EBD Blog

As I remarked in an earlier post, over on Your Mama’s Mad Tedious, a teacher who identifies herself as Miss Dennis has been recounting a dispute with an administrator, whom she calls “Puffschmuck,” about adherence to special education rules. Miss Dennis reported that she was charged with insubordinations for refusing to write IEPs for students not on her caseload.

Miss Dennis published another installment in this saga; here’s an excerpt:

The purpose of annual reviews is to discuss and write the child’s academic (and in some cases behavioral) goals for the upcoming year. Responsible parents attend these meetings and take them very seriously. High school students are also encouraged to attend their own annual review meetings. After the meeting, the agreed upon goals are entered into a legal document called the IEP (Individualized Education Plan). The child is then promoted or held back based on whether or not s/he meets these goals.
So … uh … yeah … it’s kinda important that the teachers who run this process and write the goals actually know and teach the child. Yet Puffschmuck had ordered me to conduct annual reviews and write IEPs for students I did not teach, and, in most cases. did not know in any capacity. And when I told her I could not follow through on this order because, as a special ed professional, I knew it was not in the best interests of my student s and their parents, she wrote me up for insubordination and threatened my job. When was it that Puffschmuck lost sight of the fact that she was a public educator and not a military dictator?

Miss Dennis goes on to explain some other fascinating aspects of the story, including interactions with union representatives about the insubordination charge. It’s worth reading. To get the full story, start with this post, followed by this one, and then this post (from which I’ve drawn the excerpt included here).