FIGHTING FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION

A History Of Silencing Parents

The controversy over the selection of members of the Special Education advisory committee highlights a system that abhors genuine feedback.

“Parent involvement is more of a ‘doing to,’ while engagement is a ‘doing with.’”

– Larry Ferlazzo

LAUSD administrator has parent removed from meeting

With the approval of the Community Advisory Committee’s Membership delayed following complaints about the way LAUSD bureaucrats selected the candidates, this state-mandated committee cannot possibly achieve a quorum. Despite the situation being the fault of the staff at Students, Families, and Community Engagement (SFaCE), these bureaucrats have used the lack of quorum as an excuse to ignore requests from the committee’s leadership team to hold a meeting with the remaining members. Without this meeting, an Admissions Committee cannot be held, which is needed to resolve the impasse.

While this group of parents has been forced into silence, Scott Schmerelson’s Board-level Special Education Committee was able to hold its first meeting of the year on September 6, 2023. I arranged the following comments to be read to the membership of this committee during…