Santa Monica withholds school funds over special ed dispute
April 23rd, 2008Parents allege district fostered a culture of coercion and fear
From the Santa Monica Lookout:
The Santa Monica City Council declined to release some $500,000 in funding to the local school district this week after hearing that some parents may have been coerced into signing “confidentiality clauses” in order to assure services for their children with disabilities.
The emotional meeting left two council members in tears over allegations that school district wrongdoing created a culture of fear that left special ed parents ashamed, frustrated and powerless to help their children. City Council member Bobby Shriver said he was glad his mother, Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, was not in attendance. “She would have lost it,” he said.
School district superintendent Dianne Talarico declined to say she would take extreme disciplinary measures if she found staff had lied when they assured her that parents had requested the confidentiality clauses. She told the council she might not be able to stay for all the parent testimony because “I have oodles of work to do.”
See earlier post here.
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on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 3:37 pm and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, advocacy, parents, special education.
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April 24th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
“. . . oodles of work to do”???????????
And it’s NOT your job to oversee the disentangling of THIS debacle (and flagrant violation of state and federal law)? What part of the title Superintendent did you fail to sign off on?
No wonder this school district is having problems.
Sorry for the contempt, but it is so hard to conceal sometimes.