[blindkid] Charter School

Tue Feb 18 15:35:30 UTC 2014

I agree with your statement in theory but in practice it is different.
 It also varies from state to state.  There are many online schools
now too but I haven't found any that are accessible with screen
readers and they should be also since they receive public school
funds.

On 2/18/14, mindy heppe <prmheppe at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Charter schools re public schools and as such must accept pretty much all
> comers (lotteries decide who gets in if they are popular). Something like a
> quarter of our students (I say "our" because I've somehow wound up on the
> board) have IEPs. That's because , simply put, such students are treated
> with more respect here than at any of our feeder districts. We contract for
> services we can't provide. But again, all charter schools are not created
> equal, just like all public schools.
> Mindy
> --------------------------------------------
> On Tue, 2/18/14, Marianne Denning <marianne at denningweb.com> wrote:
>
>  Subject: Re: [blindkid] Charter School
>  To: "Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)"
> <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>  Date: Tuesday, February 18, 2014, 9:59 AM
>
>  Hopefully, charter schools will, over
>  time, accept students with all
>  types of disabilities.  I believe it takes people who
>  want their
>  children in charter schools to make it happen.  I am in
>  my 50's and
>  lived in a rural area.  When I started school most
>  blind children
>  attended a school for the blind.  In fact, eye doctors
>  told Mom to
>  send me to the state school for the blind.  We lived
>  over 200 miles
>  from that school and Mom didn't want me away from home all
>  of the
>  time.  She sent me to the local school and no one knew
>  what to do.
>  The district made things up as we went along.  We had
>  some failures
>  and frustrations along the way but the district was
>  committed to
>  educating me and I graduated and went on to college, an MS
>  degree, and
>  additional education.  I learned to handle frustrations
>  and solve many
>  life problems.  That was all because Mom had a driving
>  reason to keep
>  me at home.  People will have compelling reasons for
>  their students to
>  attend a charter school and things will begin to
>  change.  The question
>  I have is do you have a compelling reason for the charter
>  school and
>  are you willing to put forth the additional effort that may
>  be
>  required? If so, and the school is willing to work hard too,
>  then go
>  for it and you can help others who will come behind
>  you.  Good luck,
>  whatever your decision.
>
>  On 2/17/14, Erin Teply <eteply at cfl.rr.com>
>  wrote:
>  > I am no expert in this area at all, but we recently had
>  a charter school
>  > open very near us and I was also very interested.
>  No one really knew much
>  > about the company running the charter school, but I
>  remembered they are
>  > typically *for profit*, meaning they will run as lean
>  as they can to make
>  > money.  When I approached our TVI and mobility
>  teacher on this, they were
>  > very quick to discourage me to go any further.
>  Basically, they said that
>  > Charter schools can be worse than private schools
>  because they have less
>  > reasons to abide by the IEP, etc.  That was enough
>  for me to keep my son in
>  > his current home school, which was going great
>  anyway.  Now, knowing more
>  > than I did because of friends that have kids at that
>  school
>  > (normal/sighted), I know I made the right decision as
>  it hasn't been
>  > stellar.  All that being said, I think you have to
>  do research on the
>  > company owning the charter school, speak to the
>  principal/vice principal and
>  > see what their feelings are because if they are on
>  board, likely everything
>  > will be great!  I'd speak to the TVI's and
>  mobility teachers that will be
>  > working with your child and see how they feel.  If
>  all are open and willing,
>  > things should be great.  I really don't know the
>  answer to this, but is it
>  > really an added expense to the school?  The
>  TVI/mobility instruction is
>  > covered by the school district regardless if the child
>  is in a public,
>  > private or charter school?  Again, I may be wrong
>  on this as my son goes to
>  > our home public elementary school.  Best of luck,
>  these decisions are tough
>  > :)
>  >
>  >
>  > On Feb 17, 2014, at 12:36 PM, oandemom . <traci.mwd at gmail.com>
>  wrote:
>  >
>  >> Hello all!  I was curious if anyone had their
>  child/children in a charter
>  >> school.  We have a new science charter school
>  opening in our area and
>  >> went
>  >> to the information meeting and was really excited
>  about it.  I know they
>  >> are required to meet the requirements of the IEP,
>  but I have heard of
>  >> other
>  >> charter schools, where they don't provide a
>  braillists, one doesn't even
>  >> get TVI services any longer, etc.  I don't
>  know the full stories behind
>  >> these issue's, but I was wondering if others had
>  any experiences and any
>  >> suggestions to share if we were accepted via the
>  lottery, which is the
>  >> first hurdle.
>  >>
>  >> I know all the requirements for a VI child (except
>  I have two!) is a huge
>  >> expense for any school and I don't want their to be
>  a sense of resentment
>  >> that my children are costing them the most but the
>  idea of a 18 child
>  >> classroom, project  based and theme based
>  instruction is very exci
>  >> t
>  >> ing
>  >>
>  >> and I can see a VI child excelling in this
>  environment.  I just want to
>  >> go
>  >> in with both eye's open and know what I'm getting
>  into!
>  >>
>  >> Thanks much,
>  >> Traci (
>  >> mom to
>  >> Olivia & Evan, LCA)
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>
>  --
>  Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
>  Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
>  (513) 607-6053
>
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-- 
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053