Children are our priority. Ensuring their needs are met is our goal.
FAPE is an acronym for Free Appropriate Public Education.
Free Appropriate Public Education is not the definition of FAPE.
If you don’t know it already, it is time to learn the definition of FAPE.
In order to know if the school division and its teachers are providing FAPE, you need to know what it is.
Virginia’s Independent Education Evaluation (IEE) regulations will be changed to align with federal regulations.
Local educations agencies (LEA) are required to follow the federal regulations (even before the state regulation change) or they will be found in noncompliance.
However, seven months passed before Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) presented this information to special education lead teachers—even though it was already found in noncompliance for failure to comply with federal regulations.
The law firm Blankingship & Keith represented FCPS in both cases, too. Although the first hearing officer ruled “Just Words” to be inappropriate for a student with Dyslexia, FCPS continued to enroll students with Dyslexia in it, and FCPS and Blankingship & Keith continued forward in the second hearing, arguing “Just Words” to be appropriate for a student with Dyslexia.
If you reside outside of Virginia, please contact Decoding Dyslexia chapter in your state to learn about – and support – their advocacy efforts.
Documents, images, and videos noted within the guidebook are included as well.
For the last five school years, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has found your school division in noncompliance. The VDOE is known for its failure to ensure noncompliance is corrected, which means the noncompliance continues because 1) no one is holding the school division accountable; 2) school division staff aren’t properly trained; 3) carelessness; and 4) some division staff would rather fight you than remain in compliance.
The Office of Civil Rights just launched an investigation into your school division.
Add to the above that some teachers from your school division don’t tell the truth during due process hearings—and, although you’ve provided the school division proof of this, the school division continues to do nothing.
Should deference be given to such educators?
Let’s hear from the Supreme Court.
Should deference be given to educators? Does a degree related to education and/or a certain number of years working within the field of education entitle them to a certain level of respect? Or, should respect be based on their actions, on their record of working within the field of education?
What if those educators are the root of a child not receiving FAPE?
Should respect be paid to the principal with 40 years in education, whose ignorance bred illiteracy within her school? What of the teacher with two years of experience, whose ego won’t let him believe he could possibly be wrong, so he fights everything a parent says—and lies—just to stay in the right? What of the procedural support liaison who toes the county’s line rather than addressing the student’s need—the one who advised you to “Remember, this is public school,” when she thought it unrealistic for the school to provide the services needed to fully address your student’s unique needs?
Do these “educators” deserve respect? Should deference be given to them?
Please take action today to ensure that dedicated funding it allocated to support students with disabilities.