[nobe-l] need more advice
Ashley Bramlett via nobe-l
nobe-l at nfbnet.org
Tue May 27 00:12:49 UTC 2014
frank,
good advice. what subject and age group did you teach?
Also, was your complaint to eeoc successful? I know they are hard to prove.
What happens in such a complaint anyway?
I agree a good school system would then be scared when the feds are
watching.
Ashley
-----Original Message-----
From: Frank Lopez via nobe-l
Sent: Monday, May 26, 2014 11:22 AM
To: NMPBRAT at aol.com ; National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List
Cc: goldendolphin17 at hotmail.com
Subject: Re: [nobe-l] need more advice
Hello Nicole,
I am a totally blind retired teacher that taught for the past 20 years. I
have had the good fortune to have some great administrators over these
years. However, I have had my share of those that were very adversarial
and made it very difficult for me to do my job. There were times that I
had to file grievances through my union against specific administrators.
Filing these sometimes helped but not always. You would think after 25
years of ADA law administrators would be more willing to work with
individuals with limitations. At one time, I had to file an EEOC complaint
against one of my employers. It was something that I did not want to do.
I eventually dropped the complaint after my administration stood up and
took notice of the complaint. They all of the sudden became very docile
and acted as though there was no reason to had filed this complaint. The
last thing a school district wants is to be on the Feds radar. Remember
you can always drop the complaint once you have gotten their attention.
This action makes them aware of the fact that you are willing to inform the
Feds and they then watch there P's and Q's!
You can file a EEOC complaint online, or over the phone. When you talk to
the intake worker, make sure they know about all of your concerns including
that you are a union president. They can advise you without having to file
a complaint if you later choose not to. Remember, that you are blazing a
trail for current and future blind teachers that should not have to go
through all of this unnecessary stress and conflict. Best wishes for a
positive outcome.
Frank Lopez
Community Education
608-318-1887
Custom Canines Service Dog Academy, Inc.
6610 Fieldwood Rd.
Madison, Wi 53718
www.customcanines.org
On Sun, May 25, 2014 at 8:57 PM, via nobe-l <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Kathy and All,
> There is another issue that is complicating my decision as well that I
> didn't share with you in my original message. Technically, it shouldn't
> matter. BUT, I feel like it does.
> You see, I am also a union president. We are negotiating this year and
> are slated to begin negotiations in June and will probably go into July
> as
> well. Although I am leaning towards taking it outside the district, my
> concern is that if I file something outside the district, the district
> may
> retaliate and use negotiations as the means to do it. Negotiations are
> not
> going to be easy this time around and so I'm concerned my taking action
> could
> make it worse. And I'm not sure we could actually prove that what they
> were
> doing was retaliating. This is where some of my hesitation is coming
> from
> as well. Otherwise, I think I'd probably move forward with it.
> Thoughts on this??
> Nicole
>
>
> In a message dated 5/24/2014 4:15:13 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> nobe-l at nfbnet.org writes:
>
> Hello,
> To me, it is not even about what the accommodation was or how essential
> it
> was. The point is that they agreed to it, and that means they should have
> abided by that agreement. Even if the speaker was presenting a topic that
> was less intricate, if they said they would have the info for you, they
> should have had it. I think it is time to consult outside sources as if
> you
> do nothing, you are silently condoning their behavior and letting them
> set
> a
> precedent for future meetings. If you stay with the same path you
> followed
> before, you are looking at a probable extension of your frustration time
> with little hope that things will turn out differently. That is not good
> for
> your confidence and performance, especially because this evaluation beast
> is
> a tricky, tricky thing that can easily overwhelm. I have taught in the
> same
> school for twenty-two years, and while my administration has changed, I
> luckily have felt no change of support along the way. I anticipate
> probably
> finishing my career in this school, and I hope that this consistency will
> remain for the ten or so years I have left. I'm sorry that has not been
> your
> experience, Nicole. Let us know what you end up doing.
>
>
>
> Kathy Nimmer
> "Why should your heart not dance?" C.S. Lewis
> -----Original Message-----
> From: via nobe-l
> Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2014 3:04 PM
> To: bookwormahb at earthlink.net ; nobe-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [nobe-l] need advice
>
> Ashley,
> They had two options.....
> 1) They could provide me the materials and presentation ahead of time
> via
> email so that I could print them off and make them in accessible format
> (large print)
> OR
> 2) They could provide me the materials and presentation in large print
> format that day.
> They did neither.
> Interestingly enough, I had colleagues that were sitting next to me that
> were sharing things with me (since I could see it).....and we ended up
> getting called out for talking, as if we are 5 years old. At that
> point,
> I
> wanted to really tell them what I thought....but I refrained.
>
> Ashley, it makes a world of difference as to who the administration is.
> My experiences have definitely shown me this.
>
> Good luck with future endeavors in education. It is very doable with
> the
> right support.
>
> Nicole
>
>
>
>
> In a message dated 5/24/2014 11:02:03 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> bookwormahb at earthlink.net writes:
>
> Nicole,
> sounds tough.
> I'd file a complaint outside the school. If there is a helpful nfb rep
> in
> your state, you might have them come to the meetings.
>
> Which accomodation did you need in the training that was not provided?
>
> I'm glad you made it over 10 years. I am considering special ed either
> teaching blind kids or learning disabled ones so am on this list.
>
> Its interesting to see one administration really makes a difference in
> the
> treatment we get.
> I'd love to see the day when everyone in schools respects staff
> reguardless
> of their abilities.
> Ashley
> -----Original Message-----
> From: via nobe-l
> Sent: Friday, May 23, 2014 10:59 PM
> To: nobe-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nobe-l] need advice
>
>
> Hi,
> I am not one to put messages on the list very often and when I do, it
> is
> typically responding to someone else’s message.
> I am looking for some advice from others though…to get an idea of what
> others might do in my situation. I apologize for the length.
> Just some quick background information first. I am legally blind.
> I
> am
> finishing my 12th year of teaching in an inner city public school
> system
> as a special education teacher. I have taught in the same school
> district
> for my entire career. They hired me knowing that I was legally blind
> and
> might need a couple reasonable accommodations. For 10 years or so, the
> district’s administration was very helpful and very willing to provide
> any
> reasonable accommodations to me I requested. I certainly wasn’t pushy
> and
> only
> asked for things that were essential. They were always more than
> willing
> to comply with my requests and never questioned anything. Even during
> those 10 years, I had several different principals, 2 different
> Special
> Education directors, and a couple different Superintendents that I
> worked
> under.
> For the most part, with the exception of one principal that caused
> problems for everyone, I had no issues with any administration and any
> requests I
> made. The one issue I did have with the principal, the Superintendent
> at
> the time quickly corrected the issue.
> In the last couple years, we have acquired a new Superintendent, a new
> Special Education director, and new principals. The response I have
> received from the current administration has been very different.
> At the beginning of December of last year, I made a request for a
> reasonable accommodation to my principals. They ignored my request. I
> again asked
> a couple more times, getting more specific and more direct each time…
> .while still being professional and respectful. I was still ignored.
> Then at
> the beginning of January, I contacted the Superintendent in an attempt
> to
> resolve the issue, which had worked the one other time I had had issues
> with
> a principal. The Superintendent also ignored my attempt to contact
> him
> and never responded. After discussing it with our union’s attorney
> (who
> also happens to practice disability law), it was decided that I would
> file
> an
> internal ADA complaint within the district. I filed the complaint and
> chose to have our union’s attorney act as my representation. The
> district
> contacted their attorney who then contacted my attorney. After some
> discussion and despite my anger, I agreed to mediate the issue without
> the
> district
> having to go through the investigation process first. Although I was
> angry because I felt that the district’s actions were totally out of
> line
>
> and
> unnecessary, I was not going into this with an attitude of “I’m out to
> get
> them”. I just wanted to continue to be treated in the same manner I
> had
> been for 10 years and be provided reasonable accommodations when I
> requested them, nothing more. We held a meeting where it was myself,
> my
>
> attorney,
> the district’s attorney, and administration. We came to a written and
> signed agreement between the district and myself as to the reasonable
> accommodations that I needed and the district was willing to provide.
> I
> thought
> with the signed agreement and my dismissal of the complaint, that we’d
> all
> be able to move on and I’d get what I needed. The agreement was
> supposed
> to be distributed to all administrators that I work with or under so
> that
> they were aware of the agreement and its contents. About 2 weeks
> later,
> I
> was speaking to one of the administrators and I mentioned the
> agreement….and
> they seemed to be unaware of the agreement or its contents. This
> concerned
> me. I asked a couple other administrators and received the same
> response.
> So I called my attorney and told her my concerns. I said “How can I
> expect these people to follow an agreement that they don’t even seem to
> be
> aware of? I mean, that doesn’t seem very fair to them.” She then
> contacted
> the district’s attorney and we ended up on a three-way conference call.
> I
> explained my concerns. She did have documentation that all the
> administration had been informed of it but stated that she would make
> contact again
> with the Superintendent’s office and tell them that they needed to
> check
> again with their administrators to ensure they were well aware of the
> agreement
> and expectations. Again, I wasn’t out to “get them”…I was simply just
> trying to prevent another issue. This was like 2 months ago.
> So, now comes today. I was at a district level professional
> development
> meeting in which I was to be provided a reasonable accommodation that
> would
> allow me gain the information I needed and fully participate in the
> professional development. Mind you, this professional development is
> information
> and training on our new state level teacher evaluation system….which
> in
> turn, directly correlates to my evaluation and ultimately, my job.
> So,
> yes,
> it is extremely important stuff. The accommodation I was to be provided
> today was on the signed agreement we made months ago. The two
> administrators who ran the professional development were both people who
> were provided
> the information….one of which was ironically, the Special Education
> director. Despite the agreement, I was not provided the
> accommodation.
> I had to
> go through the training without it. Needless to say, I am angry
> and
> frustrated. I had 10 great years with no issues. I’ve tried very
> hard
> to
> work with the current administration and have tried to be
> understanding
> and
> forgiving. I’ve given them chances to make things right and do the
> right
> thing. They just don’t seem to care!!!
> So, my question is……..what avenue would you do next? Would you try
> and
> mediate yet again, even though they are obviously refusing to follow the
> agreement that is already made? Would you file a complaint outside
> the
> district? What direction would you take from here? What suggestions
> do
> you
> have?
> Any thoughts are appreciated!
> Thanks in advance,
> Nicole
> _______________________________________________
> nobe-l mailing list
> nobe-l at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nobe-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nobe-l:
>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nobe-l_nfbnet.org/bookwormahb%40earthlink.
> net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nobe-l mailing list
> nobe-l at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nobe-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nobe-l:
>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nobe-l_nfbnet.org/goldendolphin17%40hotmai
> l.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nobe-l mailing list
> nobe-l at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nobe-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nobe-l:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nobe-l_nfbnet.org/nmpbrat%40aol.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> nobe-l mailing list
> nobe-l at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nobe-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nobe-l:
>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nobe-l_nfbnet.org/frank%40customcanines.org
>
_______________________________________________
nobe-l mailing list
nobe-l at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nobe-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nobe-l:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nobe-l_nfbnet.org/bookwormahb%40earthlink.net
More information about the NOBE-L
mailing list