My daughter is in special ed, I have a question regarding her rights...?

Question

She has been in special ed since 2nd grade-she is now in 4th. She is getting caught up but she has at least another year in it to get caught up to grade level. Anyway the situation is she is in a new school this year and has been handing in all of her homework to her special ed teacher-she has 3 subjects or so with her and 1 or 2 with the regular teacher. The regular teacher called on Fri. stating that my daughter was failing spelling b/c she hadn't handed in any homework. My daughter told her it was handed into the spec. ed teacher. Instead of waiting until Mon. when the spec. ed teacher would be back the regular teacher decided to punish my daugheter explaining to her in front of her class not once but twice that she was out of all the "FUN" activities for the day. This made my daughter cry and she was humiliated in front of the class. Yesterday the reg. teacher found out she had turned in all homework to the spec. ed teacher and I said they needed to apologize to my daughter

in front of the same class she was humiliated in front of. Now both teachers are mad- they did apologize but both are being extrememly hateful and saying I am questioning their teaching abilities. I think this has gone a bit far and I got the principal involved just to get the apology to my daughter. Are they breaking any of her rights by treating her this way when she did nothing wrong?

I'm referring to her special education student rights.

Answer 1

To err is human to forgive devine. However when it comes to our kids the margin of error must be removed. Her regular teacher is suffering from what many teachers suffer from. They have God syndrome. In other words this is my classroom and I run it and punish the students as I see fit. What she also suffers from is poor social skills that should have been developed when her teacher was a child. That is something she will have to learn by herself.

Several failings are present here they are:
Her Special Ed teacher dropped the ball when she received the homework. She should have either turned it in to the regular teacher or instructed your child to take them and turn them into her regular teacher. I am sure she/he felt bad and apologized sincerely to her. Maybe not in front of the class as you would have liked. But the one who needs to is the regular teacher.

The regular teacher is taking this as a chalenge to the way she is running her class. Obviously her parents lacked in parenting skills when was needing them most. Dignity and Respect are two simple words but when they are used as they are supposed to they are very powerful. Everyone is entitled to dignity and respect. The regular teacher failed in this regard when she did not believe her about her turning it into her special ed teacher. A plausible scenario---> You turned it into your sped teacher? Yes Ma'am. Well she is not here now to verify that you have indeed turned it in. So I am going to have to trust you that what you are telling me is correct. Monday when she gets back to school I am going to ask her and see if she has it. Now you know if she doesn't and you haven't been turning in your homework then there will have to be consequences. And explain the consequences. This would also be a great time to explain to your child that she should start turning her homework for her class into her regular teacher. Can you handle that? Can you turn in your homework for me into me from now on?

Odds are if she had done this she would have touched not only her but all the other students in her class as well. And they would remember her when they are in their late years. I remember vividly several of my teachers for the way they treated me. They empowered me like no other.

Regular teachers are not as aware of the needs and rights of students in special ed as a sped teacher is. Since your child is in special ed she has more rights than regular students. You need to contact the Sped Director of your school district. If your district does not have one ( I am sure they do due to the possible violations of the many rights of sped students. Their job is to make sure the district is compliant with all the rules and regs as well as securing all available funding from state and federal agencies.) Contact the Sped Director for your state and he/she can help. If this is still going nowhere then the next level is called "Protection and Advocacy" P&A for short. The "Special" population has a strong advocacy in this organization. Teachers, principals, police officers, judges often have their god complex and will tell the "offending" individual with special needs that it doesn't work in their court/beat/school/classroom. But once you contact them and they contact the real offending person then you will see a marked difference. Last year a friend from a bulletin board had his daughter who was stricken with some disease that left her in a wheelchair being mistreated in the school disrict. Everywhere from the school bus to the classroom. He even went and bought two wheelchairs. One to get her to the bus and the other left at the school for her to use once she got there. Her teacher would make her leave her chair out in the hallway because it was too much trouble for her to "make accomodations". I had been begging him threatening him to contact the ADA and P&A to get some relief. He tried to handle it by meeting with the principla the board the teaxchers etc... He finally broke down and called ADA. They had a meeting where they decided to buy a special scool bus to handle wheelchairs. They took the teacher aside and informed her that she can rearrange her room and she should do so cheerfully from now on. When the bus arrives there is someone there at the bus to assist her. The principal called her father and met with him and told him if there was anything else she needed to please call him immediately and he would fix whatever needed fixing.

Now I was taught that when handling students that every moment is a teachable moment. Maybe not at that time but when the heat disapates you can refer back to it. Why am I saying this? Because you as the mother are modelling the behaviors your child will eventually come to exhibit. You can talk to your daughter and explain to her that her teacher obviously did not have the teachings you are wanting to teach her. So tell her she did nothing wrong and it was not her fault. Tell her we would have liked the teacher to have handled it differently but she didn't. Talk to her and ask her if she was in the teachers shoes what she would have done. No she won't be able to fully grasp everything so you will have to help her along through the scenario. Above all try to help her to see it could have been handled gracefully. You are sorry her teacher made her cry. She is going to meet people that are not as nice as we would have liked. Tell her how you want her to handle it... Maybe wait until a break or ask to go to the office later and give you a call.

Above all teach your baby... Every moment is a teachable moment... And there is a lot of good advice peppered throughout all the answers... Harvest the good portions especially attending the IEP meetings. Individual Education Plan for your child. Otherwise she may be susecptible to a lazy sped official who will cookie cutter a plan for her.

Good luck lady and God bless...

Answer 2

They are absolutely trespassing on her rights, not just as a special education student, but as a human being.

Look at the Accommodations and Modifications page on your IEP. Make sure that all of these are being implemented in the classroom. If there aren't any, you need to call for an IEP immediately and get some accommodations for her disability written into the IEP.

One thing that happens when students are included in the general education classroom is that they don't receive enough support from the Special Ed teacher. It sounds like this is happening. Check for the percentage of time she is supposed to be getting each day. Ask the Special Education teacher what her caseload is. Many inclusion schools try to get rid of teachers when they include kids, so she may have a high caseload.

In addition to demanding an apology, insist that these professionals get together and plan how your child is to be served. If the principal does not give you satisfaction, call the Superintendant. That will perk up their ears.

It is great that you advocate for your child. Even if she didn't turn in her homework, there is no excuse for humiliation. This kind of thing is something a child will remember all of their lives. Can you move her to another school?

Answer 3

I don't know if teachers have any rights but i do know that they might go past there boundaries. What they should have done was to take your daughter out side the class room and discusse with her why she didn't turn in her homework, or the best option was to visit the special ed teacher. A teacher does sometimes humiliate a student, but the second time is just hateful. What i suggest is a meeting between the teachers and the principals so that you can know whats going on in there class rooms and try to figure out a way to deal with this conflicts without your daughter getting humiliated

Answer 4

They may be treading on her special education rights as well as her civil rights. Any student with/ or without a disability does not deserve to be humiliated in front of the class. Teachers can obviously have consequences but they should be dealt fairly and matter of factly not with public humiliation. The general education teacher and special education teacher are charged with the duty of working collaboratively to make sure all program modification, accommodations and educational strategies are implemented as seamlessly as possible across your child's educational settings. Getting the principal involved is the right thing to do because she is the supervisor for these teachers. If you do not feel that the principal addresses your concerns with the teachers adequately then there is usually a district wide uniform complaint process and you can file a formal complaint against the teacher. Contact the district office to find out their complain procedures if they cannot resolve the problem at the site level.

Answer 5

As a former special ed. teacher, I am appalled at the reg. ed. teachers behavior. First off--the special ed. room is not just a "fun" room. Children do much learning there and I resent the implication that spec.ed. teachers don't teach. Second--where is the communication among teachers?? It should have been established from the get go that your daughter turn in all homework to the spec.ed. teacher. If there was a miscommunication on the reg.ed part, she should have clarified it with the spec.ed. before making an example of your daughter. Darn right she should apologize!! I would also suggest calling a meeting between you, spec.ed, reg. ed., and the principal to clarify where all assignments should be turned in. If necessary, add it to your daughters IEP; then there's no question. Best of luck and continue to advocate for your child!!

Answer 6

An IEP gives you the right to call the "team " together anytime you wish to make modifications to the IEP. This happened before with my son. His teachers would get confused about the work and where it was and so forth. This is just an unfortunate flaw in public school systems. If you want the teachers to be fair to you, (cause it sounds like they really aren't) You must stand up for your childs education and call for an evaluation. If you don't go to IEP meetings and be an active part of the "team" it will be easy for the teachers to dismiss you or feel that you are not really an important part of the team. As far as the teachers go.. well, you just have to be on top of it, or they will ignor you. Key word here is:TEAM so make sure you stay part of it and bring up concerns like these. You can call the special education supervisor anytime and ask for a meeting to discuss any issue concerning the IEP. This keeps teacher, intervention specialist, principal, behavior coach, IEP supervisor, and you all on the same page. Also, she can tell you if there are parent mentors who can help you. You just have to remember.. ASK.. cause it's not stuff they will just throw at you.

Answer 7

I agree with Angie that a meeting between you and both teachers and the principal needs to happen. Often times, the teacher doesn't see from the child's perspective, and YOU need to be your child's advocate.

It sounds like, and understandably so, this incident has gotten emotionally charged, judging by both teachers' defensiveness.

I am appalled by the regular ed teacher's handling of this issue. It sounds like she doesn't show enough respect to listen to her students when they tell her things. I would call a meeting specifically to find out how miscommunications are going to be avoided by these teachers in the future. Your daughter suffered an unpleasant experience making her feel punished for being in special ed.

If I were the parent or even the teacher, I would have bought separate folders for each teacher, or label the subject folder clearly with each teacher's name so you daughter doesn't get confused.

To not apologize to your daughter dismisses her feelings. Your daughter needs to understand, and it should come from BOTH teachers that they made the mistake, and are sorry that your daughter got caught in the middle of it. To not do so is disregarding your daughter's feelings.

Answer 8

Unfortunately, they are not trespassing on her special education rights, but they are certainly not treating her respectfully. An apology is definitely an afterthought. Why use her as an example? That is cruel. I think perhaps the teacher needs to rethink their class handling techniques to consider the feelings of the child. Being is Special Ed is frustrating enough without being singled out. I would let them know you are not questioning their teaching skills as much as you are questioning their humanity. They are already mad, as I am sure you are and as you might be able to tell, so am I.

An apology isn't enough. A change in the way the teacher handles future situations would somewhat rectify. Your daughter is not to be made an example of specifically. Any good teacher should know that. It won't motivate anyone, only depress and demotivate the target.

grrrrrrrr

Answer 9

Your child has the right to be treated as any other student, and in fact, exceptions can be made for her. Check with the State Board of Education, and don't be afraid to call these people to task. I raised a son (now 32) who is extremely intelligent and extremely disbled. It isn't easy, but if you let them know that you KNOW your rights as a parent, they will have to back off. Teachers are not allowed to be cruel. Get an advocate; they are usually a local agency and it costs nothing. But by all means, talk to the State about your rights...and hers. Remind yourself that it's you job to protect your daughter, while not expecting the district to do anymore than is legally insured for your daughter. Don't take bad behavior on the teacher's part lightly. Comfort your child and tell her they were wrong, but often grown ups are wrong. Give her a hug from me.

Answer 10

Whether she is in special ed or not, no one has the "right" to be humiliated like that! Especially in front of peers. I would go to the principal over this! These teachers need to have some disciplinary action!

Does she have an IEP or other special ed plan? If not, she should, and you should have it written in there exactly who she needs to turn in her work to.