LA teachers’ strike impacts students with special needs
Parents worry schools won’t provide usual care
When Sonia Hernandez explained the Los Angeles teachers’ strike to her 10-year-old son with autism, he almost started to cry from distress.
“I don’t want the teachers to miss school,” Daniel told her, his voice changing tone as he immediately stood. “I don’t want to go to another class. I want to be in the same classroom with my same classmates.”
The disruption triggered by the strike that began Monday in the nation’s second-largest school district could set back Daniel and thousands of other children with developmental disabilities who need special education and consistency, parents told USA TODAY.
About 62,500 students with special needs attend schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, said Associate Superintendent for Special Education Beth Kauffman.
Students with developmental disabilities – from autism to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – sometimes need one-on-one aides and services such as behavioral and speech therapy at school. Each follows an individualized education plan defining their goals and needs.
But, on Sunday, the day before the strike began in the pouring rain with picketing and protests, some parents told USA TODAY that schools had not provided information about alternate lesson plans that would support their students with disabilities.
During the strike, Kauffman said students with disabilities who need to be in smaller settings will be accommodated. Special education students who mostly follow the general education curriculum, however, will remain with their peers.
Based on student needs, Kauffman said, the district sent 200 administrators and staff with experience in special education to support students with disabilities.
Early Monday, Meshell Baylor did not know whether the bus would come to take her son Justin, 18, to his district special needs school. When it arrived, she asked the regular aide what would happen with the strike. She said he told her the students would do group activities in a group setting with substitutes.
Baylor said she called the school about 10 times from work to check in on Justin, who has autism. Eventually, Baylor said she emailed the school and got a response from the principal. He assured her that he was fine and sent a picture of him drawing.
Kauffman, who worked with special needs students on Monday, said students seemed to be happy and engaged.
“Learning is taking place and they’re getting their breakfast, they’re getting their lunch, they’re safe,” she said. “Things are looking pretty good at the schools. It seems like it’s very organized.”