Advocates disagree on effectiveness of school district’s special education conference

Heading into Metro School’s fourth annual special education conference for parents, the at times embattled special education effort by the district is being questioned by advocates and the very parents the event is meant to reach.

“In my opinion the school system isn’t paying attention to these students and does not seem to be concerned,” said Norm Tenenbaum, executive director of the Arc of Davidson County, a disabilities advocacy group.

The conference, “Putting a face on Special Education,” is sponsored by the district’s Family Advisory Council on Special Education (FACE) in conjunction with Metro Schools’ special education department.

The special education department has come under harsh criticism in recent months after two families filed suit against the district alleging their children were sexually assaulted on two separate special education school buses.

Statistical data on the school system’s performance concerning special needs students is a mixed bag, alternately showing parental satisfaction but lacking academic achievement in some areas.

According to data released by the school district several weeks ago, in the 2006-07 state monitoring survey, more than 90 percent of parents of students with disabilities say they considered themselves equal partners with schools in planning their child’s IEP (Individualized Education Plan).

The school district itself has come under fire after the most recent testing data under the federally mandated No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law indicated that the district has failed to make progress in the percentage of students with disabilities that were proficient in math through 8th-grade.

One nonprofit advocate said the district is not doing as poorly in its handling of special education students as some disability advocates want to believe.

“There’s a lot of parents out there that think what they’re getting is meeting their needs,” said Avi Poster, FACE facilitator.

“The reality is the truth is somewhere in the middle,” he added. “The system could probably do better [and] it’s probably not doing as bad as some of the paintbrushes paint it.”

Tenenbaum, whose group has been publicly at odds with the district over the treatment of severely disabled and mentally handicapped students, said he doesn’t think the upcoming conference will assuage the fears of many parents he interacts with.

The family of one of the students involved in the school bus lawsuits, a 9-year-old male student with autism that was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old student on his way to Genesis Learning Center, said she didn’t even know about the conference and wishes the district would communicate with parents daily.

“I want them to talk to me face to face and listen not only to my concerns, but probably every parent out there’s concern,” the mother said.

“I want communication and I want them to understand that there’s a real need to protect children in Nashville, period,” she said.

Poster said the conference is intended to teach parents how to navigate the special education system in Metro.

“It’s based on our belief that just like teaching is a science, so is parenting,” Poster said. “Parents can become better at what’s their most important responsibility in life by treating it academically, learning as much as they can about what would be best practices as parents.”

Although concerned about students with severe disabilities, or nonverbal students with physical and mental disabilities, Tenenbaum said since Director of School Pedro Garcia came on board in 2000, academic performance among special education students has improved.

“We can do better and we should do better, but nonetheless there have been improvements made in the education for those students,” Tenenbaum said.

The conference begins at 8 a.m. tomorrow at West End Middle School, 3529 West End Ave. Keynote speaker and Nashville Predators coach Barry Trotz, will open the conference at 8:30 a.m.

For more information, visit Metro Schools’ Web site at mnps.org.