they need during the destabilizing times of the pandemic. Benjamin, a Los Angeles boy who will start first grade on Tuesday, is facing another year of distance learning.
As a result, although students like Benjamin and thousands like him start school remotely in Los Angeles County on Tuesday, educational CONTINUE READING: Special Ed Students at Risk - LA Progressive
