Parent support by school districts

To what extent are parents of students in special education in schools in McHenry County provided training and support by their school districts?

Do you know that the school districts are supposed to provide support for parents of special ed students? Do they do it? Do they provide meaningful support through programs and groups?

Is there a parent support group in your school or district? Is there a parent advisory council in your district?

Parents of special ed students get smart through education. They learn what the laws are. They learn whether the IEPs of their kids are SMART IEPs (vs. "dumb" ones). Dumb IEPs are the typical, off-the-shelf IEPs with no concrete, measureable statements or requirements and no accountability on the part of the school. "Johnny will do better" is typical of statements in "dumb" IEPs.

Parents want meaningful school-home communication and not just discipline notifications days after an "event" at school.

Parents want to be valuable members of the IEP Team and partners with teachers in the education of their children.

And many teachers want also to partner up with the parents. Unfortunately, in many school districts those interested teachers (and staff members) find themselves at risk of losing their jobs, if they do so.

And that needs to change!

Parents don't have to wait forever for school districts to acknowledge their requirement to provide training and support for these parents. Parents can begin to band together now.

Want help? Let me know.