Lately my life has been a series of phone calls and emails back and forth to Maura’s staff and the special ed director.

Before I get any further, I must publically state that Maura’s teachers, aide, and others at the school have been wonderful.  Also, I don’t like telling tales on people who make decisions for my child, but sometimes, you just get so frustrated, you have to let it out.

Our big problem was that due to a series of unforseen events, Maura’s therapies have not been what they should be.  And the options given to us have not been acceptable.  I sat in a whole meeting saying “this is unacceptable” while going through the options.

For example – one option for Maura’s speech therapy was twice on Mondays, twice on Wednesdays.  Um…while that technically covered the requirements of the IEP, it was quite frankly a sucky option.  This is what we’ve been running into – sucky options.  We’ve also dealt with bare minimums and basic plans. 

We’ve been told multiple times to get a lawyer.  We’ve been told that our district isn’t equipped to handle a child like Maura, who needs so much more.  School budgets are getting cut more and more.  I’ve been told that these budget cuts won’t affect Maura’s services, but let’s be honest.  This came from the same mouth that told me Maura would get everything she needed, and that was a lie. 

Now IEP time is upon us.  We are girding our proverbial loins in preparation.  I have two books to read up on the laws and rights of special ed.  I know what I want for Maura and I’m not afraid to ask for it.  We have always tried to work with the school.  We have always given them the benefit of the doubt.  We don’t go in threatening to sue them if they don’t give us the sun, moon and stars.  We are always conscious of the fact that our child is not the only child in that school.  In return, we have been taken advantage of.  Maura has missed out on a lot of her therapies.  So now, we play hardball. 

Now, this is where other people say “Why don’t you move?”  LIke in somehow moving, these problems would disappear.  Newsflash – things like this happen everywhere.  Our district is actually pretty darn good compared to most I’ve heard of in talking to other parents.  There also is no other school right now for Maura to go to.  For all of their bragging about how great their town is, and despite having the Great and Powerful University of Michigan Health Care System, Ann Arbor has no school appropriate for a child like Maura.  Not even a therapy center. 

So we try to make this work.  Despite all the therapy issues, Maura has thrived.  She’s had great people working with her this year on a daily basis – her teachers and her aide have all gone above and beyond.  And Maura has loved school this year.  That’s why she’s still there.  We just have to ensure she gets all she needs now.

Someone wrote that, and one part of me gets it.  But the rest of me disagrees with its theory, that labels are a bad thing.  Labels seem bad until you have a child without one.  Only then do you realize how much power a label can have.

Labels open doors.  Labels gets you on special insurances through the state.  Labels qualify you for special ed services in the school system.  Labels get you into special therapy programs designed for your specific labels.  Labels can help create walks and rallies and fundraisers to help raise money and awareness for the struggles you go through.

Labels help you know that you’re not alone.

I found out yesterday that they’ve cut our district’s special ed budget by $30,000.  Oh joy!

Really, in a time where every Big Business and Coporation is getting handed millions and billions, our piddly little budget is getting cut?  It wasn’t that huge to begin with.  Whatever happened to “We care about education!” and “We need to help those who are unable to speak for themselves!”  This is why I hate campaigns and all the rhetoric that comes from them.  Because at the end of the day, I never see any follow-through.  Instead, I see budget cuts in areas that shouldn’t be cut at all.

We have one public school option with Maura.  We might be able to spend thousands of dollars, plus time commuting her, to take her to a private special needs kindergarten an hour away.  If they have a spot available.  But then we end up back at square one again the next year.  We’re trying to do all we can to work with the school Maura will be going to next year to set up the best situation we can for Maura. 

But we can’t get Maura all she needs without a budget.  And it’s not just Maura.  It’s the other special ed kids who I’ve come to know through Maura’s class who will also suffer.  And this will trickle down to the general ed kids as well, as the special ed kids are all mainstreamed into the regular classrooms as much as possible.  If the special ed kids don’t have the support they need, it affect the entire classroom.

So, what can one mom do?  All I can.  I asked the mayor of our small town (who also happens to own the coffee shop) who I need to pester for money for the special ed budget.  She gave me names.  Turns out one state representative will be at said coffee shop on the 20th.  I shall be there, possibly with Maura in tow as a visual aide, asking questions as to how we can add to the budget.  Let’s face it, when they say “No Child Left Behind”, that still includes MY special ed child.  And I’ll be damned if she gets left behind because we can’t get a better budget through the state or federal level.  If the feds can give billions of dollars to banks who are using some of that money for vacations or the like, surely the feds can spare a few grand to make sure our kids receive a Free Appropriate Public Education, non?