Post by Captain Serious on Mar 12, 2015 20:11:45 GMT -5
We had parent-teacher conferences tonight, and since we are moving, we decided to ask M's teachers for advice on what kind of program we should try to get him in next year. He's had he same special education teacher for three years, so her input is very valuable to us. It was a great meeting.
During it, she expressed her frustration with the district's insistence that kids be taught grade-level material, even if they weren't ready for it and have IEPs. She specifically mentioned the assistant superintendent, who was at the root of our lawsuit, and how he didn't care at all when she cried in his office because of the unrealistic curriculum. I mentioned that we had our share of run-ins with him, and asked if she was aware of out lawsuit. (We were always extremely careful not to bring the teachers into the middle of it, because we love her, and were certain they all wanted to do what was best for M. We didn't want to put them in a difficult situation or affect M's school experience negatively.) She admitted she knew about it.
Then she told us that she thought about quitting her job at one time, because the principle forced her to write and sign an affidavit in our case against her wishes. What was in this affidavit that was so ultra-important, requiring a teacher to submit it against her will, you ask? The fact that M said he wants to be a DJ!
The principle said that show a maturity beyond his age, and they needed it to prove their case. Never mind the fact that two other boys in his class have the same aspirations (including a kid that's the size of J, which is important if you are going to age kids because of their size). And never mind that music is a much bigger part of Hispanic and Peruvian culture, so a 10 year-old wanting to be a DJ is not at all age-inappropriate.
So here I am, a year after the fact, getting all worked up again, because of the audacity of the principle forcing the teacher to sign an affidavit against her will, and because the ludicrous and culturally insensitive assertion that a kid who wants to be a DJ couldn't possibly be 10. And, at the same time, I am laughing out loud, because they were flailing so hard to make a case against us that THAT was such important evidence that they felt the need to coerce it out of an unwilling teacher.
It all just drives home the fact that our case was truly as strange and ridiculous as I always thought. With time, I had started to wonder if I had blown the situation out of proportion and imagined it to be so much worse than it really was. Tonight, I feel like God reaffirmed our decision to leave, because the administrators in this district is ruthless, and willing to stop at nothing to get what they want.
During it, she expressed her frustration with the district's insistence that kids be taught grade-level material, even if they weren't ready for it and have IEPs. She specifically mentioned the assistant superintendent, who was at the root of our lawsuit, and how he didn't care at all when she cried in his office because of the unrealistic curriculum. I mentioned that we had our share of run-ins with him, and asked if she was aware of out lawsuit. (We were always extremely careful not to bring the teachers into the middle of it, because we love her, and were certain they all wanted to do what was best for M. We didn't want to put them in a difficult situation or affect M's school experience negatively.) She admitted she knew about it.
Then she told us that she thought about quitting her job at one time, because the principle forced her to write and sign an affidavit in our case against her wishes. What was in this affidavit that was so ultra-important, requiring a teacher to submit it against her will, you ask? The fact that M said he wants to be a DJ!
The principle said that show a maturity beyond his age, and they needed it to prove their case. Never mind the fact that two other boys in his class have the same aspirations (including a kid that's the size of J, which is important if you are going to age kids because of their size). And never mind that music is a much bigger part of Hispanic and Peruvian culture, so a 10 year-old wanting to be a DJ is not at all age-inappropriate.
So here I am, a year after the fact, getting all worked up again, because of the audacity of the principle forcing the teacher to sign an affidavit against her will, and because the ludicrous and culturally insensitive assertion that a kid who wants to be a DJ couldn't possibly be 10. And, at the same time, I am laughing out loud, because they were flailing so hard to make a case against us that THAT was such important evidence that they felt the need to coerce it out of an unwilling teacher.
It all just drives home the fact that our case was truly as strange and ridiculous as I always thought. With time, I had started to wonder if I had blown the situation out of proportion and imagined it to be so much worse than it really was. Tonight, I feel like God reaffirmed our decision to leave, because the administrators in this district is ruthless, and willing to stop at nothing to get what they want.
So glad you guys were able to win this case. I'm sorry the teacher can't come with you! 
