This case has been an interesting journey, like the Chinese curse, and this blog entry is musing the questions and considerations of some of the truths surrounding this case.

I firmly believe, as a professional educator, that highly, extremely, profoundly, and terminally gifted children are a special needs population. So, the Supreme Court is going to decide if they are taking this case next week on the 24th of September. I have so many emotions on this that have been building for the last 17 years. I am sure that you can imagine!

The lower courts never took the case and it was never heard. But the funky part about that is they get the final word out of ignorance. The lower courts write things like, “I pulled my son out of school”. I can only guess they never read the documents, or maybe they did and they are holding out on the truth for a later date, or for some future civilization to uncover the documents, and read them. Or how about the first several years of filing the case in our hallowed Capital when our filings kept mysteriously disappearing, year after year, after year, after … . Gee, I wonder who in Sacramento did that? And does that mean that the documents were shredded and no future civilization will ever read them?

My son started school at age 3. That was a blessing but he should have started at birth. When babies are identified at birth as having special needs, they attend programs with professionals at clinics, hospitals, etc., not just for them but also for their parents to learn about their needs. His pediatrician identified him at 6 weeks and said he would never be able to go to school. Is that the same thing as early identification? If his doctor knew, and identified him, then it seems like there should be programs for these kids and their parents.

Over the almost 2 decades, I have heard everyone’s opinion, although I did not ask, and I did not want to know. I hired Celine when he was 12 weeks old because his developmental thrust drew too much attention as I ran my errands on the weekends, and strangers scared me with their invasive and stupid comments. If everyone at the grocery store, cleaners, work, the boardwalk, and everywhere we went needed to comment on his differences, I guess that is a clue of how obvious it was that he was different.

It is really weird. On one hand I cannot imagine that we do not have a national policy to educate our geniuses with “others” like themselves. I think of our society as being selfish, and who would not want to groom their geniuses to be contributing members of their society? After all, I am not solving cancer. And I doubt most of us want to do the work that they want to do. I say, let them have it!

On the other hand, if he was SO EASY to identify at 6 weeks, that is no different than a severely mentally disabled child. And we do not ignore their special needs and carry on like it is not hard on their parents, not expensive, and we would not just ignore their differences and expect them to act like a normal average child. In print like this, it makes us sound like we have all been pithed. Why am I even fighting to make things better for everyone else? If they cannot see the obvious, let them live with that. Or maybe they just never thought about it… if I had a dollar for every time I heard that one I would be rich!

Whether we win or loose, everyone will finally know. If you have ever known one of these kids, you will know what needs to happen. But, then maybe it will be easier to fundraise and everyone will understand that they are not entitled to an education.

The school district placed him at the college; the college said he could not attend, what is their mission anyway:

California Community Colleges shall admit any California resident with a high school diploma or the equivalent and may admit anyone who is capable of profiting from the instruction offered.

Primary missions of the Colleges are to offer academic and vocational education at the lower division level for both recent high school graduates and those returning to school. Another primary mission is to advance California’s economic growth and global competitiveness through education, training, and services that contribute to continuous workforce improvement. Essential and important functions of the colleges include: basic skills instruction, providing English as a second language, adult noncredit instruction, and providing support services that help students to succeed. Fee-based Community Service education is designated as an authorized function. To the extent funding is provided the Colleges may conduct institutional research concerning student learning and retention as is needed to facilitate their educational missions (http://www.cccco.edu/faq_cccco.htm).

Hmm, so the district placed him at the college for his education, and their mission states, “…anyone who is capable of profiting from the instruction offered…”, then why did they say I had to sit with him as a single mom, and pay for his tuition and textbooks these almost 2 decades, while I could not earn a living and that was his public school placement. Oops! Full circle!

I wonder how this really fits into Brown v.? What if we changed around the words? You cannot go to school here because you are Purple. We do not care that the district is placing you here because you are Purple, for you to be here your mom has to sit with you (you know how those Purple people act!). If someone had to sit with him, the state, district, or someone, should have provided a special education aid. Is this IDEA or what! Or is this Brown v.? Either way, it is just ridiculous that we had to take this to the Supreme Court.

I will bet you the case cost more than it would have to educate him for free in our public colleges. Governor Davis’ cost analysis stated that it would cost 5 million dollars to educate all these special gifted kids in the state with an education budget of almost 60 billion, ha, ha, ha, is that interest for a day? What message does that send? And the true value of a genius in the Dark Education Ages of the 21st century is, … NOTHING!

And, to further thicken the plot, did both the K-12 district and the community college double dip for reimbursement from the state of California? And if a child in k-12 is not supposed to pay for textbooks and tuition in public school, then why did I have to pay for a 5-16 year old? And did they also charge the state?

QUESTIONS PRESENTED FOR SUPREME COURT REVIEW
1. Does the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (”IDEA”) expressly preclude any determination that an extremely gifted child is a “special needs” child capable of being qualified for funding related to his or her individual educational needs?

2. Does the No Child Left Behind Act (”NCLBA”) exclude extremely gifted children from receiving a publicly funded education tailored to their highly specialized psychosocial needs? http://www.profamilylawcenter.com/_docs/47.pdf

Please write an affirmation that the Supreme Court takes the case and that we win, please light a candle envisioning this and meditate on this.

Categories: leadership, gifted, advocacy, education, supreme court ~ Tags: advocacy, education, gifted, leadership, supreme court ~ Trackback