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Real High School Diplomas for All Students

While it is great seeing so many parents here fighting for access to higher mathematics, I’m here asking for Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) to bother to teach my son to add. There are around 60 to 90 specific common core standards for each grade in elementary school which get turned into the 30…

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Palo Alto’s 504 Plan Puzzle

Palo Alto Unified School District’s 504 Plan demographics are substantially different than California’s or the rest of the US states with around 7% of our students having a 504 plan (see attachments) vs. the national average of 2.7%, California at 4% and the highest state average New Hampshire at 6.2% (tab 2 of “Enrollment-Overall”) Thank…

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Segregated Special Education in Palo Alto – a long way to go

“when students are included, they have more access to the general curriculumand effective instruction, they achieve at higher rates of academicperformance, and they acquire better social and behavioral outcomes.” According to the latest report under IDEA for Palo Alto, 7.75% of students spend less than 40% oftheir day in general education (reports from 2021). Compared…

California Care Court Bill
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California Care Court Bill

The California Legislature is considering creating a “CARE Court” to fast track determinations of mental competency to mandate treatment. The Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program is being proposed to both the California Assembly (AB2830) and State Senate (SB1338). This bill is being strongly opposed by many disability rights organizations with letters from…

California Special Education Study Released – Big Changes Needed

A major report on the state of Special Education in California finds that big changes are needed.  California has one of the worst rates of inclusion in the US – in the bottom 3 of the 50 states using data from the US Department of Education. Some selected findings For students with an IEP, including…