Dear Fred,

An example of the crisis: I teach a Low Incidence class of children with autism, cognitive disabilities, and more on the Southside. I have 13 students, another with medical issues coming soon, have had my paraprofessionals cut to a single adult. And with experience, I am not a cheaper newbie. It is madness. North siders complain that they are cut to two or three aides! With 7 students. Inequity abounds. Will Guzzardi, please rethink your support.

-Sunset

Dear Sunset,

Inequity abounds, indeed!

HB 2808 will do to the rest of Illinois what is happening to you and other CPS special education teachers already.

CPS currently has the Block Grant for special ed. That means giving CPS no direct and dedicated funding for special ed teachers.

That is why CPS can cut its number of special ed teachers and lose zero state dollars.

Using a different method (1 position for 141 general education students) SB 1/HB 2808 would produce the same result for the rest of Illinois as you describe in your present situation in Chicago.

I know this gets weedy for many readers. But teachers and parents of special education students know what time it is.

While CPS does not use the Evidence Base Model, it does use Response to Intervention (RTI) and other methods of delay to avoid special education, such as mixing special education dollars and general education dollars.