My sons special ed teachers aide told him to shut up and said, "all you "blank" people have problems!"

Question

What should I expect an appropriate resolution to be of this racial disrimination against my 6th grade son's teacher aide who said this to him (I have not stated our ethnicity because I want a unbiased assessment). I will say that she is from a different ethnic group than he, and she said it in front of all the kids and the teacher. And when another kid asked if she said it, she smiled and proudly said, "Yes, I said it!" In addition, the Teacher said nothing because she is frustrated with my son a great deal of the time and calls me with every incident that she feels is too much for her to handle. My son told her he wanted to go to the principal and the teacher called the principal in and he told him what happened and the aide, again, said she said it. the principal took my son to his office and called me and told me what happened. The teacher and aide remained in class teaching the other kids and nothing yet hac been done about it. What do I do?

Answer 1

You & your son have rights.  Here are the rights of  special needs children & their parents listed in the web sites suggested below.  (Make sure that your child is not doing anything that provokes the aide. Don't get me wrong, no behavior performed by a child should cause an adult to act in a manner that is unprofessional. However, children need to understand that there are boundaries that they should not cross.  No teacher or aide deserves disrepect) Otherwise, contact your child's advocate immediately.  Discuss with her the problem.   If your child has not been assigned an advocate, contact that school district's Area Office and request the telephone number to the Regional Center that governes the Special Education Program in that District.  Also they are listed in the telephone book. You can request a meeting with the principal, the teacher, the school pyschologist and bring family or friends that will support you in that meeting.  Request a formal apology to yourself and your child and that you and your child have a right to be treated with fairness and dignity by all professionals and paraprofessionals as well. Request an assurance from the Principal, teacher, aide etc that you & your child will be treated with the utmost of repect & due care

as any other student attending school in that District.

Please review these websites.  They are great! .  

Info:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/fp/

http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/qa/documents...

http://www.specialeducation.ws/full_arti...

Answer 2

Write a letter of EVERYTHING that was said and done, including the fact taht the principal did nothing about this, and send it to the superintendent, to each one of the school board members, and  your state dept of education.

Also write a letter to the newspaper about this.

Answer 3

First of all was the comment actually a racial statement or was it about the disability that your son has (that requires special ed)?  I wasn't sure because the word blank could be a race or a disability (retarded, stupid, whatever word).  

Anyway, first and foremost I would speak to the teacher about this.  If the teacher will not do anything about this then go to the principle and then the superintendent.  While sometimes people aren't willing to give up a good teacher because of the current shortage, teacher's aides are pretty much disposable.  They are NOT required and do NOT have to have a degree in many states so they can easily be replaced.  

If you have a teacher aide who is saying any kind of statement that is negative to students (and can prove this with a witness beyond just your son) then it should not be hard to get rid of this person.  I would recommend that you go through all the steps to get rid of the garbage that would insult a student (any student, but especially one in a special needs/ed class).

Answer 4

Special education teacher or not.....she should be fired. There is absolutely no excuse for calling any child ANY names or referencing ethnicity while telling them they have problems. If she cannot handle it, then the teacher should be doing her job and finding the best solution for the child. If she is frustrated, she should imagine how he feels in class. He has a right to an 'appropriate' education by law. If this is impeding his ability to do well in school, which I cannot fathom this not being the case, then his rights are being violated. In fact, they are being violated any way you look at it and so are all the other kids this person is verbally abusing.....Go above anyone's head who acts as if this incident is minor......

Answer 5

Most schools, have a zero tolerance policy in their hand book for this type of behavior from the students, it's s shame they don't apply it to the teachers too.  My mother is dealing with a similar situation with one of my younger brother's (is it just me or are teachers, becoming the new bullies in some places?)  She first called a meeting with the teacher, who didn't even deny what he had said, and offered no apology.  After that my brother started receiving detentions from the same teacher.  After talking to a few other students past and present, we learned that the teacher was known for picking on kids.  My mom then called a meeting with the principal, but the day of, my mom got there and was told, the principal had actually forgotten and was busy else where.  So far my Mom hasn't been able to reach her to reschedule so now her, and a few other parents are planning on taking the issue to the school board.  I would suggest you do the same.  That teacher's aide was way out of line, and so is the teacher who stood by and said nothing.

Answer 6

Could be a civil rights issue.  OCR?

Answer 7

File a formal written complaint with the principal, with director of special education and with the superindentent of schools. If you don't get any resolution response. File one directly to the school board. There should be consequences for this aids actions that at the very least woudl involve an apology and a formal write-up in her personnel file. I think in my district there is a good chance the person at the very least would be re-assigned, and given her lack of remorse or total lack of awareness of the inappropriate level of her actions it is likely she should be fired. Certain epople should just not be working with students.

Answer 8

I would meet with the principal one more time...and ask that something be done about this.  If this doesn't work, I would call the Superintendent...and discuss the situation.  If you get no where there, I would ask to be put on the School Board's agenda. If there is nothing done at that point, then I would suggest calling the Director of Special Education at you State Department of Education.

Answer 9

next steps are the school board and your state's department of education.  You can also file a complaint (after other remedies have been tried) with the feds who oversee IDEA and ADA amd Sec 504 etc.  I would also send the story to the local paper if you get no decent response.

Answer 10

Another school.  This teacher and teacher's aide are inadequate but probably will not be replaced.  They should be, but probably will not be.  Hopefully there is another school with better teachers.

Inexcusable.  

Special education teachers are supposed to be more sensitive and enlightened....

Answer 11

This is intolerable, going to another school is not an answer. This teacher aide should not use such language, especially racist language. Not only did she not apologize, she did not regret her racist statement, but she was happy that she said it. This display of immature, racist behavior should not be taken lightly. There should be action taken against this person and as soon as possible. You should have discussed with the principal as to what should be done. It's not too late to call the principal. If he/she can't help you, I advise you to go to your city's school district and speak to a Coordinator of Student Support Services.

Answer 12

if the principal hasn't done anything you might need to go to the school board...that teacher's aid should not be allowed to be there spreading predjudiced ideas to little kids....