With District leaders openly hostile towards the needs of students in special education classes, can the union extract essential changes?
Second Largest School District Faces Teachers Strike
There is currently an effort to call for a strike that pits adults versus adults when students and their families will bear the brunt of a strike action.“ – LAUSD School Board Having gladly accepted the title of “a gadfly at the school board meetings”, I have a natural tendency to be suspicious of the […]
How Have Charter Schools Affected Students with Special Education Needs
On February 20, 2018, the LAUSD School Board agendized the proposed Holding GHCHS Accountable to Their Charter as part of their Committee of the Whole meeting. The following is the written statement that I provided to the Board: Honorable LAUSD Board Members: This is Chanda Smith. She was an LAUSD student with special education needs […]
LAUSD Board Set to Consider “Holding GHCHS Accountable to Their Charter” Resolution
It’s hard to light a candle, easy to curse the dark instead” – Nightwish In order to prevent charter schools from discouraging parents from enrolling children with special education needs, the Office of the Independent Monitor required that the District prohibit them from asking for any special education paperwork prior to enrollment. As originally pointed […]
The Standoff Continues: GHCHS Doubles Down on Non-Compliance
Well I know what’s right, I got just one life In a world that keeps on pushin’ me around But I’ll stand my ground and I won’t back down” – Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty In the ten months since I first filed a complaint about Granada Hills Charter High School’s enrollment practices, there have […]
On Deaf Ears: My Public Comment to the LAUSD Board
On September 12, 2017, the LAUSD School Board was set to take a vote to approve several charters for five-year renewals, including ICEF Innovation. However, before doing so they needed to hear public comment. The following are my remarks before the Board: We are told continuously that the purpose of charters is innovation and experimentation. […]
Means, Motive, and Opportunity: Forcing the LAUSD School Board to Hold GHCHS Accountable to Their Charter
Charter schools may not enact admissions requirements or other barriers to enrollment and must admit all students who apply, just as traditional public schools cannot turn away students.” – ACLU On Tuesday, August 23, 2017, I made a third presentation to the LAUSD School Board about the enrollment practices of Granada Hills Charter High School […]
Stacking the Deck?
“Moreover, ‘lower achieving students’ is not a protected class.” -Brian Bauer, GHCHS This week, Granada Hills Charter High School (GHCHS) will attempt to win its sixth national Academic Decathlon championship in seven years. If this were a high school sports team instead of an academic one, the improbability of this accomplishment would probably be more […]
The LAUSD’s Hostility Towards Special Education
On November 16, 2016, the Office of the Independent Monitor held its semi-annual public hearings about the services provided by the LAUSD to students with special education needs. The following is a copy of my testimony before Dr. Rostetter: When I saw your reaction to Adam’s speech, it gave me something that I haven’t had […]
El Camino Digs In
Scientific method: “a method of research in which a problem is identified, relevant data are gathered, a hypothesis is formulated from these data, and the hypothesis is empirically tested.” –Dictionary.com Education “reformers” claim that charters were created “as testing grounds for new and alternative educational models”. However, if these publicly funded private schools were actually […]