Students with Disabilities Can Eat Cake?
Listening to Janice Jackson on WBEZ was heartbreaking. Advocates for people with disabilities were stunned when Jackson proudly proclaimed that she is working hard to get children with disabilities access to first floors in schools. Does she realize we aren’t in the 1919 school year, but the 2019 school year? Unacceptable that children with disabilities do not have access to entire schools.
Listening to Janice Jackson on WBEZ was heartbreaking. Advocates for people with disabilities were stunned when Jackson proudly proclaimed that she is working hard to get children with disabilities access to first floors in schools. Does she realize we aren’t in the 1919 school year, but the 2019 school year? Unacceptable that children with disabilities do not have access to entire schools.
Luckily for Janice, she isn’t physically disabled. But if she was, how would she feel if, every day, she was sequestered to the first floor at CPS HQ at 42 West Madison?
What about educators with disabilities? They can only teach on the first floor? Vendors with disabilities have to be turned away? Parents with disabilities? They can’t see their child perform in a second floor auditorium?
Janice goes on and on about equity in CPS. But she appears only to be interested in race equity. She sees nothing else. Equity is also accessibility, no matter your race. And the fact that Janice’s staff, with her consent, scheme against disabled children by illegally banning them from handicapped parking, and even banned a disabled child from school, makes her attitude even more outrageous. On top of it, disabled children can crawl up to the second floor of their school if they are able, yet Janice has a chauffeur. You can’t make this stuff up.
Every other government agency from the CTA to City Hall to the Post office are accessible. It’s unacceptable that schools aren’t.
I can see advocates for children pleading with Janice, “The children with disabilities can’t get into the second floor cafeteria to eat their sandwiches!” Her likely reply? “Let them eat cake”.
- From a concerned former Ogden Elementary parent
Sent this to downtown. Totally disgusted with Janice. Just because the District hasn't spent more before on accessibility doesn't mean its paltry spend now is amazing. It's insult to us when it's presented that way.
ReplyDeleteHow can people trust Janice Jackson when she was exactly the Chief Education Officer at CPS when they were found in violation of IDEA?
It was exactly her administration of laws (or lack thereof) that led to the ISBE corrective action! She was in charge of the people violating IDEA! Her policy book!
She encouraged a parent with questions about IEPs and compensatory services to be assuaged in his fears but honestly, the District hasn't lined out what compensatory services will look like.
To boot, this District retaliates. As a practice on parents who advocate.
They spend over $4 million dollars on District Representatives whose jobs entail pushing families into due process and have allegations of going home during the day to take naps when they don't want to go to schools. Who is actually keeping track of these dollars spent?!
And there is no way to lodge an HR complaint at CPS. Where would anyone send that to? OIG is overrun with the sexual assault allegations. How did she miss that too in the District?! Really, she tried to spin it as a positive that CPS is on the vanguard of investigating. Because it was so terrible! Our kids are at demonstrated risk everyday at CPS!
So much money is spent on the middle layer at CPS, there have been news articles about how top heavy CPS is. It's really a poor use of taxpayer money.
I was hoping to see Lori Lightfoot stand up to CPS nonsense, but with her joint letter with Janice today, I am not at all impressed.
Did CPS even work with Access Living to discuss a budget?! You'd think if you want to do right by kids in the District, you'd consult the organization that does the most advocacy and has a monthly meeting with the District and the ISBE monitor. The opportunity is there, it's sad that CPS wastes it and this mayoral office stands by Janice.