CURMUDGUCATION: PA: The Special Ed Funding Triple Whammy

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: The Special Ed Funding Triple Whammy

PA: The Special Ed Funding Triple Whammy

Are you ready for the best explainer yet for the screwed-up state of Pennsylvania's charter funding when it comes to special ed students?  

Here at the Institute, we're fans of the work of Research for Action. The Philly based research group is meticulously independent and well-conceived and executed. We're previously looked at their work on test-based (poverty-punishing) assessment, the failure of cyber-charters, and the astonishing PA gap between students and teachers of color.

Now they've produced a video outlining the troubles with Pennsylvania's formula for funding special ed in charter schools. 

This matters because right now Governor Tom Wolf is trying to fix this, and charter school advocates are screaming that the governor is trying to cut their funding. That's technically a true, but in spirit, it's a lie. PA's charter schools continue to CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: PA: The Special Ed Funding Triple Whammy

The American Rescue Plan is a chance for a new beginning in education and teaching children, especially those with special needs | Eclectablog

The American Rescue Plan is a chance for a new beginning in education and teaching children, especially those with special needs | Eclectablog

The American Rescue Plan is a chance for a new beginning in education and teaching children, especially those with special needs

The following essay was written by Trina Tocco. She is a resident of Royal Oak and has two amazing children who attend Ferndale Public Schools.

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When the pandemic hit, I had to make a choice – either one of my children wouldn’t be able to participate in virtual school because of mental illness or I would have to put my family at risk by bringing additional caregivers who I didn’t know into my home to help with my children so that I could work. I chose to open my home because the risks of an unsafe home with no one to really turn to didn’t seem like an option.

As a single mom trying to work and homeschool my children, it has often felt like I wouldn’t make it through the day. Emergency services like the Oakland County Mobile Youth Crisis line haven’t been available to go into homes since the start of the pandemic. The pediatric mental health hospitals are at full capacity and families are having to wait weeks in hospital waiting rooms for placements to ensure safety for their children and families. What were gaps in supports and services before the pandemic are now gaping holes.

During this pandemic, families like mine with special needs children have needed an adult from the school to be physically present. Unfortunately, given the lack of school staff, the limitations created by social distancing, and the outdated separation of services that are provided by schools versus community mental health agencies, this just wasn’t possible. Instead, I have had to CONTINUE READING: The American Rescue Plan is a chance for a new beginning in education and teaching children, especially those with special needs | Eclectablog

Texas: SPEDx Whistleblower Laurie Kash Was Right, and She’s Been Paying for It Ever Since. | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Texas: SPEDx Whistleblower Laurie Kash Was Right, and She’s Been Paying for It Ever Since. | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Texas: SPEDx Whistleblower Laurie Kash Was Right, and She’s Been Paying for It Ever Since

In August 2017, Laurie Kash was hired by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) as its director of special education.

Her immediate supervisor was Justin Porter, who was then the executive director of special populations. (One year later, in August 2018, Porter assumed Kash’s job, which sat vacant for nine months following Kash’s firing in November 2017).

On the day after Kash filed a complaint with the US Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) against TEA, Kash was fired (date of complaint: November 21, 2017; Kash’s firing: November 22, 2017).

Kash’s OIG complaint11-21-17Download

Kash’s complaint (see above) concerned a no-bid contract for special education services by a then-newly-created vendor, SPEDx, whose founder, Richard Nyankori, had a personal connection to Porter’s immediate supervisor, Penny Schwinn, TEA’s chief deputy commissioner of academics.

So, right off the bat, this situation became dicey for Kash, for she was concerned about impropriety related to her supervisor’s supervisor. Kash alerted Porter of her concerns, and she spoke about those concerns with a Texas parent group, Texans for Special Education reform (TxSER). Porter did not like this, and Schwinn found out and approached Porter about Kash’s verbalizing her concerns.

On November 03, 2017, Porter formally reprimanded Kash for not reporting her concerns “through appropriate channels,” and Schwinn verbally reprimanded CONTINUE READING: Texas: SPEDx Whistleblower Laurie Kash Was Right, and She’s Been Paying for It Ever Since. | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog