Grab Your Life Vests!

In an article published in today's Philadelphia Inquirer, Board of Education Member, Ken Hartman, compares the current state of our education system to the Titanic. You may read the full version of Kevin Riordan's article hear: "The ship of state is about to sink, by this reckoning".

"The captain of the Titanic knew he had a gaping hole beneath the water line," says Hartman, ..."I'm saying, 'Guys we've got a hole in the ship.'" Hartman goes on to state, "The water is up to the promenade deck... The ship is sinking." Hartman appears to blame everyone, from Democrats to Republicans, and certainly does not stop short of taking a swat at our special needs children.

In his proclamation of how best to save money, Hartman quickly points to special education students, the most vulnerable segment of the school population. "It also means that parents of, say, special-needs students should not expect the community to continue to pay for everything," says Hartman. "I as a parent need to do whatever is necessary for my children. But we have parents who have six-figure salaries and shore homes and yet, when their child has a need for a tutor, there's no sacrifice on their part. It comes out of everyone's pocket."

While I agree with the analogy of a sinking ship, I do not agree that the cause of such difficulties can be blamed on the needs of our special education children. Usually when a ship sinks it is the result of an incompetent crew at the helm. So my advice to our Skipper-- before throwing your disabled passengers overboard, perhaps you should consider that the growing number of special education students is the reason why Cherry Hill received certain IDEA funds. IDEA does not stand for the "idea" of considering an education -- IDEA is the Individuals with Disability Education Act and the funding under that program has been used for many other purposes in our district that do not include providing programs and services to special education children!

The fact that certain special education funds may have been used for other purposes is almost beside the point. The Board of Education has allowed this administration to reduce special education services for several years and have still reaped the benefits of special education funding. Without our students, you lose those funds, Mr. Hartman!

I should also remind everyone that Mr. Hartman claimed to have a child in the district with an IEP, meaning that his child has a disability. Perhaps his child received some type of service that may be deemed frivolous -- if so, shame on him! As a resident of Cherry Hill, raising a child with a classification of Autism, that does not earn a 6-digit salary and does not own a home at the shore -- I am appalled at such accusations by a current member of the Board of Education.

In case Mr. Hartman is completely ignorant, the law states that disabled children (those classified as having special education needs) are entitled to a Free and Appropriate Public Education. This education is supposed to be "appropriate" based on their disability. I am unaware of any parents of children with special needs that have requested anything more than an "appropriate" education for their children. Saying that we expect tutors for our children seriously understates the requirements for these students. Let us not forget that these are children who have been denied school based therapies, appropriate instruction, access to the Least Restrictive Environment and even access to the Core Curriculum Content Standards in many cases. Furthermore, this is the segment of the school population that has been subjected to torturous conditions (padded closets come to mind!) at the hands of the Special Education Director, that he as a board member saw fit to employ!

I find it grossly irresponsible of Hartman, as a Board of Education member, whether he was speaking as a resident or a board member, to make public comments that are geared at pitting one group of students/parents against another. These types of remarks will only serve to insight hatred of one's neighbor and diminish the acceptance of students based on the fact that they are disabled. It certainly does not foster the community spirit that makes Cherry Hill the wonderful community that it is. Nor does this type of commentary from Mr. Hartman communicate the overall need of working together as a community to resolve our shared problems.

Mr. Hartman's remarks went on to blame all Cherry Hill residents for not "taking ownership" and not "coming to board meetings; asking honest questions and expecting honest answers." As I recall, many residents, including myself, stood before the Board of Education and asked some pretty tough questions in recent years. We were not given answers, but instead were ridiculed, laughed at and then retaliated against! Where were Mr. Hartman's morals and ethics at that time? This year I have seen parents of both disabled and typical students attend BOE meetings and ask very direct questions. The fact that they were given incomplete answers, or no answers at all, falls on the BOE and Administrators, not those asking the questions.

What I find truly amazing is that the first round of budget cuts that were proposed included cuts to the mandated services for our special education population. (Mandated, meaning required by law!) These cuts also included reductions that will impact every student in the district -- such as, teaching staff reductions, the elimination of educational assistants, math coaches and elementary Spanish classes. These cuts were proposed BEFORE any salary freezes were even considered for Administrators. Maybe part of the problem is that our Board of Education, being fully aware of the financial constraints that we would face, extended a contract that we as a school district cannot afford. Whether our School Superintendent is effective, competent or capable of doing the job is not even the problem. We simply cannot afford that high of a salary -- for anyone! There is something seriously flawed in the salary negotiation process when you have a Superintendent of a School District earning more than the Commissioner of Education and the Governor of our State!

Mr. Hartman has been a Board Member for the last three years and was part of the decision making for a variety of expenses. For crying out-loud this man sat on the board that made these decisions! He had it within his grasp to stop wasteful spending of our school tax dollars. He failed to save this sinking ship! He needs to take ownership for his own failures, instead of blaming our children for having disabilities that require special education services.