SPLIT TOPIC: Special education and the City Council race

Advocates for the public (also known as politicians) should make sure that public schools meet the needs of the public. When a politician sends his or her own child to private school, the message being sent is that public schools do not have to meet the needs of the public.

Josh Skaller's web site states:

"As your City Councilman, Josh will:
• Work to increase parent involvement in their children's education
• Advocate for reduced class sizes, so that each student can get the attention he or she needs
• Introduce legislation requiring developers to fund school expansions to accommodate the influx of new students
• Push for teacher salary increases to encourage the best teaching talent to stay in the city
• Work with the mayor's office to increase support for school administrators and establish incentives to recruit and retain the best administrative talent
• Push for a multilingual parent coordinator program"

I don't see anything regarding improving the schools ability to meet the special education needs of students.

Skaller's web site also states, "Parents need to feel that they have a direct stake in their children's education..." By sending their children to private schools, it makes me feel that politicians do not have a stake in public education and are standing on a nice cozy boat yelling over to a sinking, overcrowded ship, "We are with you 100%." Not very comforting.

pokersloper wrote: I was reading about it a few weeks back in one of the local papers. The son was described as having special needs, but the type of special needs was not described.

I was avoiding this post, but I can't stop thinking...

parksloper, it seems your base for suspicion that this guys kid does not have a disability is because he didn't go into details.

Before passing judgment: please tell me you have more basis than this... as I can think of quite a few incredibly legitimate reasons for not publicly describing your child's disabilities!

raulism wrote,

“I just wish people would refrain from judging candidates and even elected officials on tiny scraps of information.”

Part of the problem is that the Skaller campaign released a press release on this private school/public school issue but basically treated it as a scrap of information - it said very little. Since this has become a campaign issue, Mr. Skaller should have come out and said something like, “My son has been diagnosed with (insert diagnosis here) and we do not feel the public schools are equipped to meet his special needs.” Go on record and be clear as to why the public system fails some families - this will help the debate and help make the public schools better. Everyone’s child is special and every child with special needs should have those special needs met. Mr. Skaller should be more forthcoming on this issue, especially since his campaign has played a part in making this an issue.

mpmav1,

Did you really write, "The kid does deserve privacy"? Is this the same kid who had his mother issue a press release about him?

And of course there is the whole issue of Carter cases. This is when a family, often with the aid of a lawyer, receives tuition reimbursement for their child who attends private school.

This 2005 reports states:

“Recent Budget Actions: The Executive Budget not only provides estimates of next year’s funding levels, but also budget changes that have taken place since October. There has been an $84 million increase to the DOE budget, almost half of which comes from increases in special education funding for students in private schools ($23.9 million for contract schools and $17.7 million for Carter Cases).”

The source is: http://edpriorities.org/Info/CityBudget/info_SY0506MayorRecom.html

So, millions of dollars are being diverted out of the public schools and put into private schools, so the public schools are being drained of resources. The Carter cases are a game and a negotiation. Smart families get smart lawyers and they bang out a deal after the child has been tested and retested.

I will wonder aloud if Mr. Skaller’s family receives tuition reimbursement for their son. And I will also wonder aloud about the impact that all of these Carter cases are having on special education in the city.

Mpmav1,

There is nothing shameful about having a special need, which is why there is nothing shameful in publicly discussing special needs. If there is a special need that schools cannot handle, then this should be made public for the good of the public. My guess is that the schools are equipped to educate the Skaller’s son, but that the Skallers know that a private school may do a better job and will have better facilities. So, the question remains, why aren’t the public schools doing a better job, why don’t public schools have better facilities and why aren’t Brooklyn politicians doing a better job of holding the schools accountable? My guess is that if Brooklyn politicians were required to send their children to public schools, the schools would be much, much better.

Additionally, the Brooklyn paper reported:

“In Monday’s debate, Skaller did express a desire to move beyond the issue of where his child goes to school, expressing hope that the “real issues” of education could be discussed.”

Source: http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/32/32_32_gk_josh_skallers_wife_becomes_a_story.html

The real issues? A politician who turns his nose up at the public schools is a real issue. Carter cases are real issues. Draining hundreds of millions of dollars out of public school special education is a huge, real issue. The city spending half of its education budget increase on paying for Carter cases is a real issue. Is Mr. Skaller part of the problem or part of the solution? – that is a real issue. The issues are too important to hide behind family privacy.

Pokersloper, this issue is obviously of paramount importance to you, but to me (as someone who grew up in the NYC public school system), I think it's a pretty minor issue and doesn't warrant violating the privacy of the child.

Carnivore,

I hear you, but this is not minor at all when your job is to educate children with special needs or when you grew up with special needs yourself. I fit both categories. I had significant learning disabilities growing up and the public schools in the early seventies simply couldn't handle it. I was lucky, my parents could afford (with much sacrifice) to send me to private schools and to private educational therapists. But it is 2009 and according to Mr. Skaller, the public schools still can't handle it. It is time that the public schools learned to educate children with special needs and I expect elected officials to show greater leadership in this area. Mr. Skaller is not showing leadership on this issue and appears to be hiding behind privacy issues. There seems to be some doubt as to why the Skaller family even felt the need to issue a press release about their son at all.

Privacy is a real issue, but as an educator and as a former special ed student, dealing frankly and honestly with these issues is, in my opinion, more important.

pokersloper wrote: Mpmav1,

There is nothing shameful about having a special need,

You have got to be kidding me. I know you say you work in a public school, but I was just wondering, have you ever met a kid before?

There is absolutely nothing shameful about having a disability, being overweight, being underweight, being poor, having a disfigurement, having an accent, etc., but hang out on a school playground long enough and you'll realize why loving parents would protect their child from other kids.

Seriously, as someone who, by the way, also worked with special needs kids (in Seattle for 3 years), I can't believe this is new information to you.

Please leave this kid alone.

raulism wrote: [quote=LongTimeSloper]i really like josh Skaller but,his children not going to public school does put a bad taste in my mouth

So do you like the fact that Josh's wife (and the mother of their school-age child) is an educator who has worked in public schools all around Brooklyn? :!: :!: Are you interested in learning more about Josh?

I wish there was a better way to discuss these matters. Josh has not been accused of any heinous crime. He has made a personal decision with his wife, who has obviously demonstrated more commitment to public education than any other candidates. Does it bother anyone that the other campaigns are turning a personal issue into a campaign smear? That bothers me more.

I am so impressed with Josh and his campaign. I really like the fact that he's got the only campaign that hasn't taken a dime from developers. He's run a real grassroots campaign, talking to and focusing on the people in the district.

Oh, and I should mention that my respect and friendship with Josh go back a few years. I am an active member of Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, and the club was horribly divided when I joined. But then Josh was elected president, and during his term, the club transformed into an effective organization that was nice to be part of (not to say that it's not got its share of oddballs!).

I just wish people would refrain from judging candidates and even elected officials on tiny scraps of information. The Democratic primary in the 39th has a great field of candidates, and this is the rare race to talk about why to vote FOR someone instead of against them.


First of all, calm down! Secondly, yes, it bothers me that a candidate for public office sends his children to private school. I know a lot about josh Skaller, I know about his wife, etc. etc.. I have read all his literature, have met him personally and even donated a small amount of money to his campaign, but, i am entitled to say that there is something about the man that bothers me and while it is lovely to talk about why we should vote for people, there is also no reason why we can't talk about the negative side also!

I just watched Mr. Skaller’s campaign video. The only thing he says about schools is that class sizes should be smaller. I find this very odd. Mr. Skaller has publicly said that the schools are not adequate to educate his own son, yet all he can say about Brooklyn schools is that class sizes need to be smaller. How about, “I will work so that public schools educate all New Yorkers” or “I will focus both on the general education and special education needs of children in Brooklyn so that parents do not feel pressed to send their children to private school.” But class size? Heck, from what I understand by working in the schools, class size is naturally shrinking in many area Brooklyn schools because of population changes. My school has shrunk in enrollment by at least a full 1/3 in the past 6-7 years. And, every year we seem to be ranked higher as a school, so it is purely a population swing.

I will ask again, why should public schools be good enough for any child with special education needs when they are not good enough for the children of elected officials and candidates? To be blunt, every child with special needs deserves to be educated as well as Mr. Skaller’s child. I know about this well because I work with anywhere from 40 to 65 special education children every school year in the public schools.

modsquad,

You wrote, "You seem to presume that the Carter program is somehow a scam..."

Carter cases take money out of the public schools and put it into the private sector. Sure, this may help individual children, but hundreds of millions of dollars is being taken out of public school special education. If you want to call that a scam, go ahead, I am just stating facts. Special education in the public schools is being stripped in front of our eyes. How can you make the public schools better if you strip them?

Look at the progression here. Children with special needs once were placed in the small classroom at the end of the hall and were kept separate for much of the day from the general education children. As awareness and advocacy grew, children with special needs were more fully integrated into a school's general population (least restrictive environment) so that their needs could be met in a diverse manner, while interacting with the full range of students. Now, parents are suing the city and sending their children to special schools that only deal with children with special needs. We are moving back towards the norm being that children with special needs are to all be placed in the same room together all day, all school year. We are moving 100% in the wrong direction. Politicians and candidates should show leadership in this area, not be part of the regression.

As far as Carter cases being planned or being a program, NYC was sued, fought hard in court, and lost. That is not a plan and that is not a program, that is losing in court and having to pay for private school tuition if a judge decides that an "appropriate" education could not be provided by the city. Such law suits lead to the IDEA which states:

"“If the parents of a child with a disability, who previously received special education and related services under the authority of a public agency, enroll the child in a private elementary school or secondary school without the consent of or referral by the public agency, a court or a hearing officer may require the agency to reimburse the parents for the cost of that enrollment if the court or hearing officer finds that the agency had not made a free appropriate public education available to the child in a timely manner prior to that enrollment.”

The Congress wasn't interested in saving NYC money, the congress was and is advocating for children with special needs in the face of failing school systems.

raulism,

You wrote, "I don't know as much as I'd like about Josh's education policy."

The Brooklyn Paper reported that education was Skaller's main priority.

Source: http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/31/4/31_04afiveforalltorepla.html

What I know is that Skaller sends his son to private school, issues a press release about his son's schooling, features his son in a campaign video, and then Mr. Skaller says he doesn't want to discuss his son. That is absurd.

Education is Skaller's main priority, he sends his son to a private school for children with special needs, yet Skaller's education platform does not say a word about special education. As a person who grew up with special education needs, I feel that Mr. Skaller's silence on special education is gross. Sure, a green school is nice, but teaching children with special needs to read is better.

raulism,

Thank you for your efforts. But keep in mind that Josh Skaller is running for office, not Warren Miner.

I just read on Josk Skaller's campaign web site that:

"Most importantly, Josh Skaller will fight for the school funding our children deserve."

Source: http://skaller09.com/component/content/article/17-recent-updates/55-josh-skaller-speaks-up-for-real-power-to-the-parents

I wonder if Mr. Skaller will challenge the hundreds of millions of dollars that are hemorrhaging out of the schools to pay families tuition reimbursement so their children can attend private schools? I wonder if Mr. Skaller will fight to educate parents about Carter cases and how parents can get reimbursed by the city or if he will fight to improve special education in the public schools so that Carter cases are not needed? Maybe he will do both, but it is hard to say. Of course, fighting the need for Carter cases might, excuse me for buying the stereotype for a moment, make some loud Park Slope mom's get even louder (and trust me, I rarely say a bad word about the Park Slope mom because Park Slope moms can advocate like nobody else!).

Since education is Mr. Skaller's top priority, I wish he would offer more specific ideas about his top education priority - funding.