This post about Charter Schools and Special Education has been in my head a while, but I’ve neglected putting it together for several reasons. One is that whenever I post anything that says anything negative about charter schools, I get a ton of hate e-mail. And even if it’s not hate email, I get a bunch of e-mail and comments basically telling me that I am wrong, because their child with an IEP is in a charter school and things are just fabulous.
So since their situation is spectacular, there can’t possibly be any truth to what I’m saying.
So I’ll just say this now: If your child with an IEP is in a charter school and things are going well for you, congrats. No, really, congrats.
You really don’t need to write to me and tell me about it. But your one anecdote of a satisfactory experience does not negate the many other families who have been discriminated against by a charter school. Because here’s the thing: All the time, across this nation, charter schools discriminate against children based upon their disability. And my job here on this blog is to help parents navigate the IEP process to get what their child needs.
Yes, I know some public school personnel do this as well, I get that. But we live in a country where charter schools drain our public districts of funding, they are held less accountable and because they are “schools of choice” they get away with it more. And, to be fair, I address discrimination and unfair behavior by the public schools in this blog all.the.time. And yet, when I criticize public districts for the way they handle some situations, there is no pitchfork mob. Honestly, Special Education Advocates just wish that their jobs would become obsolete and not needed. Really, we do!
Charter schools often have an “application process” rather than an “enrollment process” and some are sold and marketed as a “tuition free school of choice” and other similar phrases, therefore sometimes people think that they are private schools. They are not. They need to follow the same federal laws as your public schools. The same applies to cyber charters.
So there you go, two more instances where a parent has been told that there child must either return to their home district or pay for their own para! Imagine that! Hiring your own staff.
Rather than give these moms a few quick tips on what to do, I decided to take the bull by the horns and do this long overdue post.
Here are steps you can take if your child with disabilities has been discriminated against by a charter school. This also includes bullying of parents.
The first thing I did was to contact a Special Education Attorney who I am friends with. This is his response.
Hi Lisa,
The law is clear that charters cannot discriminate in any way that is illegal for a school district.
IDEA applies in the same way to charter schools.
That is so outrageous and I’d be interested in talking with those parents.
Ok, now I felt validated (because honestly, I hear these stories so often that I start to doubt my own knowledge and sanity. So I poked around the internet some more and found this:
The Facts on Charter Schools and Students with Disabilities-this is an excellent read and I highly recommend it.
Charter Schools and kids with disabilities-That is a great little booklet that you can read, download or print.
Ok, so now that we’ve all read the law several different times over, it’s pretty clear, right? So what do you do? (please note, I am speaking about disabilities here, but any type of discrimination of a protected class is illegal.)
Before I begin, I feel I must tell you, even though you are in the right and on the side of the law, you might be met with resistance, more discrimination and more bullying. For example, one time I knew of a student in a charter school, mom and attorney pushed for the Charter to meet his needs. One of many incidents was the school personnel telling ALL the kids, “Sorry kids! No field trips this year because of Anonymous Student. His special needs took all our money.” Except they named him, yes, really.
Sure, you can push back on even more retaliation, but the damage was done. I’m all for fighting the good fight. But it’s a lot to consider and there is no shame in not wanting to put your family through this (which is why they get away with it…sigh). No matter which path you take, even if you prevail, your child still may not be welcomed with open arms. He/she may still be treated with disdain and resentment.
What to do if your child with disabilities has been discriminated against by your charter school
I’m going to break this down into several paths you can take. But first, a first step that every parent must do-DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. If someone says something to you in person or on the phone, follow up with an email. “Dear so-and-so, I just wanted to clarify what you said today. It is my understanding that….(and recount the conversation).” If they do not refute it, it stands as truth (in eyes of the law). Whether you have been blatantly told that “Your child’s needs cannot be met here” or you feel that there is a pattern of bullying and discrimination, you need to start your paper trail of incidents that happen.
You can also force them into documentation, because at some point they will have to present you with an IEP and NOREP/PWN that would either be inappropriate or recommend a change of placement. I would try my best to get them to document specifically which needs they are saying they cannot/will not meet.
Now, you have some documentation, you have two options. Stay and fight, or do what the charter school wishes and return to your home district. There are many valid reasons to do both.
Choosing to go back to home district:
- child has siblings and/or friends there
- you do not have the energy or resources to fight the fight (path of least resistance)
- do not want your child in a school where you (likely) may have constant battles to get him/her what they need
- why would you want your child in a school that truly does not want him/her?
- Even if you choose this option, please consider a few options below, such as notifying legislators why “you felt you had no choice but to return to my home district” and tell them what is going on. They need to know.
Choosing to fight the battle with the charter school:
- because it’s the law and they have to accommodate him
- help the greater good, clear path for next child
- child has siblings and/or friends there
- not happy with home district, like the mission of this school
Once you make your choice, there are more options. Of course returning to your home district is an option and that’s pretty easy to implement. Withdraw from one, enroll in another, done! But if you choose to stay and fight the fight, there are a few things you can do and I am going to list them in no particular order.
- Call your State’s Disability Protection and Advocacy Agency, ask if they have people who assist with education issues. Explain to them what has happened. Follow their recommendations.
- Call your State’s Department of Education, explain your situation, ask for their assistance.
- Find and call a Special Education Attorney and tell your story. You may or may not be able to find one that will do this pro bono. If you know of other families who have had similar experiences, ask them if they are willing to speak up and do a class action suit.
- Document your incidents. Compose a letter to your Charter School CEO and explain what has happened. Remind them that IDEA applies to charters and ask what they are going to do to remedy the situation. If you’re feeling brave, attend a school board meeting. Ask them ahead of time to be put on the agenda.
- Call your Office of Civil Rights or visit their website and consider filing a claim for ‘denial of FAPE.’
- Research online and see who granted the charter to the school (Varies from state to state). Write to that agency/office and tell them what has happened.
- Research online about your state government and in particular, your State House and State Senate education committees. Write to the chairs of those committees as well as your personal legislators (based on where you live) and tell them what happened. Same letter can be sent to all, you don’t need to keep rewriting it.
- Do the same for your Federal legislators–you have 3: a Congressman/Congresswoman, and two Senators. Look up the House Education Committee and the Senate HELP committee. Contact those committee chairs as well as your personal legislators. School choice is a hot topic right now and it is important that they know this. (side note: and school choice, as it stands right now, discriminates against our kids, which is why I do not support it)
- Call your local/regional offices of both your Senators and your Congress Rep. Explain to them what happened, point out that they are in violation of IDEA and 504, and ask what they can do.
No matter what you choose to do, no matter how determined you are, find a support group. Whether that be a close group of friends and family who are local or a Facebook group, you’re going to want people to pre-read your letters and give you support along the way.
Good luck, Moms and Dads, and keep us posted.
More IEP advice for parents:
What to do when your child is suspended from school {with or without an IEP/504}.
More on school choice:
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Lori Henderson says
Choose your charter school wisely. Pick one that is well established. Charter schools are operating on a shoestring budget and new ones can be literally put out of business by extra expenses. I am not defending them, but this is why there is push back sometimes. Not that they don’t want to do the best they can, but they are fighting to stay afloat and the admin answers to a board. As a parent, you want to put your student in a school that will be ABLE to fulfill their responsibilities. I am an Ed Specialist working in my second charter school, and I see all the time where the school is limited by no resources. Right now 3 students are being represented by the same lawyer – all 3 were just Id’d as ADHD and the lawyer is asking for an IEE. No reason I can see for this, as we just ID’d them and suggested services so there’s no way to judge whether or not the accommodations are sufficient. This is costing the school 15,000 dollars, all which must be financed because there is no money. The school has small classes, lots of great field trips and outside speakers, but operates very close to the red line. They sell snacks to raise money. So my advice is BEFORE you decide to put your student in a charter, do your research on them. Go to a board meeting if you can; they will have a treasurer’s report. Don’t assume that they just don’t want to give services – it may just be a crippling expense for them. Even if I want to suggest services for my more severely impacted kids I know I’m going to meet some resistance. Another reason is that all of the specialists are stretched very thin – OT, AT, Psychs, Ed Specialists – whereas a district school has more resources and with the right pressure might be able to give your student more of what he or she needs. As a point of reference, I myself have ADHD and am the parent of two ADHD kids, now grown. Not loving the charter system, but love my kids and colleagues. I feel like there was a better outcome in the district schools, though.
Steve Wohlman says
I tried to put my special needs child (who has an IEP) in a private therapeutic school, and because the school district had their own ‘therapeutic school’ they would not allow it. I did not have the resources to hire an attorney and was pretty much bulldozed into accepting the district school, whose population was more children with discipline/behavioral issues than children like mine with more internal/anxiety and social communication issues. As it turns out, he did fine. However, his set of friends has changed and are not the children I would have preferred him to hang out with. I’m taking it a day at a time…
Lisa says
And this is exactly why I am a huge proponent AGAINST school choice as it is being presented to us right now. We cannot just create two parallel systems and “may the strongest survive.” I often use the analogy: Take your household budget. Now, with that money, you must run two households.
It can’t, and won’t work.
In concept, I like the idea of charter schools. But if we’re not going to fund either publics or public charters appropriately, then they need to go. Because one set of schools cannot conveniently look the other way when it comes to things like IDEA, to save money. The districts don’t have any money either, and in PA they get ZERO reimbursement for money paid to charters. NONE. Comes right out of the budget, no state or federal reimbursement.
I’m sorry that your school doesn’t have enough money to serve disabled kids. But the law is the law. Your budgetary issues don’t change a kid’s needs.