Taking parental consent away will be a disaster for the children in special education. The parent is the one true person at the IEP meeting without an agenda. The main teacher is thinking about how she/he will be able to do more in the same amount of time. The assistant principal is focusing on completing the IEP process in the time allotted and keeping the school budget in check. The special education teacher is thinking about how many students they have and the amount of time they have to work with each student. The parent is the one person that knows the child inside and out. The parent simply wants the child to be able to learn with the fewest limits or restrictions. The parent doesn’t have another agenda.

Taking the parent out of the IEP decision making is assuming that the school personnel is honorable and only thinking about how to reduce restrictions for and best teach each child. While some schools earn an ‘A’ grade, some schools deserve an ‘F’ for special education services. If all schools were honorable and truly only thinking about how to reduce restrictions for and best teach each child, there would not be so many proven cases showing otherwise.

If the Department of Education and the courts think they see too many cases now, wait until the parent is taken out of the IEP decision process. Why would anyone consider removing parental consent for the special education regulations with the track record of the schools?

Susan Jubilee

A mother with first hand experience with a great school and a terrible school.