The year was 1984 when we moved from Washington, DC to Montgomery County, Maryland, horizon expanded about other cultures. I had only seen foreigners on T.V. but never up close. When I first moved to my new building, I made a friendship that I still have now with a person from Jamaica. I then went outside, to explore my neighborhood and found some other children from other countries like Panama, El Salvador, and other Caribbean countries. I was amazed, by the differences and similarities. On my first day of school walking with the other children from the neighborhood, I noticed that they were speaking another language, which I did not understand. I then found out that they were speaking Spanish, became interested in learning it.
At that time the language was being offered after school for free, so I took the permission slip home and my mother signed it. There was another person that stuck out with me that I met at the same time, his father was a painter and he was from El Salvador. Little did I know at the time that I was witnessing a trend to come? The first was Latino families that had brought over with them a variety of skills and trades that were beneficial to the construction industry. The next was a level of survival through a means of self employment, and passing on skill to the male children in the home for generation to come.
The other was the need to know Spanish, in the coming job market. I really appreciated the fact that I learned about other cultures at an early age, and I have passed that lesson on to my son at an even earlier age as well. Every time I hear people speak about illegal immigrants, I think of all of the ways that other cultures have shaped the lives of this country.
I understand that there are bad actions that are done by people in any culture, but there is also for the most part more good that is present as well. I feel that our country has benefited greatly by immigrants from many countries since the beginning of time. So why now it is a problem. I also have noticed that in recent years, ESOL(teaches students English) has been cut out of school budgets, but it was a means that many of my friends taught there parents English so that they could get better jobs. Yes, there is a gang violence issue that has caused positions to take drastic actions in law enforcement procedures. My Solution:
1. Teaching children to learn from others and not imposing adult fears on them. Our children will have to take care of our future
2. Put ESOL back into schools that have high populations of immigrant children, they should not be used as a chess playing piece in something that they had no say in.
3. When having changing procedures in law enforcement to address concerns, teach humanity and racial tolerance when dealing with this matter.
4. Keep international day in schools, have parents come in and talk about different cultures, so that other children are exposed to a world that they might not know.
In closing: When I was pregnant with my son, I taught a Spanish class at the Washington Saturday College held out of Howard University. I taught the class first how the history of Africa and Spain came together in the Caribbean, and other South American countries. I then gave them an assignment to go to a Latino restaurant and bring back a menu for homework.
Each one of them presented their menus, I asked them to see if them food looked like what is cooked in their house. The class was shocked at the similarities in cooking, and eating between African Americans and Latinos. I also conducted this experiment, with my family members as well (funny). I showed them that we all are connected, but that you can tell a lot about a culture through the food that they eat. Oh I later found out that my father is from the Dominican Republic, Hmmm might be the reason that I retained Spanish all this time.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Fair Funding for All Students
As a mom like all parents, we want the best for our children. With more options that have been provided to inner city children through charter schools, it has given hope to many families. Yet, still there is still a separation of the have and have nots appear once again. My son attended a charter school that despite my concerns of staff qualification, still managed to build very profitable relationships with corporations of many sizes.
They also managed to make friends across political area's. They also had the where with all to utilize the position of some parents to acquire things and services that the school did not have. His new school is in the same position, it is a sister school of a private school in another state. It goes to 12th grade, and provides good college mentoring. This is one of the reasons that it was suggested to me by an administrator at his old school, along with another child going to the 8th grade. His prior school catered to the special education population, and had a mix of most of the low-income to middle income children attending the school. It served very well for getting money, to fund the school when Mr. Fenty cut the budget, despite rising enrolment of charter schools. My question is, if all of the cities charter schools are under one organization, how come there is still such a divide in funds or information of how to receive them in multiple sources?
They also managed to make friends across political area's. They also had the where with all to utilize the position of some parents to acquire things and services that the school did not have. His new school is in the same position, it is a sister school of a private school in another state. It goes to 12th grade, and provides good college mentoring. This is one of the reasons that it was suggested to me by an administrator at his old school, along with another child going to the 8th grade. His prior school catered to the special education population, and had a mix of most of the low-income to middle income children attending the school. It served very well for getting money, to fund the school when Mr. Fenty cut the budget, despite rising enrolment of charter schools. My question is, if all of the cities charter schools are under one organization, how come there is still such a divide in funds or information of how to receive them in multiple sources?
I attended a meeting one evening given by the lobbing organization, and during the introduction I spoke about funding fairness. The group was very responsive to my concern and comments, about the subject of funding. Since I assisted the development department at my son's former school with finding funding resources, I asked if I could do the same for the other schools that did not have this information. I was not given a direct answer, but it was basically no. Witch to me seems like a counter productive action, if the whole purpose is to provide better education options to low-income students.
Here is a solution to begin the process.
1. First figure out what needs that are not being met by your current budget, and the amount that will be needed for 1 school term.
2. Utilize the work of college interns to find grant money that is available, that you can receive with out going through another larger organization. Such as major corporations ie target and other that have a community based program where there stores or products are sold. Most companies have a program of giving back to the community.
3. Build relationships with law firms and other organizations in the surrounding area. See if they can provide your school with school supplies, if you tend to run out and the budget does not allow for flexibility.
4. Not all council members are against charter schools, in fact Mr. Obama likes them. Make friends with all politicians, after all this is DC. This is like Hollywood for politics, your political connections can get you far in this town.
5. The Foundation Center on Kst has wonderful classes on for non-profits. I have attend the classes there, they are very informative. Get a staff member to attend on subject that your school my want more information on.
I feel that we all should work together especially if you are within the same organizations. Information and when connected with the right strategic plan, it is a powerful thing. The purpose of parents sending children far out of there neighborhoods to attend school in to give there children a better life then they had. So sharing information is vital to the process that is started my many parents. Charter schools in inner cities help give children a road map to a bright future, keep the light on so that they can get down the road to success.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
A Help up
There is a growing debate in many local state and federal offices about budgets. With record numbers of jobless claims rising everyday, due to the economic state of our country. Governments are sharply cutting budgets to stay in alive, and keep from falling. The other issue is the social service system taking on record numbers of new cases everyday.
The question has come up about people who have been receiving the governmental assistance for years and have other generations on the system as well. I often wonder if they are set up for failed results, through poor schools. A lack of education, and programs that do not teach adequate self sufficiency could be the reason. It is a job to get a job, but if you were not raised in a working house hold where you see all the able body people going to work everyday, then you would get the concept of working everyday. This has lead to some people believing that they are owed something, by society and they should not have to work for anything. I witnessed this while in a family shelter. Not being mandated to actively pursue work is causing lasting effects.
Looking forward this can not continue, and will continue to cause deficits in other area’s that carry over into fiscal years to come.
The results are showing up with cuts in education budgets, from classroom staff reduction, to bus routs in suburban areas. For immigrants the lack of English for students that speak other languages at home. Other cuts are with fire departments, and police forces. In some inner city areas police presence need to be increased, do to the hike in violence in summer months when youth are out of school.
Possible solutions:
Because government assistance is for 5 years in most places, an audit should be conducted to check eligibility.
The next thing is when governments issue businesses contracts; they should be made to find staffing from public assistance rosters. This will do 2 things; first it would absorb some of the financial strain off of the local governments. The other is that it would put money back into the local economy such as local retailers and taxes.
When you have a baby and apply for governmental assistance, you are allowed to stay home for a year. Now some have had babies just when there year is up, which keeps them off for another year (see my point). I sat in a class and a woman stood up and said that she did not know how to use a computer, because she had not worked in 15 years. She was raising her children. She had her first child I believe at 15 she was 30, but this is not an isolated situation. It is very common in a lot of areas; it is just not resolved and overlooked.
My thoughts:
We all have times in our lives where we fall short, and we get back up. Productivity is like working out, if you never work out your body can’t run marathons. In life it is not what happens to you, it is how you recover. Failed circumstances will not overtake you, as long as your will to succeed is strong enough.
The question has come up about people who have been receiving the governmental assistance for years and have other generations on the system as well. I often wonder if they are set up for failed results, through poor schools. A lack of education, and programs that do not teach adequate self sufficiency could be the reason. It is a job to get a job, but if you were not raised in a working house hold where you see all the able body people going to work everyday, then you would get the concept of working everyday. This has lead to some people believing that they are owed something, by society and they should not have to work for anything. I witnessed this while in a family shelter. Not being mandated to actively pursue work is causing lasting effects.
Looking forward this can not continue, and will continue to cause deficits in other area’s that carry over into fiscal years to come.
The results are showing up with cuts in education budgets, from classroom staff reduction, to bus routs in suburban areas. For immigrants the lack of English for students that speak other languages at home. Other cuts are with fire departments, and police forces. In some inner city areas police presence need to be increased, do to the hike in violence in summer months when youth are out of school.
Possible solutions:
Because government assistance is for 5 years in most places, an audit should be conducted to check eligibility.
The next thing is when governments issue businesses contracts; they should be made to find staffing from public assistance rosters. This will do 2 things; first it would absorb some of the financial strain off of the local governments. The other is that it would put money back into the local economy such as local retailers and taxes.
When you have a baby and apply for governmental assistance, you are allowed to stay home for a year. Now some have had babies just when there year is up, which keeps them off for another year (see my point). I sat in a class and a woman stood up and said that she did not know how to use a computer, because she had not worked in 15 years. She was raising her children. She had her first child I believe at 15 she was 30, but this is not an isolated situation. It is very common in a lot of areas; it is just not resolved and overlooked.
My thoughts:
We all have times in our lives where we fall short, and we get back up. Productivity is like working out, if you never work out your body can’t run marathons. In life it is not what happens to you, it is how you recover. Failed circumstances will not overtake you, as long as your will to succeed is strong enough.
Not in my back yard
I was adopted because my birth mother is schizophrenic. My adopted mother wanted me to meet her, because she raised concerns about our safety. My grandfather thought that she would harm us so he told my adoptive mother not to bring us around her. When he died I met her and she treated me strange, and told me that she did not like me because I was a girl. I did not take offence to it, because I was told that she is sick. But my grand father made sure that she was financially stable through SSI, and disability. She is in a group home, and is not walking the street like a great portion of the homeless population. But there was an incident, that happened years ago involving my mother receiving the wrong medication that landed her in the hospital in a comma. Over the past years I have assisted families with keeping track of there loved ones that are in group home settings.
There is complaint from two areas from the home owners in the neighborhoods where group homes resides. The other is from the families of the mentally ill.
“While working at a neighborhood office, I received a call from a resident saying that if I wanted to live in a mental ward, I would have moved to one.” What she was talking about was the fact that within her block there were at least 2 group homes of mentally ill patients. The other reason is that, homeowners say that group homes are bringing down there property value. Homeowners also complain about not having enough parking in an already limited parking situation. This was due to the cars of the employees that work at the group homes. And a whole host of other issues that are brought to the attention of community leaders. And there seemed to be not enough staffing to support this kind of operation in a neighborhood setting. By law under the ADA act, you can not refuse them from living in particular places. But it seems that the houses that when families move out, the houses are not put on the market to be sold. After a while other homeowners, notices vans arriving to take the mentally ill patients to day centers and arrive at the end of the day. This is becoming the normal way of life in some neighborhoods, around the country.
On the other hand, the families of the residents complain about the staff abusing relatives, and steeling money that is given to them for birthdays. I assisted with one family, there relative lives in an independent living situation and the agency was hired to check on the resident daily. Well in this case, the resident was in her last trimester, and was getting ready to have her baby. She had been given a baby shower by relatives prior to her going to the hospital to deliver her baby. The relative received a call stating that all of her baby clothes were gone. The only person that had keys to the apartment was the organization that was providing services. We called the police to take a report, the police called the organization to get an idea of persons with access to the apartment. Other complaints include lack of monitoring mental patients, which depending on the mental state of the person can be a danger to themselves and everyone else.
Possible solutions to these situations are:
If you have a problem with the contracting organization, contact the company with dates and times of actions that concern you.
The next thing that you want to do is to check for police records, to see if that group home has been causing a problem in the neighborhood that are on record. If that is the case, then you can show where your concerns are factual.
If it seems that they are not being attentive to your concerns, find out what contracting office has issued the contract. Arrange a meeting with the contracting officer, and voice your concerns of possible contracting violation.
For homeowners there are very sticky situations that prevent banning these kinds of neighbors, because of the federal ADA laws that govern over local legislation. That is unless there is a safety concern, and then it require legal action.
Also there is an office in court houses that have a special section called, Mental Health. This office keeps records of all of the mental patients that are wards of the court. Contact them if you are still having concerns.
Now if the group home is for delinquent youth or other demographics, they can be removed. Especially if they are causing a neighborhood disturbance.
My thoughts:
I with the effects of the current war, and PTSD and other affect relating to it. We will see an increasing number of mental patients returning from the current war. In some situations, families are not equipped to take care of there returning loved ones. Group homes will be the choice of many seeking a resolution. We should take the mind set of kindergartens playing together.
There is complaint from two areas from the home owners in the neighborhoods where group homes resides. The other is from the families of the mentally ill.
“While working at a neighborhood office, I received a call from a resident saying that if I wanted to live in a mental ward, I would have moved to one.” What she was talking about was the fact that within her block there were at least 2 group homes of mentally ill patients. The other reason is that, homeowners say that group homes are bringing down there property value. Homeowners also complain about not having enough parking in an already limited parking situation. This was due to the cars of the employees that work at the group homes. And a whole host of other issues that are brought to the attention of community leaders. And there seemed to be not enough staffing to support this kind of operation in a neighborhood setting. By law under the ADA act, you can not refuse them from living in particular places. But it seems that the houses that when families move out, the houses are not put on the market to be sold. After a while other homeowners, notices vans arriving to take the mentally ill patients to day centers and arrive at the end of the day. This is becoming the normal way of life in some neighborhoods, around the country.
On the other hand, the families of the residents complain about the staff abusing relatives, and steeling money that is given to them for birthdays. I assisted with one family, there relative lives in an independent living situation and the agency was hired to check on the resident daily. Well in this case, the resident was in her last trimester, and was getting ready to have her baby. She had been given a baby shower by relatives prior to her going to the hospital to deliver her baby. The relative received a call stating that all of her baby clothes were gone. The only person that had keys to the apartment was the organization that was providing services. We called the police to take a report, the police called the organization to get an idea of persons with access to the apartment. Other complaints include lack of monitoring mental patients, which depending on the mental state of the person can be a danger to themselves and everyone else.
Possible solutions to these situations are:
If you have a problem with the contracting organization, contact the company with dates and times of actions that concern you.
The next thing that you want to do is to check for police records, to see if that group home has been causing a problem in the neighborhood that are on record. If that is the case, then you can show where your concerns are factual.
If it seems that they are not being attentive to your concerns, find out what contracting office has issued the contract. Arrange a meeting with the contracting officer, and voice your concerns of possible contracting violation.
For homeowners there are very sticky situations that prevent banning these kinds of neighbors, because of the federal ADA laws that govern over local legislation. That is unless there is a safety concern, and then it require legal action.
Also there is an office in court houses that have a special section called, Mental Health. This office keeps records of all of the mental patients that are wards of the court. Contact them if you are still having concerns.
Now if the group home is for delinquent youth or other demographics, they can be removed. Especially if they are causing a neighborhood disturbance.
My thoughts:
I with the effects of the current war, and PTSD and other affect relating to it. We will see an increasing number of mental patients returning from the current war. In some situations, families are not equipped to take care of there returning loved ones. Group homes will be the choice of many seeking a resolution. We should take the mind set of kindergartens playing together.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Help for Special Needs
When I was in 3rd grade I was tested and found out that I am dyslexic. When my brother and I moved from DC, to Maryland, his learning disability was detected before lunch. The teachers called my mother and asked did she know about this and how did he pass to the 2nd grade. She explained that she fought with DC’s school system, in spite of medical evidence and they told her that my brother was just being lazy. The next day my mother had a meeting with the teachers at our new school in Montgomery, County Maryland. After testing was completed, the results were what my mother had suspected all the time.
I was tested in the 3rd grade and my learning disability was milder than my older brothers. The school also found out that although I had a learning disability, I was also gifted in other area’s, and sent me and some of my friends to Montgomery College for a program called Middle Start. I love this program and I wish that all special needs students could participate in this program., I learned things that I still remember to this day.
Now I have a child with a slight learning disability due to a complicated pregnancy. I had state insurance, and went to a clinic for my son’s health care. I had a wonderful pediatrician by the name of Dr. Felix, he and I would talk about my son’s development and one day he told me that my son’s brain has traits of an engineer. I asked him how could he tell that? He told me that children display certain skills early, and that if most parents understood that you could position your child in a very successful direction .This also helped me to understand how my son learns. He told me that he wants to go to Stanford Law School, I have put him a school that will prepare him for what ever he wants to major in.
The majority of the inmates in jail have speech and language disabilities, that were not discovered in school. And depending on the school system, the parents might have been told the same thing that my mother was told. I feel that when school systems don’t hire qualified teachers that can detect learning issues early enough for intervention. There should also be true advocacy for parents of special needs children, so that parents are informed of all options for their children. I believe that in some cases children in low income area’s are either not tested , or overly diagnosed.
This can caused learned helplessness see (Grahams Model of 96), and other problems associated. This model can also be used to teach students a strategy of skills mastering things that are difficult. Last year, I took a Special Needs Advocacy Training Course. And it really helped me out a lot, while doing that I did a training at my son’s school with the fashion club. The majority of the students have some sort of learning disability. I asked each one of them why they liked fashion, and they all had different reason, witch means that they all have different gifts that should be explored.
I feel that children in low income area’s are robbed of a better quality of life, when they are subjected to unqualified teachers. Thus school systems should have the same employment process for all schools to insure students are given a fair chance in life.
Parents that do not have advanced education are taken advantage of by school system in regards to educational choices for there children. There should be a pro-bono education lawyer that truly speaks in the best interest of the family.
Proper testing could eliminate miss diagnoses of many students receiving special education services, and it could also be used to help them be successful in school. This may also help with the drop out rate.
Special Needs Students should be tested in other area’s to see if there are other skills are not easily shown. This could open up other educational options for the student.
If a child is having problems in school, and talks to you about it
Find out what part in the lesson is missing
Find out what other subjects they are good in
Find out how the material is being taught, to get a clear idea of how your child is processing the lesson.
If there are still problem’s write a letter to the school requesting that your child be tested for a learning disability. Put in detail what you are looking for from the test results. They have a specific time to start this process, and Hold them to it you have a right as a parent to ensure your Childs future.
My Thoughts:
The point that I am making is that Forbes magazine devoted an entire edition of there magazine for the month for successful business leaders that have learning disabilities “ Dyslexic CEO’s” This edition showed that these men are great business leaders that may or may not have finished college. But some one saw something else in them and groomed them for success. People like me often do not fit into a box by society, and our differences are put to shame. I have started to embrace my differences and not care about not being like everyone else. I had to accept that I do things differently than others, and that a regular 9 to 5 just is not me. I was built to run a business, so that I am successful and happy.
To the parents of special needs students understand this, your children are nature’s greatest miracle and there uniqueness should be celebrated and put on display, so that they can capitalize on it. After all that is why we are given gifts, to profit from them!
I
I was tested in the 3rd grade and my learning disability was milder than my older brothers. The school also found out that although I had a learning disability, I was also gifted in other area’s, and sent me and some of my friends to Montgomery College for a program called Middle Start. I love this program and I wish that all special needs students could participate in this program., I learned things that I still remember to this day.
Now I have a child with a slight learning disability due to a complicated pregnancy. I had state insurance, and went to a clinic for my son’s health care. I had a wonderful pediatrician by the name of Dr. Felix, he and I would talk about my son’s development and one day he told me that my son’s brain has traits of an engineer. I asked him how could he tell that? He told me that children display certain skills early, and that if most parents understood that you could position your child in a very successful direction .This also helped me to understand how my son learns. He told me that he wants to go to Stanford Law School, I have put him a school that will prepare him for what ever he wants to major in.
The majority of the inmates in jail have speech and language disabilities, that were not discovered in school. And depending on the school system, the parents might have been told the same thing that my mother was told. I feel that when school systems don’t hire qualified teachers that can detect learning issues early enough for intervention. There should also be true advocacy for parents of special needs children, so that parents are informed of all options for their children. I believe that in some cases children in low income area’s are either not tested , or overly diagnosed.
This can caused learned helplessness see (Grahams Model of 96), and other problems associated. This model can also be used to teach students a strategy of skills mastering things that are difficult. Last year, I took a Special Needs Advocacy Training Course. And it really helped me out a lot, while doing that I did a training at my son’s school with the fashion club. The majority of the students have some sort of learning disability. I asked each one of them why they liked fashion, and they all had different reason, witch means that they all have different gifts that should be explored.
I feel that children in low income area’s are robbed of a better quality of life, when they are subjected to unqualified teachers. Thus school systems should have the same employment process for all schools to insure students are given a fair chance in life.
Parents that do not have advanced education are taken advantage of by school system in regards to educational choices for there children. There should be a pro-bono education lawyer that truly speaks in the best interest of the family.
Proper testing could eliminate miss diagnoses of many students receiving special education services, and it could also be used to help them be successful in school. This may also help with the drop out rate.
Special Needs Students should be tested in other area’s to see if there are other skills are not easily shown. This could open up other educational options for the student.
If a child is having problems in school, and talks to you about it
Find out what part in the lesson is missing
Find out what other subjects they are good in
Find out how the material is being taught, to get a clear idea of how your child is processing the lesson.
If there are still problem’s write a letter to the school requesting that your child be tested for a learning disability. Put in detail what you are looking for from the test results. They have a specific time to start this process, and Hold them to it you have a right as a parent to ensure your Childs future.
My Thoughts:
The point that I am making is that Forbes magazine devoted an entire edition of there magazine for the month for successful business leaders that have learning disabilities “ Dyslexic CEO’s” This edition showed that these men are great business leaders that may or may not have finished college. But some one saw something else in them and groomed them for success. People like me often do not fit into a box by society, and our differences are put to shame. I have started to embrace my differences and not care about not being like everyone else. I had to accept that I do things differently than others, and that a regular 9 to 5 just is not me. I was built to run a business, so that I am successful and happy.
To the parents of special needs students understand this, your children are nature’s greatest miracle and there uniqueness should be celebrated and put on display, so that they can capitalize on it. After all that is why we are given gifts, to profit from them!
I
Urban Foster Care.
As a child that was adopted inside my family, it was not the most supportive environment but it was not like a foster home from the inner city where I started as a baby. My brother and I were moved out to Montgomery County, Maryland from DC. I was afforded a good education, which gave me options and a better insight on life.But my question is?
What I want to know is What program is in place for the children that are not adapted in to homes, with access to a quality education? After going through homelessness this past year, I found out why. It seems that organizations have contracts with local and state governments for homeless and children that have aged out of the system. Their intended purpose is to show this population how to become productive citizens. But from my inside view, that is not happening. In fact because of the financial gain, they are creating a system dependency. I always say that people make more money from your confusion than you knowledge. As the education and employment landscape is changing, it is hurting this population because the lack of education.
One of the issues is that not all of the companies have the capacity to truly fulfill the needs of the population.The second is that they are not staffed with social work professionals, which have extensive training in this area.There is the social work reinvestment act that is in the beginning stages under Dorothy Heights name. She worked for years in the area of social work, making lives better. This piece of legislation a good start in the right direction, to fix this problem. These social issues are affecting the inner cities around the country, especially with the development in low- income area's.Just what is going to happen to the future if this is not corrected? Will America still be able to compete with our foreign counter parts?
7/6/10
by multifacet
Delete
1 – 1 of 1
What I want to know is What program is in place for the children that are not adapted in to homes, with access to a quality education? After going through homelessness this past year, I found out why. It seems that organizations have contracts with local and state governments for homeless and children that have aged out of the system. Their intended purpose is to show this population how to become productive citizens. But from my inside view, that is not happening. In fact because of the financial gain, they are creating a system dependency. I always say that people make more money from your confusion than you knowledge. As the education and employment landscape is changing, it is hurting this population because the lack of education.
One of the issues is that not all of the companies have the capacity to truly fulfill the needs of the population.The second is that they are not staffed with social work professionals, which have extensive training in this area.There is the social work reinvestment act that is in the beginning stages under Dorothy Heights name. She worked for years in the area of social work, making lives better. This piece of legislation a good start in the right direction, to fix this problem. These social issues are affecting the inner cities around the country, especially with the development in low- income area's.Just what is going to happen to the future if this is not corrected? Will America still be able to compete with our foreign counter parts?
7/6/10
by multifacet
Delete
1 – 1 of 1
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