Letter to the editor
To the editor:
Stunned, I watched on the evening of May 14 as the Lawrence Township school board presented its report on the deteriorating condition of special education in the district. I was stunned not once, but three times.
The essence of the board committee’s report is that there is indeed excessively high turnover in the special education department throughout the district, and that the turnover is the result of staff dissatisfaction. The quality of this insight reminded me of President Calvin Coolidge’s remark, "When people are out of work, unemployment results." We can give little credit for a keen sense of the obvious, especially when the welfare of the district’s most vulnerable children are at stake.
Beyond this jaw-dropper, the report shockingly failed to make any reference to the widespread belief of everyone who has been following this situation: that the two directors of special education, hired by the current superintendent, Max Riley, may be the chief architects of the mass departures of qualified special education personnel. They may have harassed (a word many use, including longtime employees who have gone) people into leaving, employing behavior unworthy of professional educators, let alone caring human beings. Management issues specifically within the special education department were, amazingly, never mentioned in the report.
But the evening’s most befuddling surprise was yet to come. After the subcommittee of the board presented its report, board president Mary DiMartino asked for discussion. One board member praised the report for including follow-up dates. Another wondered if the paperwork load for staff members might be looked in to. And then, nothing.
None of the board members seemingly thought to ask, "Did the subcommittee find anything to justify the stream of complaints this board has been hearing all year from parents about the disruptions in services to their children?" And, "What about the climate of fear we keep hearing about in and around this department?" Or, "Did you turn up anything about the management style being employed these days in the special education department? Could it have any bearing on what’s going on here?" And finally, "Should we have thought twice about rehiring and giving raises to the special education directors in advance of this report?"
Sitting in the audience, I began to wonder if the board members had any idea about the things I’d been picking up around town: that parents of special needs children are afraid to speak up for fear the district will retaliate in ways that affect their children. That other parents have begun digging into unanswered questions behind Max Riley’s departure from his last assignment in Connecticut. Are people really angry enough to seriously damage a man’s reputation to protect their children? What has happened that things may have come to this?
We have a volatile mix here. Desperate parents, vulnerable children, proud professionals, questionable managerial ethics, a superintendent apparently unafraid to use his power, taxpayers with questions, and volunteer school board members who probably didn’t bargain for this kind of heat when they took the job. There are threats in the air, plus accusations, bad blood, lots of blaming, name calling, underhandedness and deceit. We’re up to our knees in fear, anger, despair and sadness. We need to be careful with each other now.
What will happen? I thought we were a community that cared about all its children, including the most challenging ones. I thought we were a town that went the extra mile to support the professionals who worked with such children (and helped the few less effective such staff members to graceful departures). I’ve always believed this was a place where we keep open the channels of dialogue and do not resort to tactics of fear to influence or persuade.
We need some folks of good will and courage (including the school board, but not only them) to stand up and face the real issues. Then we need these people to sit down together, shake off assumptions and judgments, halt the blaming, candidly acknowledge that no one now has a complete answer, defuse the atmosphere of fear and intimidation, and find the common ground that will become the foundation of a solid, stable, highly-respected special education department. We need people with courage.
Before things get worse, let’s get on it. Lives are at stake.
Ralph Copleman
Titus Avenue
Lawrence

