North Hollywood California Charter principal says,

“I don’t want THEM coming here”

I have been going through the special education system in LAUSD for over six years now with my 3 kids. Like with anything you are thinking about buying, or places you’re thinking about going, you check them out, right? I read reviews on products, check out the website reviews and pictures of a hotel before I book it – so why not check out a special education class for my kid before I send them there? It’s a lot more important than room service sucking at some hotel. I’ve done it several times at a few different schools. Special Ed kids generally have to be bused to another school, since not every school has a program for every grade. Yeah, it kind of stinks, but it is what it is. There just isn’t enough money or people, which I get and is fine.

I’ve never had a problem doing an observation before – and my two eldest kids go to Charter schools in LAUSD. I know, everyone wants to go to a charter, and there’s always a lottery system, but since special ed kids can only go to a specific program, they have to go to where it is, charter or not. Well, Alex, my 8-year-old, is graduating out of the class he’s in, and I called around to try and find another placement for him. I left several messages for the closest school to us, an “affiliated charter” school with LAUSD. Let me say right now, the school Kennedy, my 9-year-old goes to, is a top charter school everyone wants to go to. I finally got a return call from the principal at this other school, and she told me flat out that they don’t take “them.” Who is “them?” Special Education kids. What is this, 1950’s Alabama? She told me they don’t send theirs out, and they don’t take them from other schools. They are a charter, and therefore, they don’t have to. What?? She even had other schools snowed, thinking they can’t send anyone over there. An affiliated charter still receives public funding, by the way – and is part of your school system, wherever you are, so yes, they do have to take other kids for special programs. Other classes for special ed in the valley are impacted with extra students, and this principal refuses to take any of them. I told her charter schools are not exempt, because my other child goes to a charter, and she told me, “Why don’t you send your other kid over there, then.” I did tell her she was rude, to be honest – and she then said, “Well, I guess that means you don’t want you kid coming here, then.” I said it sounded like she needed a change of careers. Yep, it was totally rude of me. I didn’t care. Talking like special ed kids are some sort of disease she didn’t want at her school really offended me, and I’m tough to offend. I called the support unit for the school and the district office to complain, which I’m sure she thought I would not do, if I even knew the number. It upset me that she thought it was okay to act like that, banking on the assumption that I wouldn’t know the law, wouldn’t follow up and wouldn’t know how to complain.

How many parents are out there that get snowed by this kind of act? Do they just go away with an answer like that, thinking it’s the truth? This woman kept trying to get me off the phone, telling me I was interrupting her – well, yes, I did, after she flat out gave me false information. Probably so she could dodge my calls again.