By Dawn Fantasia
Today, with my school closed, I spent hours meeting with parents from Burlington to Sussex regarding their children with special education needs. Children who are non verbal. Children on the Autism spectrum. Children whose safety should be a major priority.
What I heard was INFURIATING.
For TWO YEARS, parents have been pleading for help while NJ’s Office of Special Education remained mute. Governor Murphy left behind more than 3,000 complaints from parents, a culture of non-responsiveness and a flaccid former Commissioner of Education who proved incapable of answering even the most basic questions about what was even happening under his watch.
Now we have a new administration, a new commissioner, and parents tell me they are getting THE SAME THING: silence.
More than FIFTY parents have contacted Governor Sherrill‘s office, the New Jersey Department of Education Commissioner, and the Office of Special Education over the past four months. Many copied legislators and Education Committee members. Many followed up REPEATEDLY, to no avail.
Nothing.
No response IS NOT an adequate response from the Governor’s Office.
No response IS NOT an adequate response from the Commissioner of Education.
No response IS NOT an adequate response from the Office of Special Education.
I am appalled that, according to the parents I met with today, I am the ONLY person in state government who has responded to them??!! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?
Parents of children with disabilities are desperately trying to navigate one of the most challenging responsibilities imaginable & they cannot even get basic answers from the agencies specifically charged with helping them???
Even my simple questions remain unanswered. How many employees work in the OSE? How many investigators are assigned to complaints? What are the caseloads? What oversight exists? What metrics are being tracked?
CRICKETS
And when top state leadership demonstrates that accountability is optional, those lower in the chain quickly learn that accountability is optional for them, too. GREAT example.
The stories I heard today were heartbreaking, frustrating & deeply troubling. I am grateful to every parent who trusted me enough to share them.
This conversation is happening across multiple platforms on social media because the individuals officially entrusted with these responsibilities refuse to have it anywhere else.
It is a direct result of frustrated parents literally screaming into the abyss.
My social media page is not an official government-run account & is for commentary. Any formal legislative or legal action taken will be communicated to the public and the media through official channels. In the meantime, please continue sharing your experiences, commentary, and concerns here. PUBLIC PRESSURE MATTERS.
This issue is not going away.
Neither are these parents.
And neither am I.
