Friday, November 30, 2012

A Special Education Post For Bostonians

Sorry it took so long.... 

"Boston special education cuts found to be wrongful" by James Vaznis  |  Globe Staff, August 10, 2012

In a ruling that could cost the Boston public schools about $2 million, a state arbitrator has determined that the School Committee wrongfully laid off about four dozen clerical workers, potentially contributing to a backlog of late reviews of special education plans for thousands of students.

The clerks play a pivotal role in those reviews — entering data into the computer system, scheduling meetings, and performing other tasks that free time up for special education coordinators to talk each year with teachers and parents about any changes to a student’s educational plan, said union officials.

But in 2010, the School Committee adopted budget reductions that called for cutting the number of special education clerks in half, resulting in the loss of about 45 positions and causing the coordinators to pick up the slack by working hours of unpaid overtime every week.

The reduction violated provisions of the Boston Teachers Union contract....

Everyone knows labor contract signings mean nothing. Executive compensation or bureaucrat pensions? Sacrosanct.

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