NEWS PLUS THE MATTHEW EFFECT
- Sep 9, 2015
- 14 min read
Investigative series - FAILURE FACTORIES
IN the past 8 years, 5 Pinellas County schools have become some of the worst in the state of Florida. Find out how this happened in a multi-part investigation coming totampabay.com
Failure Factories.
I invite you to read this complaint filed in 2004... I believe it will explain the above researched failure factories.
Parents, this is not new. It is the way the system functions.
It is our job to file state complaints. It is our job to file for due process.
THE MATTHEW EFFECT
Helping a small group of parents in Highlands County, Florida I believe I am observing discrimination against disabled, minority and poor children. It appears to be a school district practice and possibly a state wide practice to lower the education opportunities to disabled, minority and poor children. I believe my experience as a special education advocate and Human Rights Commissioner helped me to see a discrimination pattern not easy to observe unless you have knowledge of the Individual with Disability Education Act, Human Rights law and the Mathew Effect. When the IQ drops in the verbal part of the IQ test it is an indication of the Mathew Effect and the child may not have been exposed to education. Minority and poor family’s children are having problems in school but they fear retaliation. Their children are not evaluated until they are in 2nd or 3rd grade and many not until after failing one to two years. When tested IQ’s are below 70 and parents are informed their children are mentally retarded. Now the problem has been found they will put the child in special classes and/or give them a special education program where the child is not required to learn anything other students need to learn.
Here is my complaint:
Linda D. Montalbano urania32@hotmail.com
October 5, 2004 I was a New York State employee working in a state own group home. The consumers in our group homes came out of the world’s largest human warehouse Letchworth Village. I became disabled and forced to retire. When my children were young I became a special education advocate obtaining services in school for them and now they are adults. I was a Human Rights Commissioner for the Town of Wallkill and a member of the Association of Local Human Rights Commissions in New York State. Now I live in Highlands County Florida. Helping a small group of parents in Highlands County I believe I am observing discrimination against minority children. It appears to be a school district practice and possibly a state wide practice to lower the education opportunities to minority children. I believe that my experience as a special education advocate and Human Rights Commissioner helped me to see a discrimination pattern not easy to observe unless you have knowledge of the Individual with Disability Education Act and Human Rights law. I meet Leslie and Kelly Carter in January 2003, they are an interracial family. The Carter’s daughter had failed Kindergarten two times and was now failing first grade. The Carters asked for independent education testing the 2nd year of Kindergarten and it was done. Two months into the first grade the school informed the Carters their daughter needed to spend two years in first grade. The Carters asked for independent testing again and their daughters IQ dropped 17 points in the verbal part of the IQ test between the two test.
When the IQ drops in the verbal part of the IQ test it is an indication of the Mathew Effect and the child may not have been exposed to education. The Carters were informed their daughter was not mentally retarded enough to be classified for special education and she needed to repeat first grade. Another year of first grade and her IQ will drop more and they can classify her mentally retarded. The Carters requested a due process hearing and obtained independent testing. Results their daughter was classified on May 20, 2003 after 3 years of fighting with the school. The school developed an IEP and at the end of the first year of special education the school informed the Carters that their daughter is working up to her function level of an IQ now in the low 70‘s. She was promoted for “good cause” meaning she failed her 4th year of school. The school developed an IEP for the 3rd grade knowing it did not meet the Florida Sunshine Standards and would not teach her the skills needed to pass the Florida 3rd grade FCAT. Minority family’s children are having problems in school but they fear retaliation. Their children are not evaluated until they are in 2nd or 3rd grade and many not until after failing one to two years. When tested IQ’s are below 70 and parents are informed their children are mentally retarded. Now the problem has been found they will put the child in special classes and/or give them a special education program where the child is not required to learn any thing other students need to learn. The school will help the parents obtain SSI for their child to bring in more money into the home. Parents told me if they fought for their children to obtain more special education services in the school they have been told they will risk losing their child’s SSI benefits. I believe that the school district is waiting to test children until their IQ has dropped low enough to classify the children mentally retarded. As classified mentally retarded children then the school district does not have to provide education for the child to obtain a high school diploma since mentally retarded children are not able to obtain the skills and knowledge to obtain a high school diploma according to the school district staff. I believe this is the belief that is being instilled in the minority parents and the children. The school also pushes that the parents have the child qualify for SSI. I am not saying that all of the children don’t qualify for SSI but that many of them may not be mentally retarded but have learning disabilities and/or have had their IQ’s dropped by not providing the children access to education.
Children with learning disabilities and children who have not been exposed to education can learn if instructed in methods to teach them. I believe that what is going on is discrimination practice to keep minorities from obtaining higher education. Without high school diplomas the minority students don’t qualify for government jobs, military services (unless there is a draft) and better paying jobs. I come to these beliefs because I have the following as proof: 1. We have a higher then national average of children in our district classified mentally retarded. The 2003 Florida DOE Monitoring report on Highlands County identifies this issue. We have asked the Florida Department of Education and Office of Civil Rights to see at what age these children were found to be mentally retarded but they have refused to respond to our complaints. If a child is really born mentally retarded then it should have been identified before age 5.
Page 52 Selected Disabilities by Racial/Ethic Category:
“Racial/ethnic data for all students as well as students with a primary disability of specific learning disabled (SLD),emotionally handicapped or severely emotionally disturbed (EH/SED), and educable mentally handicapped (EMH) are presented below. The data are presented for the state and the district as reported in October 2002 (survey 2).”
_______________________________________________________________________
All Students SLD EH/SED EMH____
State District State District State District State District
White 51% 58% 54% 58% 48% 47% 33% 35%_
Black 24% 20% 24% 25% 39% 44% 53% 42%_
Hispanic 21% 19% 20% 15% 11% 8% 13% 22%_
Asian/Pacific Islander 2% 1% <1% <1% <1% 0% <1 0%
Am Ind/Alaskan Nat <1% <1% <1% <1% <1% <1% <1 <1%
Multiracial 2% 1% 1% <1% 2% <1% <1 <1%
Whites Under Represented in Severe Disabilities and Blacks Over Represented
Similarly discrimination is evident in an analysis of classification by disability where Whites who represent 58 percent of the student population and 54 percent of the disabled population, only represent 44 and 42 percent of the Emotionally Handicapped or Severely Emotionally Disturbed and Educable Mentally Handicapped respectively. In vivid contrast, Blacks who represent 20 percent of the student population and 29 percent of the students with disabilities, represented 44 percent and 42 percent respectively of the and Educable Mentally Handicapped. This means that Blacks are 2.2 times (220 percent identification rate) as likely to be classified as Emotionally Handicapped or Severely Emotionally Disturbed and Educable Mentally Handicapped in Highlands than statistically probable based upon population demographics and 2.1 times as likely to be classified as Educable Mentally Handicapped than statistically justifiable based upon the percentage of the student population which they constitute. This while Whites are slightly underrepresented in these two classification categories, Blacks are significantly over represented in these categories.
2. Right now over 70% of the minority children in HighlandsCounty School District according to the 2004 FCAT are not on grade level in reading and math. 3. We have a large number of children who are age 16 by the 7th and 8th grade and they drop out and are never counted in the drop out rate. The reasons we have this is the children are required to fail at least one to two years before they are evaluated. These children have no right to summer school programs unless they show regression when they are already two or more years behind. The Carter’s daughter was denied summer school services because even though she has failed two years of kindergarten, one year of first grade and failed second grade she has not shown regression but is only working to her mental level “...low, low average...”. (She has not become mentally retarded enough yet to be considered for SSI and be called mentally retarded.) 4 Page 52 Selected Disabilities as Percent of Disabled and PK-12 Populations
“The percentage of the total disabled population and the total population identified as SLD,EH or SED, EMH, and speech impaired (SI) for the district and for the state. Statewide, seven percent of the total population is identified as SLD and 46 percent of all students with disabilities are SLD. The data are presented for the district and state as reported in October 2002 (survey 2).”
All Students All Disabled
State District State District
Specific Learning Disabled 7% 8% 46% 50%_
Emotionally Handicapped/Severely ED 1% 3% 10% 15%_
Educable Mentally Handicapped 1% 2% 8% 11%_
Speech Impaired 2% 2% 14% 9%_
According to the DSM-IV, mentally handicapped represent approximately 1 percent of the population. This is true throughout the State of Florida, in Highlands County, however, twice as many students are identified as mentally handicapped with 2 percent of our population falling within this category. One ponders whether this is simply a form of discrimination, or equally malicious, a strategy employed to excuse these students from the FCAT’s, thereby improving the district’s overall performance and disqualifying needy students from Supplemental Educational Services under NCLB.
5. Families in this community have second, third and more generation drop outs from this school district. Children from these families are expected to drop out of school. The all white school board and superintendent are all graduates of this school district and know the families. 6. Grade inflation is admitted to at a school board meeting. Children receiving “A’s” and “B’s” on their report cards are getting “1’s” and “2’s” on the FCAT. Testing, evaluations and special education services for children with disabilities are not provided unless a child is failing in class. The Carter’s daughter received in second grade “A’s” and “B’s” for doing school work when on the report card it stated she was below grade level in everything and did not learn second grade school work. She had no right to a summer program and a reading program that would teach her how to read. 7. The program the school district does provide during the summer only for children who have failed the 3rd grade FCAT had last year out of 25 student only one obtained the required grade of 51 on the test to pass. This summer out of 65 students only 5 obtain the grade of 51 to pass and two of those were children who had failed last year and had repeated the 3rd grade. Of the 60 children who failed two of those children had failed the FCAT two times and failed the summer reading camp program two times. Request from myself and Dr. Susan Crum-Norris to the school district and the Florida DOE to refer the 60 children for testing and evaluations under IDEA has been denied or not responded to by the school or the Florida DOE. How many years is a child expected to fail before they drop out of school? We are talking third graders who are at least 9-11 years old. I have asked how many of these children are minorities and have received no response.
8. Final Report of Focused Monitoring of Exceptional Student Education Programs in Highlands County April 28-May 1, 2003, Florida Department of Education Bureau of Instructional Support and Community Services sent to school district onNovember 3, 2003
Page 51
Section Three: Prevalence
Student Membership by Racial/Ethnic Category:
“The three columns on the left show the statewide racial/ethnic distribution for all PK-12 students, all students with disabilities, and all gifted students as reported in October 2002 (survey 2).Statewide, there is a large percentage of black students in the disabled population than in the total PK-12 population (28 percent vs. 24 percent) and a smaller percentage of black students in the gifted population (10 percent vs. 24 percent).Similar data for the district are reported in the three right hand columns and displayed in the graphs.”
_______________________________________________________________________
State District__________
All Students Gifted All Students Gifted__
Students with Students Students with Students
Disabilities Disabilities________
White 51% 52% 64% 58% 54% 75%__
Black 24% 28% 10% 20% 29% 9%__
Hispanic 21% 17% 19% 19% 16% 11%__
Asian/Pacific Islander 2% <1% 4% 1% <1% 3%__
Am ind/Alaskan Nat <1% <1% <1% <1% <1% <1%__
Multiracial 2% 2% 3% 1% 1% <1%__
Whites Over Identified as Gifted and Blacks Under Identified as Gifted
White Students, who represent 58 percent of the student population in Highlands, are over represented in the Gifted category where they constitute 75 percent of that population. In contrast, Black students who represent only 20 percent of the student population inHighlands are underrepresented in the Gifted category where they constitute only 9 percent of that population.
Since the bell curve would expect an equal percentage of Whites and Blacks to be gifted, Whites should only constitute 58 percent of the gifted and Blacks should constitute 20 percent. The fact that the numbers are skewed with Whites identified as gifted at 129 percent of the expected rate while Blacks identified as gifted at only 45 percent of the expected rate clearly points to a discrimination.
Retaliation is the norm in Highlands County and the State ofFlorida. The Carter and Reff families have been driven out of the State of Florida to protect their families and obtain education services for their children. One family is doing home school and another family has placed her child in private school. Parents who asked for due process hearings have faced vandalism to their cars and homes. We were served with notices to sue for all the cost of due process hearings under Florida Statue 57.105(5). The law judges ruled against the school district. The law judges made it clear to us they feel as the school district lawyer that due process hearings are frivolous law suites. The law judges came right out and told parents they have no right to due process and denied parents request for due process hearings. Law judges have made rulings on IEP’s before due process hearings started. Law Judges have been provided with information about the family and the child by the school district before the due process hearings and made decisions against the child while nullifying IDEA in their decisions and actions in the due process hearings. Parents have a right to pick who they want to help them in a due process hearing. I have been threatened by the school lawyer James Lobozzo if I don’t get my “clients” to withdraw their due process hearings I will be paying him for the rest of my life. He also said he would report me to the Florida Bar for unauthorized practice of law if I dared to go to the due process hearings as the parent’s person of knowledge as IDEA entitles them to have with them. I have for 15 years been a free advocate to parents. James Lobozzo actions against me and the parents violated our ADA rights and the children's and parents IDEA rights. I gave my word to the parents to be their person of knowledge and I have never left a parent who I promised I would help. I have been found guiltily of unauthorized practice of law according to the Florida Bar for being a person of knowledge assisting parents in the State of Florida. The Florida Bar is demanding I sign an order that I will give up my first amendment rights and I am not allowed to do anything Congress expected a person of knowledge do to help parents of disabled children while I am living in the State of Florida. If I don’t agree to their gag order I am facing a year in jail. I have not agreed to their gag order. I and the parents don’t have a lawyer to go after James Lobozzo for his actions to impede the parents and children's rights to due process. Not one government agency has addressed the retaliation going on in Highlands County. We need an outside investigation into how even though minority children have a right to sit next to white children in the same school they are not receiving the same access to education. We have legal interventions under IDEA to provided children with disabilities special education services minority children are not obtaining those interventions until it is too late to help them and they drop out of school. We need an outside investigation into the State Education Department, Office of Civil Rights and the Federal Department of Educations involvement in not investigating our complaints and allowing the activities of the school districts to continue. Who ever is doing the investigation we need to look at their connections to the Weatherly Law Firm. This law firm is going around the nation doing workshops training the law judges/hearing officers, state education staff, school staff and school lawyers. After they do their training their clients who follow their instruction and have parents like the Highlands County parents fight back, retaliation follows. We did not know that the Florida Department of Education and the Highlands County School District are both clients of the Weatherly Law Firm. As we made complaints to the Florida DOE the Florida DOE refused to accept our complaints, changed our complaint wording and gave extensions of time to help their co-clients evade implementing IDEA. It would have been easer for us to send our complaints directly to the Weatherly Law Firm since they are controlling the investigations and the defenses against our complaints against Highlands County. The following can give you a gaze into the influence of the Weatherly Law Firm. James Lobozzo, Jr. our school lawyer in Highlands County stated to me in a letter dated, July 2, 2004 that: “Mrs. Julie Weatherly has presented materials for instructional consultation to the school board and other Highlands County staff members for annual updates on matters affecting IDEA; payment for such instructional consultation is generally made by Florida Diagnostic Learning and Resource System (FDLRS), serving a four county area, and all of the four counties are joined together for purposes of such presentations.” 9/22/04 Herald Tribune Suit seeks special ed for child By Tiffany Lankes Manatee County Florida “School officials decided to appeal the judge's ruling because they said providing services to Derry's son would open the door to special education for thousands of children with ADHD diagnoses, forcing the district to spend millions.” "You pay that price for one child, 10 other parents are going to line up for that same service," says Weatherly.” “Other school districts, such as Knox County, Tenn., have faced criticism for paying Weatherly's high fees. But they have vehemently argued that he actually saves taxpayers' money in the long run. His firm specializes in cases where children and their families claim districts should pay for expensive special education services or private school placements. The districts argue that paying for a special service once sets off a chain reaction, where other parents ask for the same thing.” 9/22/04 Herald Tribune Suit seeks special ed for child By Tiffany Lankes Manatee County Florida “The district has already enlisted the services of four lawyers to help fight the case, with contracts as much as $50,000.” Palo Alto Eastern Menlo Park Ravenswood school district inCalifornia clients of the Weatherly Law Firm. Their former Superintendent Charlie Mae Knight stated "The majority of the money went to the lawyers. The money for the children was very, very small." I believe that all staff in the Florida Department of Education trained by Weatherly Law Firm has been instructed in ways to assist the school districts of the State of Florida to evade implementing IDEA. The school district staff of Manatee County knows they can openly admit they discriminate against diagnosed children with ADHD because they know they can get away with it. An understanding of special education and the rights of disabled children is needed as well as an understanding of discrimination practices. Experts in the needs of special education are needed to show how delays in testing and evaluating children to cover up with holding education services until the child’s IQ drops and then the testing is interruption to find the children mentally retarded instead of suffering from the Mathew Effect. Once the school identifies the child as mentally retarded they then refuse to implement education services that will help the child to obtain a high school diploma. By under educating minority children we are keeping them from upper mobility in our society. It is discrimination from the beginning to oppress and denied access in our society. Please help us help the children. The families in Highlands County and myself have suffered at the hands of school staff who are not thing of the needs of minority and disabled children. I know what they are doing is wrong but we have no one out here helping us to stop them.
Linda D. Montalbano
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