Learning disabled students could get own centre of excellence
Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, March 10, 2008
VANCOUVER - A centre of excellence to help children with learning disabilities could soon open in Vancouver if the school board approves a proposal tonight, chairman Clarence Hansen said Sunday.
Hansen said the centre would employ special-education teachers to work with students and develop programs to meet their needs. It would also offer professional development for teachers to ensure those programs continue after the students return to their home schools.
The proposal, which doesn't yet have a price tag, is one of several dealing with special education to be considered by trustees at tonight's meeting. Another calls for an audit in all Lower Mainland schools to compare the actual cost of special education with the dollars provided by the Education Ministry.
Hansen predicted the audit would increase pressure for more funding, adding that in his opinion, "the ministry has to cough up more bucks."
He said the proposed centre would be different from the controversial "model" school for special-needs children that Education Minister Shirley Bond was promoting a year ago because it would be part of the Vancouver district rather than being a provincially run school.
The proposals to be discussed tonight were floated late last year by a group called Parents for Successful Inclusion. Spokeswomen Dawn Steele and Patti Bacchus said they are pleased the district is taking their recommendations seriously.
If approved, the proposals would represent "first steps" in restoring supports for thousands of special-needs students in Vancouver public schools, they said in an e-mail Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Learning Disabilities Association of B.C. has started a petition pressing government to meet the education needs of all children through early screening for special needs and prompt intervention.
It also calls for:
- Specific funding for special-education programs that covers actual costs.
- Pre- and in-service training for all teachers to help them meet the diverse needs in their classrooms.
- A third-party appeal process for parents to deal quickly with complaints and monitor compliance.
The association's Cathie Camley said her group started the petition out of sheer frustration at a B.C. Supreme Court decision overturning a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ruling that had ordered schools to provide adequate services for students with severe learning disabilities or pay for them to attend private schools.
Parents had hoped the human-rights decision would force government to provide much-needed services, she said, adding the petition gives voice to "their disappointment, anger, frustration and sadness."
Sun education reporter
jsteffenhagen@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=a267f13b-308b-49ec-9fed-440b9bac7f93
Monday, March 10, 2008
Friday, March 07, 2008
Double that for BC's Beleaguered Child Protection Workers
Manitoba child-welfare workers stressed, some assaulted: poll
Last Updated: Friday, March 7, 2008 10:33 AM CT
CBC News
Workers in the Manitoba government's Child and Family Services Division say they are overworked, stressed and have at times been assaulted, a union-sponsored survey shows.
The poll was commissioned by the Manitoba Government Employees Union, which represents more than 300 unionized child-welfare workers in the province. A third of them responded to a telephone poll conducted in mid-February.
The biggest concern was excessive workload — identified as a problem by almost half of those polled — followed by a lack of resources, the union said in a statement Friday.
Three-quarters of those polled said it has become more difficult to meet their responsibilities on the job in recent years.
One in three reported being assaulted, while 92 per cent said they had been threatened. Of those who said they were assaulted, 20 per cent said they required medical attention for injuries they suffered.
The union said it had no information on whether police were called to deal with the reported cases of assault and threats.
More than two-thirds said they had spent their own money to buy things for the children or families they work with.
Union president Peter Olfert said the poll confirms what he'd heard anecdotally.
"There's a huge level of stress in dealing with some of these very volatile issues," he said.
"They're working with huge caseloads. They're working under very changing environments. They don't have the resources they require at the front end, and they have health and safety issues they have to deal with. It's a very difficult and stressful job."
Committed to hire 150
The provincial government keeps promising to lighten the workload by hiring more staff, Olfert said, but that hasn't happened yet.
Provincial officials said they have hired or are in the process of hiring 82 more workers. They've committed to hiring 150 over the next three years.
The negative publicity Child and Family Services workers often receive makes the situation worse, Olfert said.
The union is launching an ad campaign to draw attention to the positive results workers often achieve.
"We want to also highlight some of the successes our members have working in these very difficult circumstances," Olfert said.
Despite problems they've encountered, more than half of the poll's respondents said they liked their jobs.
The survey was conducted for the union by Viewpoints Research Ltd. of Winnipeg.
CFS agencies prepare for shift in approach
Manitoba to spend $42M to improve child welfare system
Last Updated: Friday, March 7, 2008 10:33 AM CT
CBC News
Workers in the Manitoba government's Child and Family Services Division say they are overworked, stressed and have at times been assaulted, a union-sponsored survey shows.
The poll was commissioned by the Manitoba Government Employees Union, which represents more than 300 unionized child-welfare workers in the province. A third of them responded to a telephone poll conducted in mid-February.
The biggest concern was excessive workload — identified as a problem by almost half of those polled — followed by a lack of resources, the union said in a statement Friday.
Three-quarters of those polled said it has become more difficult to meet their responsibilities on the job in recent years.
One in three reported being assaulted, while 92 per cent said they had been threatened. Of those who said they were assaulted, 20 per cent said they required medical attention for injuries they suffered.
The union said it had no information on whether police were called to deal with the reported cases of assault and threats.
More than two-thirds said they had spent their own money to buy things for the children or families they work with.
Union president Peter Olfert said the poll confirms what he'd heard anecdotally.
"There's a huge level of stress in dealing with some of these very volatile issues," he said.
"They're working with huge caseloads. They're working under very changing environments. They don't have the resources they require at the front end, and they have health and safety issues they have to deal with. It's a very difficult and stressful job."
Committed to hire 150
The provincial government keeps promising to lighten the workload by hiring more staff, Olfert said, but that hasn't happened yet.
Provincial officials said they have hired or are in the process of hiring 82 more workers. They've committed to hiring 150 over the next three years.
The negative publicity Child and Family Services workers often receive makes the situation worse, Olfert said.
The union is launching an ad campaign to draw attention to the positive results workers often achieve.
"We want to also highlight some of the successes our members have working in these very difficult circumstances," Olfert said.
Despite problems they've encountered, more than half of the poll's respondents said they liked their jobs.
The survey was conducted for the union by Viewpoints Research Ltd. of Winnipeg.
CFS agencies prepare for shift in approach
Manitoba to spend $42M to improve child welfare system
Thursday, March 06, 2008
More CLBC Group Home Closures
Group home had to close, operators say
NDP releases letter citing budget cuts; B.C. still says it was 'mutual decision'
Lindsay Kines and Jeff Rud, Times Colonist
Published: Thursday, March 06, 2008.
The operators of a Victoria group home for special-needs children say the B.C. government has forced them out of business, contrary to claims by Children's Minister Tom Christensen that it was a "mutual decision."
In a letter to parents and caregivers, Corner House director Joy Moncrieff and manager Val Harrison said government cut the home's budget so drastically "that we had no choice but to agree to a closure of the facility."
"It has been a fulfilling eight years for us at Corner House, getting to know so many wonderful children and their parents," Moncrieff and Harrison say in the letter, a copy of which was released yesterday by the NDP. "Writing this letter has been one of the hardest things we have had to do."
Parents who needed a break from caring for a child with complex needs were able to leave their son or daughter at Corner House for short periods of time. The group home, which served 19 clients, will close at the end of April.
Christensen told the media on Tuesday that the home's operators reached a "mutual decision" to end its $260,000-a-year contract with Community Living B.C., the government agency that services children and adults with developmental disabilities. He stuck by those comments yesterday despite the letter from Moncrieff and Harrison. "I haven't seen any letter," he said. "I've been advised that CLBC had worked with Corner House."
But NDP children's critic Nicholas Simons ridiculed Christensen's version of events.
"You can't come to someone and say you've got a choice between the noose or the electric chair and then say that they've got a choice," he said. "The fact of the matter is government's cut funding to children needing services and their families."
Christensen said government can deliver the same respite service to four times as many families by shifting the money to a cheaper model. Families will now be able to have a caregiver come into their home, or let their child stay with the caregiver for a day or a weekend, he said.
"I think, on balance, this is good news in that we're going to have more children and families in the Victoria area who now have access to respite," he said.
The families who use the Davie Street facility, however, say the decision is anything but good news for their children.
"It devastated my son," said Mary Japp, a single parent of two autistic children. "Because as a child with autism he struggles socially. And for one weekend every month, he could go to Corner House and he could just be a regular kid.
"Everybody there has a challenge and it's just normal to have a challenge, and so it wasn't something that made him feel like the odd man out. He finally felt like he had a place where he could just be himself. So he's losing that social connection which, for a child who's socially disadvantaged, that's a big blow.''
Annetta Orrick said she doesn't want a different type of service. Her 14-year-old daughter with autism, cerebral palsy and an intellectual disorder has been going to Corner House one weekend a month for seven years.
Orrick will now have to hire an individual caregiver for brief periods of respite, she said.
"It's very difficult to find people to do these small jobs," she said. "It's never their real job. It's something they're picking up. They're generally a student or it's something that they're doing for an extra bit of pocket money. So they do not look at it as a career or a professional service. It's glorified babysitting."
Orrick said it's also up to her to assess the reliability and qualifications of the caregiver. "There's no accountability," she said.
lkines@tc.canwest.com
jrud@tc.canwest.com
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2008
***********************************
I fail to see how this will achieve Mr. Campbell's great goal for people with special needs:
Goal #3 - Build the best system of support in Canada for persons with disabilities, those with special needs, children at risk and seniors.
Perhaps Minister Christensen and Premier Campbell can provide some concrete evidence to prove that the failed experiment that is CLBC has improved the lives of at-risk populations and their families? Lois Hollstedt, the Chair of CLBC seems to think otherwise, when she publically stated that they still don't have actual waitlists to see just how many children in the province aren't receiving any services yet. And, more importantly, Ms. Hollstedt stated that CLBC hasn't been given the budget to allow them to meet the province's great goal for people with disabilities, or the goal of the legislation that created CLBC. A pretty important statement for the head of the CLBC board to make publically. It seems to contradict the government's position.
NDP releases letter citing budget cuts; B.C. still says it was 'mutual decision'
Lindsay Kines and Jeff Rud, Times Colonist
Published: Thursday, March 06, 2008.
The operators of a Victoria group home for special-needs children say the B.C. government has forced them out of business, contrary to claims by Children's Minister Tom Christensen that it was a "mutual decision."
In a letter to parents and caregivers, Corner House director Joy Moncrieff and manager Val Harrison said government cut the home's budget so drastically "that we had no choice but to agree to a closure of the facility."
"It has been a fulfilling eight years for us at Corner House, getting to know so many wonderful children and their parents," Moncrieff and Harrison say in the letter, a copy of which was released yesterday by the NDP. "Writing this letter has been one of the hardest things we have had to do."
Parents who needed a break from caring for a child with complex needs were able to leave their son or daughter at Corner House for short periods of time. The group home, which served 19 clients, will close at the end of April.
Christensen told the media on Tuesday that the home's operators reached a "mutual decision" to end its $260,000-a-year contract with Community Living B.C., the government agency that services children and adults with developmental disabilities. He stuck by those comments yesterday despite the letter from Moncrieff and Harrison. "I haven't seen any letter," he said. "I've been advised that CLBC had worked with Corner House."
But NDP children's critic Nicholas Simons ridiculed Christensen's version of events.
"You can't come to someone and say you've got a choice between the noose or the electric chair and then say that they've got a choice," he said. "The fact of the matter is government's cut funding to children needing services and their families."
Christensen said government can deliver the same respite service to four times as many families by shifting the money to a cheaper model. Families will now be able to have a caregiver come into their home, or let their child stay with the caregiver for a day or a weekend, he said.
"I think, on balance, this is good news in that we're going to have more children and families in the Victoria area who now have access to respite," he said.
The families who use the Davie Street facility, however, say the decision is anything but good news for their children.
"It devastated my son," said Mary Japp, a single parent of two autistic children. "Because as a child with autism he struggles socially. And for one weekend every month, he could go to Corner House and he could just be a regular kid.
"Everybody there has a challenge and it's just normal to have a challenge, and so it wasn't something that made him feel like the odd man out. He finally felt like he had a place where he could just be himself. So he's losing that social connection which, for a child who's socially disadvantaged, that's a big blow.''
Annetta Orrick said she doesn't want a different type of service. Her 14-year-old daughter with autism, cerebral palsy and an intellectual disorder has been going to Corner House one weekend a month for seven years.
Orrick will now have to hire an individual caregiver for brief periods of respite, she said.
"It's very difficult to find people to do these small jobs," she said. "It's never their real job. It's something they're picking up. They're generally a student or it's something that they're doing for an extra bit of pocket money. So they do not look at it as a career or a professional service. It's glorified babysitting."
Orrick said it's also up to her to assess the reliability and qualifications of the caregiver. "There's no accountability," she said.
lkines@tc.canwest.com
jrud@tc.canwest.com
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2008
***********************************
I fail to see how this will achieve Mr. Campbell's great goal for people with special needs:
Goal #3 - Build the best system of support in Canada for persons with disabilities, those with special needs, children at risk and seniors.
Perhaps Minister Christensen and Premier Campbell can provide some concrete evidence to prove that the failed experiment that is CLBC has improved the lives of at-risk populations and their families? Lois Hollstedt, the Chair of CLBC seems to think otherwise, when she publically stated that they still don't have actual waitlists to see just how many children in the province aren't receiving any services yet. And, more importantly, Ms. Hollstedt stated that CLBC hasn't been given the budget to allow them to meet the province's great goal for people with disabilities, or the goal of the legislation that created CLBC. A pretty important statement for the head of the CLBC board to make publically. It seems to contradict the government's position.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
MCFD & CLBC Fail to Live up to It's Obligations & Promises
Group of adults with disabilities may lose their B.C. home
L'Arche home says it can't keep going without more provincial money
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 4, 2008 9:38 AM ET
CBC News
A group of developmentally disabled adults may lose the only stable home they've ever known, and the group that runs the Burnaby, B.C. facility says the Campbell government is to blame.
Trudi Shaw, board president of L'Arche Greater Vancouver, tells Go Public reporter Kathy Tomlinson, right, that the Campbell government is failing B.C.'s most vulnerable citizens.(CBC)
"There's something going on in this province that people need to be aware of and it concerns all of us, as taxpayers and citizens," said Trudi Shaw, board president of L'Arche Greater Vancouver. "This government seems to be overlooking some of its most vulnerable and marginalized citizens."
L'Arche, an internationally recognized organization, is unique because it not only houses developmentally disabled adults, but strives to give them meaningful roles in the community. Its woodworking shop in Burnaby was one example — a thriving workplace for the disabled that L'Arche recently had to shut down, partially due to its budget problems.
"Without exception everybody [who lives there] has said they want to stay in a L'Arche community — and we have been told that is not possible," Shaw said.
'Disaster' feared for residents
Barry Thomson, one of two dozen people who live in the faith-based Burnaby residential care facility, has severe autism, and has been there for 24 years. For people like him, it's highly unusual to find such long-term stability in one home.
Barry Thomson, who has severe autism, stands to lose the only stable home he's known for 24 years. (CBC)
His brother Gordon says he has no idea how his family would cope if that suddenly changed.
"Oh, disaster," Gordon replied when asked what would happen if Barry had to move. "It would be an absolute disaster — unless there were some other place like L'Arche and I don't think there is."
L'Arche is a normally a media-shy organization, but the group decided to "go public" about its funding crisis because they feel they've exhausted all of their options.
L'Arche has gone without any budget increases for eight years, Shaw said, while its overhead, including salaries, has climbed. The group needs about a $1.5 million boost to their $2 million provincial allocation to make up for an historic shortfall.
Gordon Thomson, Barry's brother, says moving him into foster care would be a disaster.(CBC)
Without that funding, Shaw said, residents might be forced to move into adult foster care, where they move around frequently and sometimes don't get the love and support they need.
"We look at what is happening in the foster care system and we are really frightened," Shaw said. "I'm afraid that they will cease to have a sense of their own value and dignity. We're talking about people being isolated; we're talking about people ceasing to have a sense of value and purpose in their life."
Request for more money denied
A statement by Community Living B.C., the Crown corporation that provides L'Arche with provincial funding, read in part: "Our first commitment is to those individuals with developmental disabilities and the families that L'Arche serves. CLBC supports the model of service delivery that L'Arche has been providing for the past 25 years … L'Arche has asked for a 75 per cent increase to their contract to provide service differently to the same number of individuals. CLBC does not support that request."
CLBC CEO Rick Mowles was not available for an interview.
Thomson said he doesn't understand why the Crown corporation would shortchange a place such as L'Arche to save money. He figures L'Arche saves millions of tax dollars in the long run by keeping its residents out of already overcrowded hospital emergency rooms.
Laney Bryenton, of the B.C. Association for Community Living, says hundreds of organizations are starved for funding while hundreds of disadvantaged people remain on waiting lists. (CBC)
"Barry had to go into the hospital about a month ago and the staff went down with him and stayed with him in the hospital," Thomson said of his autistic brother. "You wouldn't see staff from any other home doing that."
If Barry and the others had to move, Shaw said, they would not only lose their home, they would lose their second family.
"They've lived in this environment where they have been loved and where their gifts have been recognized and drawn out for years and years and years," Shaw said.
Similar shortfalls across the province
"[L'Arche] is very representative of organizations that have not had increases in their contracts," said Laney Bryenton, executive director of the B.C. Association for Community Living, an advocate for thousands of developmentally disabled people in B.C.
Each year, Bryenton said, the Campbell government fails to give CLBC the money it needs, so the Crown corporation has no choice but to shortchange hundreds of organizations such as L'Arche. In the latest budget for 2008-09, Bryenton said, the government gave CLBC $22.3 million for new services, when its service plan said it needed at least $35.5 million to shorten its waiting list.
Approximately 700 developmentally disabled adults are on currently on that waiting lists in B.C., unable to get various types of assistance, Bryenton said.
"We've got a lot of stories of families who have their 19-, 20-, 21-year-old [disabled child] simply sitting at home," Bryenton said. "We have stories of families who have had to quit work in order to look after their 19-year-old because when their child transitioned out of school, there was nothing for them."
When she hears Premier Gordon Campbell promise to make B.C. 'the best place on earth' for disadvantaged people, Bryenton said, she wants to see the proof: "We want them to make a substantive investment in those services. We want them to make good on that promise."
Tom Christensen, the minister responsible for funding CLBC, told CBC News the Crown corporation received a 6.5 per cent budget increase this year, and what it does with the money is not his decision.
"I have confidence that CLBC will work with different service providers to look at some of the challenges they face and insure that both the service provider and CLBC are focused on what they both should be focused on — and that is serving the clients that need their assistance," Christensen said.
He refused to comment on the future of the L'Arche residential care home.
**********************
FYI - Rick Mowles, CEO of CLBC, is also the employer's bargaining agent for Community Social Service Employees Association (CSSEA) in times of bargaining new collective agreement. Anyone smell conflict of interest there? How much has CLBC spent on office renovations since July 1st 2005?
L'Arche home says it can't keep going without more provincial money
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 4, 2008 9:38 AM ET
CBC News
A group of developmentally disabled adults may lose the only stable home they've ever known, and the group that runs the Burnaby, B.C. facility says the Campbell government is to blame.
Trudi Shaw, board president of L'Arche Greater Vancouver, tells Go Public reporter Kathy Tomlinson, right, that the Campbell government is failing B.C.'s most vulnerable citizens.(CBC)
"There's something going on in this province that people need to be aware of and it concerns all of us, as taxpayers and citizens," said Trudi Shaw, board president of L'Arche Greater Vancouver. "This government seems to be overlooking some of its most vulnerable and marginalized citizens."
L'Arche, an internationally recognized organization, is unique because it not only houses developmentally disabled adults, but strives to give them meaningful roles in the community. Its woodworking shop in Burnaby was one example — a thriving workplace for the disabled that L'Arche recently had to shut down, partially due to its budget problems.
"Without exception everybody [who lives there] has said they want to stay in a L'Arche community — and we have been told that is not possible," Shaw said.
'Disaster' feared for residents
Barry Thomson, one of two dozen people who live in the faith-based Burnaby residential care facility, has severe autism, and has been there for 24 years. For people like him, it's highly unusual to find such long-term stability in one home.
Barry Thomson, who has severe autism, stands to lose the only stable home he's known for 24 years. (CBC)
His brother Gordon says he has no idea how his family would cope if that suddenly changed.
"Oh, disaster," Gordon replied when asked what would happen if Barry had to move. "It would be an absolute disaster — unless there were some other place like L'Arche and I don't think there is."
L'Arche is a normally a media-shy organization, but the group decided to "go public" about its funding crisis because they feel they've exhausted all of their options.
L'Arche has gone without any budget increases for eight years, Shaw said, while its overhead, including salaries, has climbed. The group needs about a $1.5 million boost to their $2 million provincial allocation to make up for an historic shortfall.
Gordon Thomson, Barry's brother, says moving him into foster care would be a disaster.(CBC)
Without that funding, Shaw said, residents might be forced to move into adult foster care, where they move around frequently and sometimes don't get the love and support they need.
"We look at what is happening in the foster care system and we are really frightened," Shaw said. "I'm afraid that they will cease to have a sense of their own value and dignity. We're talking about people being isolated; we're talking about people ceasing to have a sense of value and purpose in their life."
Request for more money denied
A statement by Community Living B.C., the Crown corporation that provides L'Arche with provincial funding, read in part: "Our first commitment is to those individuals with developmental disabilities and the families that L'Arche serves. CLBC supports the model of service delivery that L'Arche has been providing for the past 25 years … L'Arche has asked for a 75 per cent increase to their contract to provide service differently to the same number of individuals. CLBC does not support that request."
CLBC CEO Rick Mowles was not available for an interview.
Thomson said he doesn't understand why the Crown corporation would shortchange a place such as L'Arche to save money. He figures L'Arche saves millions of tax dollars in the long run by keeping its residents out of already overcrowded hospital emergency rooms.
Laney Bryenton, of the B.C. Association for Community Living, says hundreds of organizations are starved for funding while hundreds of disadvantaged people remain on waiting lists. (CBC)
"Barry had to go into the hospital about a month ago and the staff went down with him and stayed with him in the hospital," Thomson said of his autistic brother. "You wouldn't see staff from any other home doing that."
If Barry and the others had to move, Shaw said, they would not only lose their home, they would lose their second family.
"They've lived in this environment where they have been loved and where their gifts have been recognized and drawn out for years and years and years," Shaw said.
Similar shortfalls across the province
"[L'Arche] is very representative of organizations that have not had increases in their contracts," said Laney Bryenton, executive director of the B.C. Association for Community Living, an advocate for thousands of developmentally disabled people in B.C.
Each year, Bryenton said, the Campbell government fails to give CLBC the money it needs, so the Crown corporation has no choice but to shortchange hundreds of organizations such as L'Arche. In the latest budget for 2008-09, Bryenton said, the government gave CLBC $22.3 million for new services, when its service plan said it needed at least $35.5 million to shorten its waiting list.
Approximately 700 developmentally disabled adults are on currently on that waiting lists in B.C., unable to get various types of assistance, Bryenton said.
"We've got a lot of stories of families who have their 19-, 20-, 21-year-old [disabled child] simply sitting at home," Bryenton said. "We have stories of families who have had to quit work in order to look after their 19-year-old because when their child transitioned out of school, there was nothing for them."
When she hears Premier Gordon Campbell promise to make B.C. 'the best place on earth' for disadvantaged people, Bryenton said, she wants to see the proof: "We want them to make a substantive investment in those services. We want them to make good on that promise."
Tom Christensen, the minister responsible for funding CLBC, told CBC News the Crown corporation received a 6.5 per cent budget increase this year, and what it does with the money is not his decision.
"I have confidence that CLBC will work with different service providers to look at some of the challenges they face and insure that both the service provider and CLBC are focused on what they both should be focused on — and that is serving the clients that need their assistance," Christensen said.
He refused to comment on the future of the L'Arche residential care home.
**********************
FYI - Rick Mowles, CEO of CLBC, is also the employer's bargaining agent for Community Social Service Employees Association (CSSEA) in times of bargaining new collective agreement. Anyone smell conflict of interest there? How much has CLBC spent on office renovations since July 1st 2005?
Monday, March 03, 2008
So much for Great Goals for Literacy and People with Disabilities
Court deals blow to disabled students
Catherine Rolfsen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Sunday, March 02, 2008
METRO VANCOUVER - The B.C. Supreme Court has quashed a landmark human rights tribunal ruling that advocates hoped would mean major changes for students with learning disabilities in B.C. schools.
In a written decision released Friday, the court overturned a 2005 ruling that the B.C. Education Ministry and the North Vancouver school board discriminated against learning-disabled students when it failed to give them proper support.
The tribunal decision hinged on the case of Jeffrey Moore, who struggled with dyslexia for four years in public school before his parents pulled him out in favour of a costly private school.
"We're extremely disappointed," said his father, Rick Moore, of the court's ruling. "It doesn't seem right to me that the only learning-disabled children who are given a chance to succeed are the ones whose parents can afford an expensive private school education."
The tribunal had ordered the ministry to provide full funding for the education of severely learning-disabled students. But with Friday's decision, Rick Moore worries that other students will continue to face Jeffrey's challenges at public school.
Rick Moore said he has not decided whether to appeal the decision.
The Learning Disabilities Association of B.C. estimates that one in 10 Canadian students has a learning disability such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia or dyscalculia.
North Vancouver was in a financial squeeze between 1992 and 1995 when Jeffrey was a young student at Braemar elementary school.
Although identified as a learning-disabled student and referred to a special district facility called DC1, that facility was closed just weeks later to save money.
Jeffrey's parents elected to send him to Kenneth Gordon, a Burnaby school for students with specific learning disabilities, which cost the family nearly $100,000 for nine years. There, his reading skills and self-esteem skyrocketed, his father said.
Jeffrey is now a 21-year-old apprentice plumber. But his father believes that had he remained in public schools, he probably would have dropped out.
Rick Moore said identification and assistance for learning disabled students has worsened since Jeffrey left public school.
"Right now it seems like learning-disabled students are invisible and the education system can ignore them," he said.
Education Minister Shirley Bond was unavailable for an interview Sunday, and the North Vancouver school board chair could not be reached for comment.
The court's decision found the tribunal failed to establish "differential treatment" of severely learning-disabled students such as Jeffrey.
"The DC1 was one of many models for delivery of specialized services to [severely learning disabled] and other special needs students..." wrote Justice Janice Dillon. "Moore was not completely denied a service. In fact, he was provided with a number of accommodations."
Thealzel Lee, president of the Learning Disabilities Association of B.C., said the ruling shows that the provincial government has not yet taken responsibility for educating all children.
Lee said a recent survey of about 350 parents by her association found that 61 per cent felt the system poorly met or failed to meet their children's needs, while just over half believed that their child's teachers were knowledgeable about learning disabilities.
A Langley inquiry into special education published earlier this year identified several province-wide problems, including underfunding, lack of resources in classrooms, and inadequate teacher training to deal with special needs.
crolfsen@png.canwest.com
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=aea7331a-eb6b-4cf7-900d-d3a9c8c4c549&k=2270
Catherine Rolfsen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Sunday, March 02, 2008
METRO VANCOUVER - The B.C. Supreme Court has quashed a landmark human rights tribunal ruling that advocates hoped would mean major changes for students with learning disabilities in B.C. schools.
In a written decision released Friday, the court overturned a 2005 ruling that the B.C. Education Ministry and the North Vancouver school board discriminated against learning-disabled students when it failed to give them proper support.
The tribunal decision hinged on the case of Jeffrey Moore, who struggled with dyslexia for four years in public school before his parents pulled him out in favour of a costly private school.
"We're extremely disappointed," said his father, Rick Moore, of the court's ruling. "It doesn't seem right to me that the only learning-disabled children who are given a chance to succeed are the ones whose parents can afford an expensive private school education."
The tribunal had ordered the ministry to provide full funding for the education of severely learning-disabled students. But with Friday's decision, Rick Moore worries that other students will continue to face Jeffrey's challenges at public school.
Rick Moore said he has not decided whether to appeal the decision.
The Learning Disabilities Association of B.C. estimates that one in 10 Canadian students has a learning disability such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia or dyscalculia.
North Vancouver was in a financial squeeze between 1992 and 1995 when Jeffrey was a young student at Braemar elementary school.
Although identified as a learning-disabled student and referred to a special district facility called DC1, that facility was closed just weeks later to save money.
Jeffrey's parents elected to send him to Kenneth Gordon, a Burnaby school for students with specific learning disabilities, which cost the family nearly $100,000 for nine years. There, his reading skills and self-esteem skyrocketed, his father said.
Jeffrey is now a 21-year-old apprentice plumber. But his father believes that had he remained in public schools, he probably would have dropped out.
Rick Moore said identification and assistance for learning disabled students has worsened since Jeffrey left public school.
"Right now it seems like learning-disabled students are invisible and the education system can ignore them," he said.
Education Minister Shirley Bond was unavailable for an interview Sunday, and the North Vancouver school board chair could not be reached for comment.
The court's decision found the tribunal failed to establish "differential treatment" of severely learning-disabled students such as Jeffrey.
"The DC1 was one of many models for delivery of specialized services to [severely learning disabled] and other special needs students..." wrote Justice Janice Dillon. "Moore was not completely denied a service. In fact, he was provided with a number of accommodations."
Thealzel Lee, president of the Learning Disabilities Association of B.C., said the ruling shows that the provincial government has not yet taken responsibility for educating all children.
Lee said a recent survey of about 350 parents by her association found that 61 per cent felt the system poorly met or failed to meet their children's needs, while just over half believed that their child's teachers were knowledgeable about learning disabilities.
A Langley inquiry into special education published earlier this year identified several province-wide problems, including underfunding, lack of resources in classrooms, and inadequate teacher training to deal with special needs.
crolfsen@png.canwest.com
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=aea7331a-eb6b-4cf7-900d-d3a9c8c4c549&k=2270
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