Lee's Summit R-7 School District

parenting a child with disabilities~a battle on every front leads to battle fatigue

Faces of Autism: Inclusive Education: Right For Some Inclusive Education: Right For Some  by Bernard Rimland, Ph.D.  Is there the parent of an autistic child who wouldn't be delighted beyond words if the child would simply blend smoothly into a regular classroom? That is a dream we all share. For a few, the dream becomes a reality. Over the years I have heard from a number of parents who have shared with us their joy, their pride and their good fortune: "Billy has been included in a regular classroom! He is having a hard time adjusting, but he is making it!" But, for every parent whose child "makes it," there are many more who are not so fortunate.  Much as my wife and I would like to have our autistic son Mark be able to cope successfully in a normal school, it is very clear to us that he could not have done so. He has come along much farther than we ever dared hope, and we are quite confident it is because he was always in special classes, taught by ex...

Faces of Autism: Sparks Fly At Lee's Summit School Board Candidates Forums Sparks fly at Lee's Summit candidates forums R-7 board challenger, incumbents clash By Brett Dalton The Journal Staff Posted: Thursday, March 27, 2008 8:04 PM CDT At this week's two candidate forums, Sherri Tucker wasted no time explaining why she's running for one of the three at-large R-7 Board of Education seats. "I have no reason to run for the school board other than my commitment to children with disabilities," said Tucker, who has a 14-year-old son with autism. As the only challenger to the three incumbents- Jon Plaas, Jeff Tindle and Jack Wiley - running for re-election Tucker spent much of her speaking time at two forums hosted by the Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday and Wednesday criticizing the R-7 School District for what she believes is a lack of services and support for students with special needs. "I'm running for school board because I believe that there is a se...

Lee’s Summit’s superintendent is Missouri’s highest paid at $397,000 a year | The Kansas City Star Your hard earned money at work.  I don't think that you are getting your money's worth. A new report on how public school district superintendents were paid last year in Missouri shows the leader of Lee’s Summit’s schools topping the list, getting nearly $95,000 more than the second highest paid. The report by the Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri says that in 2015, Missouri school districts spent an estimated total of more than $60 million in salaries, pension payments and other benefits to public school district superintendents. Lee’s Summit superintendent David McGehee got a compensation package, including annuity and allowed expenses, that totaled an estimated $397,000, nearly as much as the president of the United States’ $400,000 annual salary. Lee’s Summit school board officials said Thursday that the compensation listed for McGehee, who was hired in 2006 after ...

What I Learned About IEP Meetings From the Other Side of the Table | The Mighty Please read the whole article. eaching children with exceptionalities has been my passion, career and life for many years. Little did I know my career and personal life would cross over. The transition from special education teacher to special education stay-at-home mom left me feeling like I was entering the special education world for the first time.  The world of special needs was completely new to me, even though I kept hearing, “Oh, you are a special education teacher so this isn’t new for you,” or “How wonderful that you have that background as a mom.” The moment my 2-year-old son, Milo, was diagnosed with autism, my mind went blank, and I was truly a newbie. One day I was sure I would excel at was truly the most eye-opening day for me as an educator. I quickly knew that my education had  not  prepared me for my son’s first IEP, although this was a day I had said would come easy to m...

Broken discipline tracking systems let teachers flee troubled pasts Please read the whole article.  Missouri got an "F". Georgia officials revoked a teacher’s license after finding he exchanged sexual texts and naked photos with a female student and was involved in physical altercations with two others. A central Florida teacher’s credentials were suspended after she was charged with battery for allegedly shoving and yelling at a 6-year-old student. In Texas, a middle school math teacher lost his job and teaching license after he was caught on camera allegedly trying to meet a teenage boy in a sting set up by NBC’s nationally aired TV program  To Catch a Predator . All three of those teachers found their way back to the front of public school classrooms, simply by crossing state lines. They’re far from alone. An investigation by the USA TODAY NETWORK found fundamental defects in the teacher screening systems used to ensure the safety of children in the nation's m...