I just spoke with the secretary of E. White, Director of Office of Special Ed. SHE IS NOT taking phone calls from parents. Only State complaint forms or complaints in writing will be accepted. SEE THE FORM AFTER THE REPORT BELOW or download from mich.gov Department of Education
Get the complaint form from the link:
http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-6530_6598_36168---,00.html
The report below is what I read to the members of the State Board of Education on January 11, 2011. Other parents and concerned citizens voiced their complaints and the State Board called for an investigation of IEP violations. 52 parents rode to Lansing to request that the special ed bus aid layoff / firings is rescinded.
Please see the following and the document attached to circulate to the public. The meeting was televised by Live Feed yesterday. Perhaps someone can find a copy of the feed at mich.gov/sbe
January 11, 2011 Report to the State Board by Aurora Harris-Member of DPS Special Ed Wayne-RESA PAC
To: All Members of the Michigan State Board of Education, Michigan Department of Education Superintendent Michael P. Flanagan
Re: Detroit Michigan’s Parent Concerns and Complaints About DPS Special Education
From: Concerned Parents of Special Ed students in Detroit Public Schools. Contact Carolyn Carter-LSCO Chair at 313 739-7647
1. TRANSPORTATION Safety issues: We are requesting that the layoffs and firings of special education bus attendants are rescinded immediately. We feel that this is a manipulation of the IEP, whereby many of us for up to 20 years have never been asked or told to write that we need a bus attendant for transportation. No notification was given to parents. Robert Bobb wants to save 2 million dollars by placing our children in harms way and treating 5000-7000 special needs students as if their lives are an expendable $400.00
2. There are no bilingual translators at the Welcome Center, in Administration, in schools for enrollment, or at the bus terminals to service non-English speaking students or parents when emergencies arise. We are requesting a bi-lingual emergency hotline and bi-lingual staff and resource persons be reinstated. There is no one to service the blind and hearing impaired. Resources like OT, PT and speech are eliminated. Many parents, principals, and teachers are not aware of the changes to the IEP and have not been trained on the removal of parental consent, the amendment form, and the revocation form. Parents are providing information to the principals and teachers. If we do not have a superintendent for Special Ed, are we to send our amendment forms to State Board of Ed members and Mike Flanagan to sign?
3. Robert Bobb did not inform the parents, the public, or the DPS Board that he has installed a new security system in the schools that scans drivers license and personal information is given to company to run criminal background checks. Two parents have been arrested since January 3, 2011. Parents feel this is a violation of our Constitutional rights and privacy. We are requesting that the State Board of Education provide the parents of the copy of the order or mandate from Homeland Security that Robert Bobb referred to at the January 8, 2011 DPS Board meeting. Parents that refuse to give there license or ID to strangers for scanning are not allowed to enter the building.
4. Why is the Detroit Public schools district targeted as a proving ground for blatant discrimination against special needs students and used to test how many IEP’s can be violated without parents knowledge; how many Federal Laws and IDEA Law can be broken, including the destruction or elimination of Special Education?
5. Who is running our Special Ed department? Several requests for an organizational flow chart are ignored. The DPS website is an example of discrimination under Civil Rights, 504, ADA, and IDEA. Virtually everything on the website concerning special ed is either nonworking, nonexistent, or obsolete.
6. We have requested an accounting of special ed funds that the district received and who is spending it, and what it is spent on, and have been ignored. We want to know who is controlling special ed funds for parent involvement. What is the policy and process for parents to utilize the funds?
7. We would like a full investigation by the Department of Justice, The IRS, and the FBI of all persons, consultants, and companies receiving and spending federal funds for Special Education and Title 1. We request a full audit, and full public report of all Federal funds coming to the District, how the funds were spent, the names of the consultants and companies that were paid.
8. The DTC East vocational school is infested with rats, has 16 doors that need repair, has ADA violations. Parents have not been given any description of the curriculums. Why do we have a Michigan Rehab office in our school that is allowed to hold our students back to age 25, then send them out for training?
9. Why did Robert Bobb cancel the liability insurance on the vocational special needs adults that prevents them from getting vocational training and skills in the community? Why are our children forced to remain in ADA violated and unsafe buildings until the other school is refurbished. We need someone to talk to immediately about this and other concerns.
10. When parents report issues, they are targeted or threatened. If they try to assist, they are told ‘its causing problems.”
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