The Phone Call

A few nights ago I received a phone call from the school district. There’s something about seeing “Gilbert Unified Schools” on our Caller ID that just gives me a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. When I answered I realized it was the psychologist at Max’s school calling about this year’s IEP. Because she knows that I am not a big fan of the IEP process it must have taken a lot of courage to tell me that it has been three years since Max’s last “full evaluation” so she was calling to get my permission to test him again. AGAIN?!

She went on to say, “Who knows maybe Max has made progress since the first grade testing we did.” Really? “Maybe” he’s made progress? Is she kidding me? Has she seen Max since first grade? Heck, has she ever seen Max? Why is the entire school system so certain that Max is an academic train wreck? He reads at a Middle School level, knows more geography and history than any child his age, speaks two languages and yet the “experts” in child development are amazed when we tell them to push Max academically. Let’s not forget that last year’s teacher had the nerve to ask me what I would do when Max could no longer handle the work. She wanted to know if I would be willing to accept that. For the first time in my life I was absolutely speechless, this woman was serious!

It is the IEP “dance” that I hate most about the beginning of the new school year. Being the control freak that I am I really dislike having others decide what Max’s education should look like. I have never let the doctor’s dictate his medical treatment without our input, why would I let the school system dictate his education plan?