Did your child regress over the summer?

Parents, how are your kids doing in this new school year? Have they settled into the "groove"?

Were you concerned last spring that your child might regress over the summer, if he didn't have some structured school work (math, reading, spelling) to do over the summer? Did you try to get your school district to provide summer school for him? Schools, of course, have a fancy name now for summer school - it's Extended School Year (ESY).

How hard did you fight with your school district last spring to get ESY services for your child? You knew he or she would fall behind, didn't you? After all, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that, if a child is struggling throughout the school year to learn and to keep up, s/he will not retain what was learned, once the atmosphere changes.

What was the reception from your Special Education department at your child's school last spring? Did they refuse ESY?

And what has happened this fall? You were right, weren't you? Now what are you going to do about it?

Do not sit back and expect the Special Ed Department to say, "Oops, we made a mistake. Let's see how we are going to fix this problem fast."

You need to be at your kid's school, at the office of the Special Ed Director (oh, I remember; now called Special Services...), and at the office of the District Superintendent. And maybe at school board meetings.

Demand the necessary services for your child to get the education he is supposed to get. If he is in the 11th Grade and reading or doing math at a 3rd Grade level, what is the District's plan to educate your child, for which the administrators and teachers are being paid handsomely, whether or not your child gets educated or not? Results! Get results, not promises!