teacher advocate? | Autism PDD
I am a newbie here and I have a question. I am a special education teacher and I teach kids with autism. I do my best to follow the law and provide my students with everything they are entitled to (and then some) but my colleagues don't always do this. I have been discouraged by administrators for some of the things I do and in a couple of instances been actually told by those in "power" to do something or not do something that may not be technically against the law but at the very least would be pushing the limits of being ethical. (for example I wanted to tell a parent that I felt like their child needed a 1:1 parapro but was told I can't offer up district funds like that by volunteering a service that the parent has not requested)
My question is this - is there such a thing as an advocate for teachers? I guess basically I see things that if I were a parent I would be very unhappy about - if I had a child with special needs, I could get an advocate and/or sue the school system and hopefully make a difference - but since I WORK for the school system then I feel helpless to do anything because if I "rock the boat" I may lose my job or they could make my life miserable. So other than making "anonymous reports" to organizations that can investigate (which wouldn't be anonymous because I do speak out enough that the higher ups would immediately know who "blew the whistle"), is there anything I can do?
Many of my students have parents who are not completely aware of their
rights and may not have the time nor the resources to research it and
all ... I offer to let them borrow my books (From Emotions to Advocacy, How to Compromise with the School System without Compromising your Child, Negotiating the Special Education Maze, the Nolo sped books, etc.) but many of them don't have the time to read them (lots of single parents with several kids, a few have multiple kids on the spectrum, many from lower SE brackets that have to work two jobs just to feed the kids, etc. ... I've been told by my supervisors just to be happy that their parents don't know enough to get litigious and to be grateful that the parents will just basically go along with whatever without questioning it ... several of my parents don't even COME to the IEP meetings, they just give permission for us to write the IEP and then sign that they agree with the recomendations without even looking it over!) Many of my students have parents who are not completely aware of their
rights and may not have the time nor the resources to research it and
all ... for example - I have a student who I feel would benefit from
having his own paraprofessional - my sped coordinator told me I am not
allowed to bring that up in the IEP meeting because it would be
allocating district funds and unless the parent brings it up and
basically threatens to get litigious then we can't give a child their
own parapro ... so if I bring it up to the parent, I know there will be
backlash from the county (I may not be "officially" reprimanded, but
they can definitely make my life tough) ANyway, because I work for the school system I am not allowed to advocate for the kids (I can't even join many of the advocate message boards because I am employed by the county! Like teachers can't care about the kids and want what's best for them??). I don't want to quit teaching to become an advocate, I would like to be able to do both!! Any advice?? 
Just wanted to say THANK YOU for being on of those rare teachers who really wants to make a difference! Keep it up. We need more professionals like you.
Kely
Wish you had been here 7 years ago when we were just starting this process....I'd take your help even now
if you could be at my side at an IEP meeting. 
I've heard similar things from some of Nick's teachers and therapists. That they see children who are not getting what they need and don't have parents that know the law or even seem to care to get involved.
Bless you for caring as much as you do.
Our kids need teachers like you. Never give up and never stop trying to do what's right. I wish you were on our team.My boy's teacher is alot like you. She sees things too, for example, the boy's IEP says 90 minutes of speech a week. The boys speech is at least 50% delayed, they really need the speech and the insurance refuses to pay for more, they say its the school responsibility. Well while the school speech pathologist said she was giving them 90 min a week she was actually giving them 30. I was not aware of this. she told they got 90 so I believed her. I pick them up everyday so the teacher says to me one day I need to talk to you off the record. The boys are getting 30 min a week, maybe. I can't tell you they aren't receiving speech if you don't ask me. I love this woman! So I talked to my friend the special ed teacher and this is pretty much what she told me to do. Every week I inquire as to how much speech they get. I also told her on the record that she could tell the speech pathologist that I was asking daily and if they can't seem to get what their IEP indicates then I would expect a log showing how much speech they get. And if the school can not provide what is in their IEP then they can expect a due process hearing. Well that made everybody pay attention. LOL! They now get 90 minutes a week. they have no clue as far as I know that the teacher blew the whistle.I will add my thanks to you, for both knowing what is right, and looking to fix it!
I am not looking forward to the potential adversarial relationship that might develop with our school ... but learning to navigate IEPs without turning it into that is a START.
I do not know much about Unions, but that was my first thought too -- the Union should be able to exert some pressure with regard to making teachers do illegal things ...
lovemystudents,
I see Tzoya mentioned Union.... are you even in an area where the teachers have a union? My in-laws are in NY, so I am familiar with the teacher unions there (mil is a retired teacher). However, I know there are many areas of the US where teaching is a non-union profession.
God bless you for trying! I have met MANY ex-teachers in my area alone who quit for the same reasons... they have gone into fields where they can actually make a difference!
Good luck.
Mary
Even though i can't answer your question, i do want to say that you are rare, and that what you do try to do for these kids is just absolutely wonderful! Where do you teach?
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