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Letter to the MANSEF
staff
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Letter to the
Maryland State Board of Education
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Letter to Senator
President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr.
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Letter to Speaker
Michael E. Busch
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Letter
to Dr. Carol Ann Baglin (Assistant
State Superintendent Special Education)
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Letter
to Dr. Nancy Grasmick (State
Superintendent of schools)
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Letter
to Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich,
Jr.
CCEO COMMUNITY
COALITION FOR EDUCATION OPTIONS
CCEO
P.O. BOX 271, Woodstock, MD 21163
E-mail:
CCEO@eduopt.com
Website:
www.eduopt.com
June
7, 2004
Maryland
Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities
(MANSEF),
We
are honored that you have chosen to give the Community
Coalition for Education Options the Distinguished Citizens
Award and consider us to be in the same esteemed company of
the previous honorees.
While
five of us saw the need for an organization that represents
all disabilities and education placements this award really
belongs to the 1300 members of the CCEO who have advocated
this year, and will continue to vigorously advocate to
preserve a continuum of alternative education placements for
children with special needs.
Our
members would like to take this opportunity to thank the
MANSEF schools for your dedication in educating and improving
the quality of life for our most medically fragile and at risk
population of children. We
would also like to thank you for all your support and
encouragement during our first year. We look forward to continuing our work with you.
Howard
County parents and co-founders of the CCEO.
CCEO began June 2003.
We now have over 1,200 members one year later that support
alternative education options.
Simone
Martinez
Phyllis
Zolotorow
Nanette
Schweitzer
Diane
Chesley
Frances
Wang
past
recipients include:
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Susan Leviton, Esq.
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Charles Short, former director of Health and Human Services in
Montgomery County
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Dr. Nancy Grasmick, State Superintendent of Schools
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Advocates for Children and Youth
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CCEO COMMUNITY
COALITION FOR EDUCATION OPTIONS
CCEO
P.O. BOX 271, Woodstock, MD 21163
E-mail:
CCEO@eduopt.com
Website:
www.eduopt.com
May
27, 2004
Dear
Members of the State Board of Education,
The Community Coalition
for Education Options strongly opposes linking the passing of
the Maryland High School Assessments to a Maryland High School
Diploma at this time. Let
it be known that we are not against accountability for
students, teachers, administrators, or school systems. The
CCEO has 1,300 members throughout the state of Maryland and
represents a variety of disabilities. Although we’re concerned about the affects of the
HSA’s on all students our organization primarily focuses on
children and youth with disabilities.
The CCEO does not want to see students penalized for what we
feel is a systemic problem within our education system. The target year for receiving a Maryland High School
Diploma based on the passing of the Maryland HSA’s is set
for students now in the 7th grade. We feel that these students are ill prepared
academically for these tests because they have not had the
appropriate previous instruction or the benefit of instruction
based upon current research. If the attainment of a high school diploma continues to be
dependent upon passing the HSA’s then we feel this should be
postponed for at least 12 years. This will give us time to bring reading curricula in
line with research-based practices and more time to study or
to develop best practices in the remediation in math
disabilities. During
the next 12 years the school system should use these tests as
a diagnostic tool to examine student progress, student
learning and the systems response to student failure.
Beyond the systemic problem is the issue of the academic
preparedness of our future teachers. Teachers must learn how to teach all students.
Continuous breakthroughs in research show the
neurological differences in the brain and how this impacts
learning. Therefore
the next 12 years should be used to examine our teaching
institutions. Parents need to be assured that teaching methodology is
current with scientific research in the way students learn.
Before we hold our students accountable we need to make sure
we have a functioning educational system that is accountable
for preparing our students for entering the work force and or
higher education.
If students are required to pass the HSA’s in order to
receive a Md. High School Diploma then
We
should all be concerned about the possible massive failure
rate of our students and the inevitable rise in student drop
out rates.
We
should all be concerned about the inadequacies of the tests
themselves, flaws in the grading process and the community’s
inability to have access to the testing results.
We should all be concerned
about the emotional impact that failing these tests will have
on our students.
We
should all be concerned about what the future holds for our
children.
The CCEO sincerely hopes that we as adults will have the
wisdom and foresight to assume our responsibility in creating
an equitable education system that helps our children to
realize their potential rather than assuring that many will
fail.
Sincerely,
The
Community Coalition for Education Options CCEO
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CCEO COMMUNITY
COALITION FOR EDUCATION OPTIONS
CCEO
P.O. BOX 271, Woodstock, MD 21163
E-mail:
CCEO@eduopt.com
Website:
www.eduopt.com
January
8, 2004
Senate
President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr
H-107
State House
Annapolis,
MD 21401-1991
Speaker
Michael E. Busch
H-101
State House
Annapolis,
MD 21401-1991
Re: (1)
Community Coalition for Education Options
(2) Continuum of Placement and Services for Special
Needs Students
We are writing to provide you with some background
about our organization and its concerns.
The CCEO was founded in order to ensure that our public
officials are aware of the strong support within the special
education community for maintaining and improving the
continuum of placement options mandated by the IDEA. The CCEO
now has over 1100 members.
Our membership is drawn from every county in Maryland.
We are concerned that some of the largest and
best-funded disability advocacy organizations are seeking to
either dismantle specialized pull out programs, self-contained
classrooms, and separate schools or shift funding from such
programs to fund inclusion efforts.
The CCEO recognizes that many students would benefit
from improvements in the availability and quality of inclusive
education. Accordingly,
the CCEO supports those members of the special education
community who seek inclusive educational services for their
students. However,
many students' needs are best served by educating them in
specialized settings such as self-contained classrooms.
It is our understanding that many, if not most, parents
of students with special needs in Maryland are of the opinion
that their children need to receive educational or related
services in specialized settings including pull out programs,
self-contained classrooms, and schools that specialize in
educating students with special needs.
We are concerned that the strong support in Maryland's
special education community for continuing to provide
educational or related services in specialized settings is
obscured by the efforts of advocacy organizations, seeking to
roll back or dismantle the specialized programs needed by many
disabled students. It
is our hope that the Maryland General Assembly will recognize
the depth and breadth of the support for maintaining and
improving the continuum of placement options existing within
Maryland’s special education community.
It is our opinion that those organizations supporting
educational options (including the CCEO) should be among the
stakeholders consulted on any occasions that seeks public or
parental input into issues affecting special education, in
particular those affecting LRE, inclusion or the continuum of
placements.
The members of CCEO recently met with the State
Superintendent of Schools, and we are pleased that the MSDE
did not recently adopt the most onerous recommendation
contained in the Blueprint for Change (BFC), specifically, the
BFC’s recommendation to divert funding from non-public
placement to inclusion programs. The tuition freeze for the
Non-Public schools that is in effect for the current year is
of great concern to our membership. We ask that you not
consider an additional tuition freeze for non-public schools
in the future.
The Bridge to Excellence plans made public by Local
Educational Authorities (LEA) raise an additional concern.
Some of these plans set forth goals in which the
LEA’s success in implementing inclusion is to be measured by
the percentage of time spent in the general education setting
by a particular percentage of special education students. This
suggests that placement decisions could be made on a
categorical basis rather than the case-by-case basis mandated
by The IDEA and its implementing regulations, which mandate
that the IEP team must determine the educational placement for
each individual student based on that individual student’s
specific needs.
The CCEO respectfully request an opportunity to discuss
these matters with you as soon as possible. A
representative will call your office to set up an appointment.
Sincerely,
Points
of Contact::
Ike Puzon, Prince Georges County,
ikepuzon@earthlink.net
Phyllis Zolotorow, CCEO State coordinator
Simone Martinez, CCEO State coordinator
Ellen Edinger, Baltimore City CCEO coordinator
John Lee, Baltimore City
Patty Mochel, Baltimore County CCEO coordinator
Nancy Edwards, Baltimore County CCEO coordinator
Liz
Lowenthal, Calvert County CCEO coordinator
Jacy
Haas, Carroll County CCEO coordinator
Heidi Rochon, Eastern Shore CCEO coordinator
Steven Summers, Frederick County CCEO coordinator
Steven Fine, Howard County
Frances Wang, Howard County CCEO coordinator
Kim Khan, Montgomery County CCEO coordinator
Gail Voigt, Prince Georges County CCEO coordinator
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CCEO COMMUNITY
COALITION FOR EDUCATION OPTIONS
CCEO
P.O. BOX 271, Woodstock, MD 21163
E-mail:
CCEO@eduopt.com
Website:
www.eduopt.com
September
5, 2003
Dr.Carol
Ann Baglin
Assistant
State Superintendent Special Education
Maryland
State Department of Education
200
West Baltimore Street
Baltimore,
MD 21201
Re: Continuum of
Placement and Services for Special Needs Students
Dear Dr. Baglin:
Our group, the Community Coalition for Education
Options, represents parents and family members, professionals
in education, and those in the general community who wish to
protect the rights of students with special needs to have
access to a full continuum of educational placement options. Since its formation in June 2003, more than 200
concerned citizens from all across Maryland have joined
together to support the continued availability of education
options for children with special needs.
Our members represent the full gamut of disabilities
including autism, attention deficit hyperactive disorder,
emotional disabilities, hearing impairment, learning
disabilities, medically fragile, orthopedic impairment,
psychiatric disorders, as well as others.
We know you are well aware of the many challenges
continually faced by students with special needs and those who
educate them. While we wholeheartedly support inclusion for
those students whose educational and social needs can be met
in a regular classroom, we are deeply concerned for the many
students with disabilities for whom a regular classroom would
present insurmountable obstacles to learning. We feel that it
is important to recognize that a continuum of placement
options and related services needs to be kept available to
these students in order to give them the best chance to
succeed.
CCEO is a diverse group of people representing children
with extraordinarily diverse needs, but we are united in our
conviction that a full continuum of educational options and
related services is absolutely necessary to give every student
in Maryland the opportunity to develop to their potential and
to ultimately be embraced as valued, contributing members of
their communities.
We are grateful for all the work you have done in the
past on behalf of students with special needs in Maryland and
are hoping that you and Dr. Grasmick would be willing to meet
with several of our representatives to discuss particular
points of concern for us. We will call your office next week
to schedule an appointment.
We look forward to our meeting.
Sincerely,
Simone
Martinez
Nanette
Schweitzer
Phyllis
Zolotorow
Representatives
of the Community Coalition for Education Options
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CCEO COMMUNITY
COALITION FOR EDUCATION OPTIONS
CCEO
P.O. BOX 271, Woodstock, MD 21163
E-mail:
CCEO@eduopt.com
Website:
www.eduopt.com
September
5, 2003
Dr.
Nancy Grasmick
State
Superintendent of Schools
Maryland
State Department of Education
200
West Baltimore Street
Baltimore,
MD 21201
Re: Continuum of
Placement and Services for Special Needs Students
Dear Dr. Grasmick:
Our group, the Community Coalition for Education
Options, represents parents and family members, professionals
in education, and those in the general community who wish to
protect the rights of students with special needs to have
access to a full continuum of educational placement options. Since its formation in June 2003, more than 180
concerned citizens from all across Maryland have joined
together to support the continued availability of education
options for children with special needs.
Our members represent the full gamut of disabilities
including autism, ADHD, emotional disabilities, hearing
impairment, learning disabilities, medically fragile,
orthopedic impairment, psychiatric disorders, as well as
others.
With your extensive background in special education,
not to mention your work on the President’s Commission on
Excellence in Special Education, we know you are well aware of
the many challenges continually faced by special needs
students and those who educate them. While we wholeheartedly
support inclusion for those students whose educational and
social needs can be met in a regular classroom, we are deeply
concerned for the many students with disabilities for whom a
regular classroom would present insurmountable obstacles to
learning. We feel that it is important to recognize that a
continuum of placement options and related services needs to
be kept available to these students in order to give them the
best chance to succeed.
We are encouraged by the emphasis on the importance of
parental options in the commission’s report, “A New Era:
Revitalizing Special Education for Children and Their
Families.” The passage which states that families should
have the choice of “...other
options that target students with disabilities, even if these
offer relatively restrictive environments, as long as those
programs can appropriately serve these students,” gives us
hope that the special programs and schools geared to the needs
of children with disabilities are recognized as crucial to
those students for whom placement in a regular classroom is
not a viable option.
CCEO is a diverse group of people representing children
with extraordinarily diverse needs, but we are united in our
conviction that a full continuum of educational options and
related services is absolutely necessary to give every student
in Maryland the opportunity to develop to their potential and
to ultimately be embraced as valued, contributing members of
their communities.
We sincerely appreciate your efforts on behalf of
students with disabilities as part of the President’s
Commission, and we are grateful to have a state school
superintendent who understands the complexities and challenges
of special education. We are hoping you and Dr. Baglin would
be willing to meet with several of our representatives to
discuss particular points of concern for us. We will call your
office next week to schedule an appointment.
Thank you again for your work on the Commission and
your concern for the welfare of the children of Maryland. We
look forward to our meeting.
Sincerely,
Simone Martinez
Nanette
Schweitzer
Phyllis
Zolotorow
Representatives of the Community
Coalition for Education Options
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CCEO COMMUNITY
COALITION FOR EDUCATION OPTIONS
CCEO
P.O. BOX 271, Woodstock, MD 21163
E-mail:
CCEO@eduopt.com
Website:
www.eduopt.com
November
3, 2003
The
Honorable Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr.
Governor
of the State of Maryland
State
House
100
State Circle
Annapolis,
Maryland 21401
Re:
Continuum of Placement and Services for Special Needs Students
Dear
Governor Ehrlich,
The
Community Coalition for Education Options consists of over 800
members, who are concerned about the recent push for the
inclusion of all students with special needs in regular
education classrooms. Our
members come from throughout Maryland and include students
with special needs, their families, teachers, therapists and
other members of the community concerned about their
education. The disabilities represented within our group
include but are not limited to autism, ADHD, emotional
disabilities, hearing impaired, learning disabilities,
medically fragile, orthopedically impaired and clinical
depression.
While
we wholeheartedly support inclusion for those students whose
educational and social needs can be met in a regular
classroom, we are deeply concerned for the many students with
disabilities for whom a regular classroom would present
insurmountable obstacles to learning.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act IDEA
mandates that a continuum of placement options and related
services needs to be made available to these students in order
to give them the best chance to succeed.
CCEO
is a diverse group of people representing children with
extraordinarily diverse needs, but we are united in our
conviction that a full continuum of educational options and
related services is absolutely necessary to give every student
in Maryland the opportunity to develop to his or her
potential, and to ultimately be embraced as valued,
contributing members of the community.
We
have written to Dr. Nancy Grasmick and Dr. Carol Ann Baglin
and have scheduled a meeting date in December.
We are also writing to and meeting with our Delegates
and State Senators. We
hope you will join us in our efforts to assure that the
educational
needs of all children are met by providing a full continuum of
educational options.
Sincerely,
Phyllis
Zolotorow
Steven
Fine
Simone
Martinez
Anna
Burns
Representatives
of the Community Coalition for Education Options
cc:
Dr. Nancy Grasmick State Superintendent of Schools
Dr.Carol Ann Baglin Assistant State Superintendent
Special Education
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