Leave No Child Behind (part 2)

One week to go. Two major sources of wrath on behalf of my students:

Source of wrath #2:

I have a student, even more worrisome than Kid X, who I fondly refer to as The Worst Kid Ever. WKE is a sixth grader, and operates at a second grade level. He cannot do the work in an early intermediate ESL class, although he was born and raised in the United States. He is belligerent, recalcitrent, and kinetic. He drives me berserk.

He's also being promoted to the seventh grade, despite having been unable to do any of the work in sixth. During a tense conversation with my principal last week, I pointed out that we his teachers have been trying to get help for him all year. "I know," she sighed. "And his parents don't come to any meetings."

His mom attended two student support meetings despite needing a translator and being rather scared of us, and his father has come out to the school at least once when the WKE was in trouble. He's spoken to me on the phone and in person, and been very pleasant. So basically, this is pure slander. These people want to help their kid. My principal I'm not so sure about.

Anyway, on Friday, I'm speaking to another teacher who's in charge of a program we may put the WKE in next year. He comments that it is unfortunate that the WKE's parents will not allow us to do special ed testing.

This is news to me, but I'm told that my colleague talked to our vice principal, and that's what he was told.

So I chug downstairs to Ms. S, the aforementioned 'teacher of the mentals', who helped me set up the student support conference, and ask her about this. She doesn't know about this.

I chug to the vice principal's office and ask.

During the last parent meeting, when we brought up special ed testing, the mom said that she wondered if that would help, because 'they''d tested her older boy (not the WKE) at one point, and 'they' said he didn't need a special ed program.

That had been interpreted as a parental prohibition. We never asked for permission point-blank.

"Should I follow up on that?" asks the VP.

You bet your behind you should, and I will be sending a Spanish speaker to make sure you do. Aaaaaaaaaaah!