Share Your Horror Stories On Accessing IEP Special Needs Educational Services In Michigan - It Is All About The Data

Would you like to know a plausible explanation as to why Michigan was dropped form its "needs intervention" list for special education?

Have you ever tried to get an IEP in a charter school?

Feel free to share your horror stories on accessing special education in public schools of Detroit, Grand Rapids, Benton Harbor, Flint, and any one of those communities up in the central and nothern parts of Michigan, too.

I wonder what they do with all the old identities of children after they are adopted out from foster care?

Always remember, if you do not report it, it does not get tallied, just like they do with votes.

It is all about the data.

#maytheheavensfall

Michigan dropped from 'needs intervention' list for special education

Last year, Michigan was the only state in the nation
 that failed to meet federal special education requirements
and required intervention.

Michigan no longer needs "intervention" to meet federal special education requirements but still needs "assistance," according to state education officials.

The Michigan Department of Education said on Thursday the state's performance on key special education factors improved over last year, which prompted the U.S. Department of Education to lift the state from its “needs intervention” determination to “needs assistance."

Michigan is rated for its annual performance on meeting a section of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The types of data used to make a determination include the participation of children with disabilities on regular statewide assessments and the percentage of children with disabilities who graduated with a regular high school diploma and who dropped out.

Michigan’s score increased from 59.17% to 65.28% from 2018 to 2019, an increase of 6.1%, according to the 2019 report.

The state boosted its numbers for the percentage of fourth-grade and eighth-grade students with disabilities participating in statewide reading assessments. This year, the numbers were 83% and 81% respectively, compared to 80% and 79% last year.

It also increased the number of students with disabilities in the same grades taking regular statewide math assessments, from 81% and 79% in 2018 to 84% and 81% in 2019.

The state saw a decrease in the percentage of students with disabilities who drop out of school — from 29% to 28% —  but the graduation rate remained the same both years at 63%.

Deputy state superintendent Scott Koenigsknecht said this is the highest score Michigan has received since 2014.

“We are pleased with the trajectory of the growth and will continue to work to improve outcomes for every Michigan student," Koenigsknecht said. "There still is much work to do around the areas of graduation rate, dropout rate, research-based best practices, and inclusion/” 

Last year, Michigan was the only state in the nation that failed to meet federal special education requirements and required intervention. Washington, D.C., Palau and Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. Commonwealth, also received the "needs intervention" ranking.

Federal officials use both compliance and results data for a “letter of determination” on whether a state "meets requirements," "needs assistance" or "needs intervention."

Koenigsknecht said work is being done in the school districts across the state and at the state education department to improve compliance.

A steering committee and four workgroups have been working since December to generate recommendations that would lead to continued improvements for graduation rates, dropout rates, M-STEP participation, and NAEP results and participation, Koenigsknecht said.

Marcie Lipsitt, a Michigan-based special education advocate and civil rights activist, said the change in determination is nothing to celebrate because special education conditions continue to erode in Michigan due to a lack of transparency at the state education department and insufficient funding for special education services.

"Conditions have worsened this year," Lipsitt said. "There is nothing to celebrate here. Outcomes for children with disabilities are not improving."

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"We Are" - Featuring The Students Of Covenant House Academy & Raising The Bar Detroit Foundation - Bringing Back The Voices Of Children

https://www.raisingthebardetroit.com/rtbd-foundation

Raising the Bar Detroit Foundation has just released its first major production with the students of Covenant House Academy Southwest Detroit Campus which also celebrated a few of the students who have just graduated.

We should definitely watch what is going on with Title I funding, as the Covenant House is ground zero for the new privatization policies.

It is about time we brought music and the arts back into the schools.

Music and art have always been the means to tell a story when no one else would listen.

It is time to listen to the original sources, the children.

Marco Iaconis has an amazing story to tell and so do the students and school administrators.

If you just so happen to have a few musical instruments lying around the house collecting dust, like guitars, saxaphones or whatever else, feel free to let Marco Polo know that you would like the students to have them, considering that they have very little, in some instances, students do not even have a place to live.

Something to think about.

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Did Michigan Skim Detroit Public Schools Pensions To Hustle TARP & Steal Detroit Properties?

Michigan Legislature legislating schemes to steal teacher
pensions to invest in schemes to steal TARP
to fund their campaigns.

The U.S. Department of Justice has been very busy, even in Michigan.

Oversight.gov, a product of the DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, has released the U.S. Department of Education Inspector General Final Audit Report on Detroit Public Schools Community District, and, it is not pretty.

Since this report has yet to be reported by Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD), I thought it only considerate to report on it for them.

In a nutshell, it seems Michigan was put on notice to clean up its act.

To begin, the report noted that there was too much stealin;.

There were issues with employees stealin'.

And more issues with employees stealin'.

And even more issues with private contractors and elected officials stealin'.

But wait, there is more.

FUN FACT!  Did you know Michigan passed a law allowing fake corporations, meaning they never incorporated, to levy fake taxes, then capture 50% of Detroit property taxes for schools?

Yes, that is correct.

For fiscal year 2016 (July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016), Michigan disbursed almost $101 million in Title I funds to Detroit Public Schools. In June 2016, the Michigan State legislature passed a law to restructure the district into two local educational agencies. Effective July 1, 2016, Detroit Public Schools exists only as a revenue-collecting entity that, using additional property tax collections and based on current interest rates, will pay off the district’s debt by 2049. The Michigan State legislature created DPSCD to operate schools using $617 million in new State funds. 

The only problem is, Detroit Land Bank Authority never incorporated and, from what I have seen, there is really no oversight, no audit, and no report on how much was collected and disbursed.

Some of the Detroit properties are assessed through its board as Detroit Land Bank Authority properties when they were never Detroit Land Bank Authority properties.

This is one of the reasons why SIGTARP came into the picture in the first place.

Michigan Special Eligible Tax Reverted Property Specific Tax Disbursment To Detroit Land Bank Authority 201... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

But wait, it gets better.

The City of Detroit is levying taxes for schools on properties the Detroit Land Bank Authority acquired, that had no taxes because the properties went through quiet title proceedings, wiping out the taxes, then refunding the taxes to...well...that has yet to be answered.

The City did not want to talk to me, besides, they never respond to my FOIAs.

But wait, it gets better.

According to the report, Michigan was skimming Title I funding for the pensions.

After we notified DPSCD that it used incorrect pension benefit contribution rates, DPSCD reviewed the rates it used from October 1, 2016, through June 2, 2017, for all employees enrolled in the seven plans included in our sample. 

So, we have the levying of fake property taxes, based upon a fake piece of legislation, by a fake corporation, where we have no idea what they do with the collected taxes.

That is when the idea dawned upon me:  "Did they invest in real estate and was any of that real estate from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, the Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority or the Detroit Land Bank Authority, which has no association with the two aforementioned entities?

Michigan Public Schools Employee Pension Report 2017

Quintessentially, I am presenting a poignant question:

"Did Michigan skim Title I Funds from Detroit Public Schools Pension to invest in social impact bonds to hustle TARP and steal Detroit properties?

They do it with the Michigan Children's Trust Fund, so why not Detroit Public Schools Pensions?

Only the U.S .DOE OIG or DOJ can answer this.

U.S. DOE OIG Detroit Public Schools Community District: Status of Corrective Actions on Previously Reported... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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Michigan Virtual Schools Senate Bill 691

I received a call today from Michigan Virtual Schools Family organization (200-200-0000) in support of the following bill to allow for virtual schools in the state.

This would allow children to attend school, 365 days a year, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, whenever is optimal for the individual child's learning.

It would also allow for expansion of funding opportunities for school districts.

Michigan Senate Bill For Virtual Schools

Here is a brief on the future direction of education.

I encourage the leaders to wake up and nurture the creativity and innovation of the people, including the children.  It seems the teacher unions are not in support of this.

Status quo has got to go.

The anti child industry devoted to keeping services at minimum

The anti child industry devoted to keeping services at minimum

The industry standard of special education is supposed to be a Chevy and not a Cadillac. However, a look at almost ANY school district statistic across the United States comparing the scores of children with learning or other disabilities against the “regular” education students will show a HUGE disparity even though 80-90% these children have normal intelligence.

This disparity cuts accross all races and economic levels.  It cannot be blamed on race, poverty or parents.  The only thing they all have in common is they don't recieve the education they need to become self sufficient adults.  

Unfortunately, these children have their civil right to their education trampled on every day.   As one school district lawyer said to a parent lawyer once, “We don’t have to give them a Chevy; we only have to give them a wheel.” In other words, Individual Education Plans are set up to give the illusion of a free appropriate public education.  Highly paid legal firms and publication companies take tax dollars teaching schools how to make “legally defensible” Individual Education Plans.  In other words, they have to make it look like they are giving an adequate education.   The standard is making it LOOK like the plan will actually deliver a free appropriate education.  There is NO accountability for actual RESULTS.