As parents of children with autism (ASD) attending Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), we are not strangers to advocating for our students’ needs. We attend countless Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings, we research local ASD resources for help and accommodations, we attempt to comprehend the federal and Maryland education and disability laws, and we champion the voices for our neurodiverse children. But once considered at the forefront of special education, MCPS has taken one step forward and two steps back when it comes to taking accountability and creating the best-possible learning environments for our children on the spectrum.
In March, the dissolution of the autism program within the Darnestown Elementary Learning Center (ELC) was announced during the school’s PTA meeting and was later confirmed by MCPS central staff at the Board of Education meeting...
https://moco360.media/2024/04/06/opinion-cutting-mcps-autism-program-is-detrimental-mistake/
For over 25 years, MCPS has enjoyed a track record of creating effective programs, then dissolving them, unwilling to invest funds to scale them across the system. The children and families who lose services are often those with special needs, including ASD and those with emotional disabilities. Meanwhile, money is indiscriminately wasted within the administration for overpaid executive leadership and in contracts with little oversight. Time to disaggregate MCPS into smaller districts with separate BOEs, to assure that individual clusters can continue to deliver the services kids need and parents want, and to allow for greater oversight by board governance.
ReplyDeleteThe less they do the more they make
DeleteWhile our children's future is at stake
They want to have it and eat their cake
A culture of entitlement is hard to shake.