Who Will Stand Up For The LAUSD's Most Vulnerable Students?

“His accomplishments include providing leadership and fighting to: Improve the process for parent participation in the IEP process for children with special needs”

– Re-elect Scott Schmerelson, 2020

For children with Special Education needs, the Individual Education Program (IEP) team decides the types of support and services the students will receive. While parents are supposed to be equal members of this team, experience presents a different reality. Some will find that successful programs, like Aut Core, are not being offered as the LAUSD forces children out of specialized classrooms. For those with severe needs, entire campuses have been declared out of bounds as the District continues to starve Special Education Centers of new students as it aims towards closing these schools.

As parents attempt to negotiate past these roadblocks, they cannot count on help from their child’s teacher because the LAUSD has cultivated a fear of retaliation for any employee who refuses to tow the company line. These teachers have been made to believe that they must choose between giving parents their honest opinion and keeping their jobs.

Those who successfully appeal IEP decisions through the mediation process are forced to sign confidentiality agreements. This prohibits them from sharing best practices with other parents. They must choose between accepting services that their children need and making sure that all of their children’s classmates have the same access.

To protect parents as they negotiate the IEP process, I wrote the proposed “Improving Special Education Within the LAUSD” resolution. At Tuesday morning's LAUSD Board meeting, I once again made an appeal to our representatives to make this the official policy of the District:

Last year, Nick Melvoin went before the voters and asked them for a second term saying that there was “a great deal more work to be done.” However, just a few weeks after being sworn in, he announced that he is running for Congress. If successful, Nick would be willing to cut short a term where he promised to put “kids first and [create] a future where every child graduates ready for the world.” A small fortune will have to be spent on a special election to seat a replacement, diverting funds that are supposed to be spent on educating our children. Perhaps that campaign slogan should have been “Nick First.”

To be a successful Congressman, one has to show an ability to advocate for our society’s most vulnerable members. Unfortunately, as an LAUSD School Board Member, Nick has repeatedly demonstrated that he is willing to cast aside students who need him the most. The latest example can be found at Lokrantz, a Special Education Center in the San Fernando Valley.

Until last year’s redistricting, which was controlled by forces loyal to the charter school industry, Lokrantz was in Board District 3. This school had a champion in Board Member Scott Schmerelson, who advocated for their needs and oversaw growth in its program. Unfortunately, they have not seen this support since being transferred to Nick’s Board District 4. Under Nick, this school does not even have a full-time principal and district bureaucrats are once again telling parents that the school is not an option during the IEP process.

The Lokrantz community has organized two meetings with district officials to express their concerns. While Board Member Schmerelson does not officially represent the school, he attended both meetings. Nick could not be bothered and only sent a representative to one of them.

Lokrantz students need a principal who is solely focused on the complicated needs of this school. Its hydrotherapy pool needs to be fixed. Replacement playground equipment that has already been purchased needs to be installed. District offices should be removed from the campus and replaced by a magnet school for students seeking careers in special education.

This is not the first time that Nick has ignored the needs of children with severe special education needs. In 2019, he and his staff needed room for an exclusive new middle school that he was promoting and the career transition center students in this program were in his way. This resulted in an attempt to kick the students of CTC - West off of the Fairfax High School Campus. Fortunately, this attempt was not successful.

The proposed “Improving Special Education Within the LAUSD” resolution would protect students enrolled in schools like Lokrantz and CTC -West. I have been coming to you for months seeking a sponsor for this proposal but have not heard from any of you. I understand that Nick does not care about these students, but Scott, Jackie, and Rocio, I know where your commitments lie. I know that you care deeply about this community. Please at least start a dialog with me about how we can get this community the help that it deserves.

As of publication, I had not heard from any of the Board Members. To encourage them to act, please sign the petition that can be found at bit.ly/SpEdpetition.

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Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs. He was elected to the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and is the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him “a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles.” For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.