Thursday, February 12, 2015

...shortly after starting her job, she learned that school administrators were counting students from Jamaica, who speak English, and students with Hispanic-sounding last names, even those fluent in English, as those in need of ELL instruction...

...In the lawsuit Lawson says she was hired in 2010 by former Superintendent Joshua Starr because of the growing population of non-English-speaking students.
Lawson alleges that, shortly after starting her job, she learned that school administrators were counting students from Jamaica, who speak English, and students with Hispanic-sounding last names, even those fluent in English, as those in need of ELL instruction.
The counts were so inaccurate, the lawsuit states, that Lawson refused to certify to the state and federal departments of education that Stamford was in compliance with the program.
Lawson claims that school administrators were using federal money earmarked for ELL teachers to hire other teachers; failing to designate enough space for ELL programs, creating a waiting list of students; encouraging eligible students to opt out of ELL instruction; prohibiting ELL instruction for special-education students who needed it; using ELL teachers to cover lunch waves and non-ELL classrooms; and failing to purchase ELL instructional materials, among other violations.
When she tried to establish standards for evaluating students for ELL eligibility, her then-supervisor, Mara Siladi, reprimanded her and cut her off from Starr, Lawson alleges...

...In November 2012, the Department of Justice cited Stamford schools for many of the same violations that Lawson raised, the suit states...

 http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Angela-Carella-Culture-of-fear-cited-in-lawsuit-6078034.php

3 comments:

  1. I believe it. I caught MCPS using my family to report inaccurately to the Feds to get more "credits." I brought it up and surprisingly the reporting was removed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can you explain how you would find out MCPS was doing this? What would alert the typical parent to this inaccurate reporting?

      Thanks.

      Delete
    2. Please see Section VI, Placement Data, Child Count Eligibility Codes, on the IEP. There are 6 codes for child count eligibility.

      Delete

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