Thursday, February 12, 2015

When she tried to bring her concerns to then-Superintendent Josh Starr, the complaint says, she was reprimanded by her immediate superior

...The problems with the ELL [English Language Learners] program that Lawson brought to light were possible overreporting of numbers of students eligible for the federally-subsidized classes, and misallocation of program funds. Lawson said the district's criteria for eligibility were often inaccurate, and listed students with "Hispanic-sounding" last names and students from countries where English was spoken, such as Jamaica.
Lawson, citing the inaccurate counts, refused to certify the school district's compliance with state and federal ELL regulations.
When she tried to bring her concerns to then-Superintendent Josh Starr, the complaint says, she was reprimanded by her immediate superior, then-Assistant Superintendent Mara Siladi...
...The Department of Justice had already been looking into the Stamford Public Schools' handling of the ELL program as early as November 2008, but parents were not informed of it until 2013. The justice department found the district was failing to provide adequate language instruction and using unqualified or uncertified instructors, violating the federal Equal Educational Opportunities Act, according to documents The Advocate obtained at the time. The Department reached a settlement with the district just under a year ago...
 http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Ex-Stamford-language-leader-sues-schools-claiming-6074003.php

2 comments:

  1. There'll be a litigation
    For this abomination
    To fix the situation
    Of fund misallocation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "found the district was failing to provide adequate language instruction and using unqualified or uncertified instructors"

    Not surprised by this. On Starr's watch MCPS lowered its standards by hiring unqualified personnel without degrees to train teachers and principals. As noted by others, any questioning of these practices would cost the whistle blowers their careers. He surrounded himself with bullies who threatened anyone who dared question his choices.

    ReplyDelete

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