Stuff like this gets under my skin.

Bibb BOE opposes proposed bill
Jullie Hubbard

Bibb County school board members said Saturday they oppose Senate Bill 10, and they are preparing to write a letter of opposition to send to local delegates as the bill is debated.
The proposed legislation would allow certain students with disabilities enrolled in public schools to apply for vouchers to attend private schools. The proposal was sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson of Savannah.
State funds that pay for student services would go to private schools under the proposal.
Currently, Bibb County serves about 2,800 students with disabilities.
If the proposed bill is approved, school board members fear private schools may be established to enroll these students only for the money and may not provide adequate services.
Some parents of students with less severe disabilities also could abuse the program to enroll in a private school, board members said.
“What will keep a private school from cherry picking our students,” said board member Albert Abrams. “That’s something we all need to be concerned about.”

Just prior to this article in the local paper’s Education feed there is an article about the BOE facing having to close two schools due to low attendance/ enrollment. Below that there is an article about the BOE falling $20 million short on project funds for building and renovation projects that were supposed to be completely funded by a penny sales tax.

Tell me this is not about the money and is truly about genuine concern for disabled students. I dare you. If they are truly concerned that “cherry picking” of students was really that big of a concern then why in the hell do they sell the mailing list for all 5th grade students and 8th grade students to local private schools? Of course, no one ever brings this up when the promo mailers for the schools start arriving during the tail end of the school year for those students.

If they are that concerned why don’t they put more effort into community involvement in the areas where they are going to face closing two schools and turn them into schools for children with disabilities. Oh. That’s right, it would contradict their policy of full classroom integration where possible. We would want the special needs teacher teams they have at every school to do anything more than run one or two classrooms and just sit and observe in the back of a classroom now and then.

Boy #1 has an Other Health Impaired IEP due to his bipolar disorder and accompanying sensory problems. Not once since his IEP was created have I heard from his “Exceptional Students” special services teacher. I’ve called several times and left messages requesting updates on his progress and to see if he’s been showing any signs of his usually seasonal aspects and to just make sure if all is well for him at school. Not a single call or letter has been responded to. When I have voiced concern about this with school personnel, I am always told that they are so busy they must have forgotten.

So I dare anyone to tell me that their concerns can be traced back to anything but money. If a certain percentage of your property tax and sales tax are appropriated to school funding, wouldn’t you expect better job performance? If you were an employer would you pay an employee a top salary for a job poorly performed? How long would you put up with an unwillingness to perform job duties when you have given them many chances in a very appropriate HR manner?

And as a parent, wouldn’t you expect the very best possible for your child? Not just the “Gifted” children deserve quality education to allow them to be challenged and excel to the best of their ability. Quite often most disabled students are also very “gifted” and yet they are not given the same opportunities as other “gifted” children. If another school can do a better job and the BOE doesn’t want to lose their funding, they really, truly need to make better efforts and better opportunities available. The “gifted” children in our district have opportunities to apply to attend district funded, staffed and maintained schools for The Arts and Math & Science. Those kids are thriving and so are the neighborhoods where they are located, which in at least one of those neighborhoods, it wasn’t previously a desirable place to be. And then there is the Alternative School, certain “problem” children are required to attend for a period of time. You’ve got to wonder how many of those children are not just suffering from neglect and abuse at home but are also undiagnosed with various disabilities.

Before the BOE starts complaining about cherry picking they need to stop selling the mailing address lists to local private schools and they need to tell us, the taxpayers in this district just how they plan to make it better for disabled students.