 |
| Twitter screen showing that Superintendent Starr retweeted a tweet from @nawlins. Starr's picture is on far right side at bottom of screen shot. |
Yesterday, I saw that Josh (aka @mcpssuper) had re-tweeted a quote from one of the current Board of Education candidates, Jeanne Ellinport (aka @nawlins)
The quote? "What you permit is what you promote."
So, since Josh arrived at MCPS last July, what has he permitted? And by extension, what is he "promoting?"
Well, it seems that Josh is promoting the "scorched earth" litigation policy begun by his predecessor, Jerry Weast. This unwritten policy from the central office at 850 Hungerford Drive is to fight parents of children with disabilities when the parents request more or different services for their child.
Let's look at how much money MCPS has spent on special education litigation since Josh arrived in town. This money doesn't include the so-called office of Equity Assurance, or the existing Legal Services unit (which just hired a new lawyer, by the way). No, the money reflected in the MCPS legal fees report only represents money spent on outside counsel. (Wonder if Josh has asked why we need to spend money on high priced outside counsel when we already have in-house lawyers...but that's a post for another day.)
November 8, 2011 BOE meeting:
Special education legal fees for outside counsel for August 2011 totaled $9,994.
The year-to-date total of $57,398 is $10,459 (15 percent) lower than the same period in the previous fiscal year.
The Jeffrey A. Krew bill for August 2011 totaled $7,180. The bill included work on five cases, two
of which involved administrative hearings ($2,947), two of which involved an appeal to federal court
($3,233), and one of which involved an Individualized Education Program ($1,000).
The Carney Kelehan bill for August 2011 totaled $2,814 and involved work on two Individualized
Education Programs
December 6, 2011 BOE meeting:
Special education outside counsel bill for September 2011 was $20,581 = four cases.
January 10, 2012 BOE meeting:
Special Education Legal Expenses
Special education legal fees for outside counsel for October 2011 totaled $75,533. The year-to-date total of $153,512 is $8,162 (6 percent) higher than the same period in the previous fiscal year.
The Jeffrey A. Krew bill for October 2011 totaled $73,563. The bill included work on nine cases, six of which involved administrative hearings ($71,239) and three of which involved an appeal to federal court ($2,057). In addition there were legal service fees of $267.
The Carney Kelehan bill for October 2011 totaled $1,970 and involved work on one Individualized Education Program.
So, Josh: what you permit is what you promote? Looks like you're promoting fighting families instead of working with them. And I'm not interested in a letter from one of your henchmen trying to explain this away. Let's hear exactly what you have to say about this, and why you think spending this kind of money is in children and taxpayers' interests, at the special ed forum coming up at Seneca Valley HS on Monday, April 16.
Oh it's definitely in the taxpayers interest, and I'm a Montgomery County taxpayer. It would cost tens of thousands annually per student if the parents whom MCPS litigates against were to get everything they want. Yes it's their child and they want the best for him or her. If MCPS can provide services that are less expensive than what the parent wants, and MCPS has a sound educational basis for their decision, then yes the parents should be fought in court and the expense of this fight is justified.
ReplyDeleteFalse. MCPS will spend more in litigation than the cost of the services requested.
DeleteMCPS will spend $80,000 to fight $2,000 worth of services.
That fact has been proven. Taxpayers lose.
This blog post has now been updated to show a screen shot from Twitter that details Superintendent Joshua Starr retweeting the Twitter feed of this Board of Education candidate.
ReplyDelete