You read that right. Despite what you may have read, schools are not failing to support students with disabilities. WE ARE FAILING TO ADEQUATELY FUND AND RESOURCE PUBLIC SCHOOLS SO THAT THEY CAN MEET THE NEEDS OF ALL THEIR STUDENTS, including those with special needs. Read that again!
I built my company specifically to match up learners with the perfect people for them and I am very selective in my staffing, because I know that PEOPLE, not more generic programs or products, are what will fix the inequities in education.
The issue with schools is not just that they don’t have the funding-it’s that they don’t have access to people who are qualified to support. That’s why I built my company to partner directly with schools to provide support to teachers and students at no cost to families.
Everyone in education is doing 5 peoples’ jobs right now, which means it’s basically impossible to do things well. The support system schools need did not exist. So I created it. 😉
SumOneCares is able to contract directly with schools to provide support to teachers and students at no cost to families. If you are a parent and you are frustrated with the inadequate support provided in schools currently, feel free to share our company’s info with school leadership.
It’s not just your kid’s teacher that is struggling. It’s not just their class. It’s not JUST their school or even the district. It’s the entire SYSTEM.
So many students with disabilities are not being served because there is such a shortage of licensed and qualified SPED teachers! Schools have funding to support, but they do not have access to the Human Resources to hire. At least they didn’t until now!
And with grant money, if you don’t use it, you lose it. So districts end up spending their money on one size fits all digital programs or cookie cutter curriculums or products that don’t work for kids. At least not without the right SumOne who CARES!
Students with disabilities are often underserved because when systems are so under-resourced they go into trauma response and survival mode. I have sat in as an advocate on so many IEP meetings I have lost count.
When someone who is not a qualified teacher has to write IEP goals for a student who is not even their student…when this educator isn’t confident writing TARGETED standards based goals or delivering instruction that will allow their students to learn…when they don’t understand how to create systems to easily and effectively measure student progress over time…we get what we have right now.
We get a large subset of students with IEPs that-even if they are well written for them (which is rare)-are not implemented with consistency from SumONE who understands instruction and instructional delivery. Sadly, there are plenty of students with IEPS who never actually receive extra support from SumOne who cares and has the skills required to provide high quality, individualized services. SPED teachers are so overworked and so undervalued. The ones that are left need to be nurtured not vilified. This staffing issue for SPED teachers was ongoing LONG BEFORE the pandemic, and it impacts students in need of specialized support as well as every single teacher who works with students with disabilities.
Even if the best they can do is one huge small group that isn’t working for those kids, it’s honestly probably the best they can do with the resources available. SumOneCares has highly qualified staff including special educators that can support in school and privately.
As a math specialist and an inclusion teacher for 14 years, I understand first hand the challenges schools are facing, and as the mom of a child with a disability (and living with a disability myself) I understand the struggle. And it’s real. It’s SO REAL.
I will do everything within my power to improve outcomes for kids. Especially the kids who are not expected to pass a standardized test anyway, because unfortunately, they often get written off because people assume they won’t get them passing scores anyway.
There are so many better ways to teach and assess that help students grow as powerful learners and humans. I will never understand why our current public education system is so data driven based on a form of assessment that research shows does not measure anything that matters. The whole culture is damaging-to students and to the teaching profession as a whole.
However...
Having intimate knowledge of the public education system and all its flaws means that I know ways to work around them. A huge problem is that the people who are doing the work in education are not in positions to make the changes that need to be made.
There is a huge disconnect between what education needs to work IN PRACTICE and IN POLICY. The laws and regulations are written by people who have never stepped in a classroom, or who have not spent any meaningful time in one in a very long time. Systemic change won’t happen no matter how hard educators beg for the resources they need to do right by our kids. Change is up to citizens and parents like you and me.
Educators and teachers know what is needed to make the system work, but are not allowed the autonomy or do not have access to the resources to create systems that work for all students.
Without the right resources, things will never change. Period.
The resources needed didn’t exist for the 14 years I was in public education. I fought for 14 years to get my teachers and students what they needed and deserved, just to be ignored and blown off or told that the resources were just not there. I was told not to worry about things that were outside of my control and to focus on improving the outcomes I had influence over. That wasn’t bad advice, I just knew I needed more influence than I could gain working from within the public school system to make the difference I wanted to make for educators and their students.
So I finally decided to resign. I quit the job I loved in order to create the system that is needed. I have never been happier or felt more fulfilled. Not only am I building a space for every learner to feel seen, valued, and capable, but I am also building a space where great educators can also feel seen, heard, and valued. Where they will be treated like the professionals that they are, and where they will be empowered to do what their learners need.
Even if you decide not to use our services, feel free to share with people who you feel we may be able to support! We are here to provide the Human Resources schools need to serve their educators and students effectively! Not a generic program or product. Not a new one size fits all system that doesn’t work and only wastes teachers time and adds something more to their plate.
At SumOneCares, we provide customized, personalized, and targeted support to meet the specific needs of schools and students. That’s what we do. We contract directly with schools so that hopefully at some point parents don’t feel the burden of searching for outside support. We are working to create a system where choice schools won’t even need to be up for debate because students’ neighborhood schools will have the resources they need to support each and every teacher and student enrolled.
❤️
We are here to serve!
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