Question – I am sure you are overwhelmed with emails about the changing climate in our public schools. I have been a Special Education teacher in the district for 7 years. I am by no means a veteran teacher, but I can tell you that I love my job, love the kids, and am very grateful to work in such a supportive school district. I have chosen to work in challenging Title One schools, with challenging students. I have heard that we will now be given grades as schools, and soon be paid on the performance of our students. I really have just one question, what will that look like for Special Educators? This worries me because truly disabled kids make slower progress, beings why they are receiving special education. I really would hate to see a lot of amazing teachers go teach regular education on the east side, due to pay cuts to already sparse earnings. I really appreciate the opportunity to ask you this question. Thank you

Response – Great question!  The USOE has a committee convened and meeting regularly to develop procedures.  We absolutely expect that this committee to recognize circumstances of specific educational situations or students when developing performance measures. As we get additional information, we will be providing that to all of our employees. Thanks for the question.