UPDATE: Board & Weast mute as parents choke back tears

UPDATED: 1/16/2010

The Parents' Coalition has learned that two members of the Board of Education contacted the Arc of Montgomery County, and asked them to relinquish Operating Budget public testimony slots obtained by members of the public speaking in support of the MPAC program. (See original post below.) 

This attempt by the Board of Education to stifle families of children with disabilities represents the WORST kind of censorship attempt imaginable.

From now on, will the Board of Education pick and choose which community members it wants to hear from? If so, what is the purpose of public testimony at all?

FOR SHAME.

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Original Post of January 14, 2010:

From the Special Needs Truth '08 blog:

Video Highlights: Testimony Against Plan to Displace Special-Needs Preschoolers

Lyda Astrove: "A one-size-fits-all model will not work for children with disabilities....It is not too late to reverse this disastrous course that has been pushed on you by the superintendent. Listen to your teachers and parents, and bring back the full continuum of services for students with disabilities."

Lyda Astrove: Testimony on Special-Needs Preschool from Mark Miller on Vimeo.

Bob Allnutt: "Concept of inclusion is popular and politically correct, but the fact is many children are incapable of learning in a typical environment."

Bob Allnutt: Testimony on Special-Needs Preschool from Mark Miller on Vimeo.
More video of public comment given to a mute Board of Education and Superintendent on January 13, 2010 from the Special Needs Truth '08 blog here.

Could you sit through the comments from 23 parents (many of whom were choking back tears) and teachers and not respond? That's what the MCPS Board of Education and Superintendent Jerry Weast did last night.