Ehrenberg will Stand Up for Students with Special Needs

This article is posted on behalf of Brookline resident Danna Perry:

At the April 9 meeting of the District's Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) in which a brief school committee candidates' forum was held, one-year candidate Steven Ehrenberg distinguished himself as an incredibly thoughtful, savvy and well-versed candidate with a deep understanding of how special education’s systemic issues have impacted the delivery of services for students with special needs. As a parent to a child with special needs and someone who has closely followed conversations around budgeting, curriculum and special education (SpEd) among other things, I found Steven Ehrenberg’s candid insights deeply refreshing and incredibly hopeful.

Ehrenberg was the only candidate who aptly identified our District’s failures during pandemic education as exposing that SpEd in Brookline "has been chronically under-resourced.” He referred to the plight of our vastly undervalued paraprofessionals; he advocated for caseload maximums for our direct service providers, guidance counselors and learning specialists; and he stressed the need for cohesive visioning around inclusion, which he believes should be a starting point for our educational programs, not an afterthought.

With regard to Out of District (OOD) placements, which have garnered attention in recent school committee meetings, it behooves us to recognize there is tremendous struggle and pain in the trajectory that results in an OOD placement. This trajectory's timeline often involves a child suffering for years within our schools before becoming "eligible" for an OOD by the team process. Whether the household can afford an attorney or paid advocate is a factor in the timeline, and whether the District has effectively budgeted for potential placements may play a role in the intensity of the uphill struggle caregivers face. Of course, these are "individualized" team decisions. Of course, there are students whose needs cannot be met outside of an OOD placement. That is undoubtedly true. It is also true that in a few cases, families have felt that their child's needs should have been supported within PSB but school-based interventions weren't provided. Steven Ehrenberg does not support cutting OOD funds, but he does support investing in PSB to provide some of these services.

From the establishment of metrics to determine success, to a ground-up budgeting process that starts with a comprehensive and factual understanding of SpEd needs and costs in our District, Steven Ehrenberg's platform integrates the many complexities in education faced by households like mine. Ehrenberg has demonstrated the experience, knowledge, commitment and integrity to help Brookline do better.

Sincerely,

Danna Perry