Mariah Harris (14DS) Speaking before Broward Public School Board on July 23rd, 2013 - FLORIDA

M_07_23_2013 <---Click that live link to go to the Becon-TV recording of Broward County Public School Board Meeting held on July 23rd, 2013 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Go to the PUBLIC SPEAKERS portion of this School Board Meeting. Mariah is the first Public speaker called. Fast forward to 144:15 on the Video. I speak after her at 149:35 on the Video. 

A copy of Mariah's speech was handed out to each of the School Board members so if some of the words that were difficult for her to pronounce weren't clearly understood by all, then the board members and the school superintendent were still able to know what she was saying to them publically. 

Mariah presented herself with such style, grace and professionalism! For being so brand new to public speaking she is only going to get better at it and have a heck of a lot more confidence the more she does it! Gosh darn it I am so proud of her and her ability to stand at that podium all by herself and do her best. 

By allowing Mariah to do things like this, it is paving the way for her to be a more confident SELF-ADVOCATE for the rest of her life! It is also very much showing the Public how CAPABLE she is! How ABLE our students are if provided a way!

Here is her speech:

Hi !!

*Pause & SMILE

My name is Mariah Harris, I am 14 years old and in the 6th Grade.

I am in the Nova  U-Na-Ver-ciTy  School of the ARTS Drama Camp.

I am a dancer, singer, actress and will be in the Disney MULAN show August second.

I have teachers and helpers that support and BELIEVE IN ME!

Want to come see me on the stage at the EP-STEEN Center?

I went to Horse Camp for 2 weeks and had a lot of FUN!

FIRE is the name of my horse.

I met new friends that liked me and BELIEVED IN ME at the Ranch!

I am on the SWIM TEAM at River Land Pool.

Back Stroke is my best stroke. I Like doing Free Style and I'm learning the Butterfly. 

I love going to Swim practice every day!

My Coaches BELIEVE IN ME!

I love going to the Movies and Cooking.

I am having a Great Summer.

I need people to BELIEVE IN ME and see that I CAN do it!

Do not JUDGE me because I have Down syndrome!

I am Mariah Harris, I love school and I'm a good student!

I have always been fully IN-CLUDed with an adult to help me.

BELIEVE IN and IN-CLUDE more students with Down syndrome in all of our schools!!

Have a good day!

Thank you very much.

SMILE

Mariah Harris

321funlife@gmail.com

(954) 205-0016                                         

321 FUN ~ Mariah’s Life Blog

www.321fun.blogspot.com

Mariah's Speech to Broward School Board Meeting on July 22, 2013

Mariah needs a Speech COACH to help her with doing public reading & speaking, to help her with her 'speech skills', articulation and her reading fluency. This is what she needs help with now if she wants to become a more polished public speaker. Who wants to help?

To see Mariah's mom (Nancy Linley-Harris) speaking after her daughter, go to 149:35 on the Video. Here is my written speech that was handed out to all the school board members:

July 23^rd, 2013

Nancy Linley-Harris to School Board Meeting at Broward County Public Schools.

Good Afternoon Superintendent Runcie and School board members of Broward Public Schools,

Today, I will be speaking on behalf of students with Down syndrome and ALL Special Ed Students that are being forced to be WAREHOUSED at certain schools in ESE classrooms in Broward County Public Schools.

My name is Nancy Linley-Harris and I live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. On May 24^th I removed my daughter with Down syndrome from Broward County Public School District because I was being retaliated against for being an outspoken Advocate for the rights of my daughter to be ACADEMICALLY EDUCATED to learn and earn a real High School Diploma. My daughter was being forced out of all regular classes and was prevented from taking the State exams any longer. The ESE Department & the Due Process department for Broward County Public Schools did all they could to prevent my daughter and others like her from being treated with respect and educated with their classmates without special needs in the least restrictive classrooms, which is a regular classroom.

*How many students are being forced out of their neighborhood schools because of having a disability? This seems to be a Civil Rights concern here in Broward County Public Schools.

A mom of a 5 year old with Down syndrome recently contacted me and let me know that she had filed for a Due Process Hearing, because Broward Schools is refusing to allow her son to go to Kindergarten at the school that is just a few blocks from her house, which is HAWKE’S BLUFF Elem. She told me that Broward Schools is forcing him to have to attend a school that is almost 6 miles away to be in a segregated special ed classroom at PEMBROKE LAKES. 

The parents are not agreeing to this and have let the school know they would like to have him be included in a regular Kindergarten classroom with his neighborhood friends that he knows. This little guy has already been attending HAWKE’S BLUFF ELEMENTARY School for 2 years already because of the 3-5 year old Early Intervention classes that used to be called the PLACE Classrooms for students with disabilities.  I am asking; “Why HAWKE’S BLUFF is even allowed to say, “NO” to this particular student?”  

Is this school and this district DISCRIMINATING AGAINST Students with Down syndrome from even being allowed to attend their neighborhood schools anymore? I THINK SO! 

Please School board members, there needs to be an investigation into the INCLUSION Practices that this District is doing, because it is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that provides the FEDERAL FUNDS to help educate our students with Disabilities. 

From what I am seeing as happening in Broward County Public Schools is; our students with Disabilities MATRIX FUNDS are being used to WAREHOUSE our Children into schools and classrooms that not all parents of these children agreed to and ultimately parents are forced into filing a Due Process.

How much money is the district spending on the Due Process for families like this one? Parent just wanting there child to attend the school down the street and to go to a regular kindergarten class with the neighborhood friends.

School Board members of Broward County Public Schools, for the record, I would like to know how much is this District spending from our student’s special education funds by NOT ALLOWING our students with disabilities into the regular classrooms, from being educated academically so they can learn and earn a high school diploma.

As an Advocate for the Disability Community, I am asking; “HOW MUCH DOES THIS DISTRICT RECEIVE IN Special Ed Matrix FUNDS federally and thru the State Special Ed Funds from FDOE?” “What is the amount for the entire district and how is that being spent?”

“HOW IS BROWARD SCHOOLS SPENDING our children’s ESE funding that’s there to help educate our Special needs children?”  

This school district does not BELIEVE IN students…….especially the students needing the most support that comes with extra funding to help educate them, students with disabilities! 

Stop forcing parents to file Due Process Hearings, because we want our children to attend their neighborhood school and be included in regular classes. 

We want our Teachers to BELIEVE IN our children and to TEACH our children. Where is the training for the teachers and staff? Stop the Discrimination & Segregation of our students with Disabilities!

How are you spending our Special Education Funds in Broward Schools?

I want to know if my daughter’s ESE Matrix Funds were actually spent on educating her instead of allowing Parkway Middle’s ESE teachers and staff to attend 10-IEP meetings to go against my wanting her to continue to be fully included and to be educated academically so she too could learn to earn a real high school diploma.

Nancy Linley-Harris

podsangels@gmail.com

(954) 612-2997

DS Advocate BLOG

www.ds-advocate.blogspot.com

My Message to the Down syndrome Community:

If more parents of DS go before school boards with the same message - it would speak volumes across the Nation & the World. What I have found here where I live is that parents are afraid to speak out - Knowing that makes me feel more obligated to be that voice for many of them! 

My daughter "learning to speak publically" is amazing to be part of with her! She has no fear of Public Speaking! I see it as her Self-Advocacy "training" as well for Mariah and showing our Community that she IS CAPABLE of so much more than our schools want to believe. She is gaining more confidence each time she speaks! 

I would encourage more parents to help our children show your community that our children and young adults with Down syndrome have so much to give!! The Public needs to SEE our children being successful, if that means giving a simple message before your school board and learning how to give a speech with a real microphone than so be it! I'm pretty sure many of our kiddos love the "stage" and will do anything to have an opportunity to speak into a microphone.....without it being taken away from them. My daughter like many with Down syndrome loves "the stage!!"

Civil Rights Question ~ Students NOT ALLOWED to attend their neighborhood school?

Mariah Harris and I are signed up to SPEAK AGAIN before our Public School Board meeting tomorrow. We also signed up to be on the Public Speakers LIST for next school board meeting on Tuesday, AUGUST 6th as well. 

WHO will be supporting us as we speak up on behalf of all individuals with disabilities, especially those students with Down syndrome being constantly DENIED an INCLUSIVE EDUCATION in the least restrictive classrooms, leading towards being educated to learn and earn a real high school diploma! 

WHO will come out and support us on this? There is still so much NONSENSE being allowed to take place towards individuals with Down syndrome not being allowed to attend their neighborhood schools. Being FORCED to send our children to schools miles away instead! 

THIS nonsense of discrimination & segregation needs to STOP!

SIGN-UP to be a PUBLIC SPEAKER and let your Public School District know how you feel about the DISCRIMINATION & SEGREGATION of students with disabilities, and yes especially many of our children with Down syndrome absolutely are being denied their right to an academic education like everyone else!

Florida ESE in 2013...Remember ~ Racial Segregation of Schools particularly in the South between 1955-1968.

Florida ESE in 2013...Remember ~ Racial Segregation of Schools particularly in the South between 1955-1968. 

This Archived News Clip is worthy of watching to see the similarities with our exceptional student education (ESE) population of students today.

*The CLINTON HIGH SCHOOL Principal ~ We need more Principals like him! 

*So many awesome people that spoke out back then! True Civil Rights ADVOCATES!

Mariah wasn't allowed to take the FCAT or the Alternate Assessment in the 6th Grade at Parkway Middle School!!

This is me speaking for the first time publically to Broward County School Board a month before I completely WITHDREW Mariah from Broward Public Education! In my speach you can see I was PLEADING for help to look into what was happening to me at Parkway Middle School via the IEP "PROCESS" here in Broward County! I also explain how Mariah wasn't even allowed to take the FCAT anymore and wasn't ever told by the schools ESE Specialist, Ms. Chiante Roundtree-Jones as to exactly when the ALTERNATE ASSESSMENT would be going on. (*the Special Needs FCAT testing) The schools ESE Specialist said, that Mariah wasn't in school on the day that the 'letter' was sent home. Instead weeks later, Mariah did bring home a letter informing us when the "regular" FCAT testing times would be going on.

In Elementary school, Mariah had always taken the "regular" FCAT since the 3rd grade and twice in 5th grade, because I thought it would be good for Mariah to have a second year of 5th grade with the same wonderful teacher, Mr. Allagood. Mariah had always been taking the "regular" FCAT, a total of 4 times she took the FCAT before going off to 6th grade at Parkway Middle School. So this year in 6th grade, Mariah wasn't even allowed or was I ever informed when the Alternate Assessment testing dates would be given. I found out later that the Alternate to the FCAT is given to the ESE Students over a 3 week time period, whereas the regular FCAT is given over a shorter time period of just 2 weeks. Not once during the time for testing the Alternate Assessment was our family notified of this testing and it was going on for 3 whole weeks?! That in itself shows the lack of care to test and/or educate a wonderful student like Mariah! 

Mariah loves school and is a wonderful student any good teacher would be thrilled for the challenge of teaching her in a diversified classroom as they all should be today! Not all her teachers should have been chosen for her as there have been some really GREAT TEACHERS over the years and certainly Mariah has has some really lousy/rotten teachers too! More good teachers though, but the bad ones can really make life miserable for both student and parent! Her intensive reading teacher in 6th grade at Parkway Middle had no desire to really help Mariah continue with increasing her reading skills. An intensive reading teacher that only gives "F's" to a student with an IEP should be fired! Upsetting to say the least, because READING is one of the most important academic skills a student needs to learn to get an education! That reading teacher's only goal for Mariah was to show she wasn't making progress to push her into a NON-PHONICS BASED reading program the ESE Department was pushing on many of the Middle School Students, that I wanted no part of for my girl. This "curriculum" was not something I agreed to, if SB 1108 had been in place, I would have had to 'sign-off' yes or no to that curriculum. As of July 1st, 2013 that Senate Bill will be law! 

So this year, not only did my daugher, Mariah not get to take the "regular" FCAT, she also wasn't allowed to be tested the one given to Special Needs students, the Alternate Assessment to the regular FCAT. Why was this allowed to even happen to Mariah? Is it because both Mariah and I went up to testify before the Florida Senate in March on SB 1108? Is it because she has Down syndrome, is it because her mom is an outspoken Advocate for students with Down syndrome and other unique learning challenges? I would like to know how our public school district can get away with such nonsense!

Ultimately....one month later I decided to completely WITHDRAW my daughter from PUBLIC EDUCATION because I have experienced such a total lack of care to ACADEMICALLY EDUCATE my daughter as she gets older. Being in Middle School and being included in regular general education classes is NOT WHAT THIS DISTRICT WANTS FOR STUDENTS WITH DOWN SYNDROME and certainly they don't care to work collaboratively with their parents.

The new Senate Bill 1108 if it had been in place before this school year or before, I never would have had to go through the nonsense I was being forced to endure at the many (too many) IEP meetings Parkway Middle School put me through. 

Mariah and I going to the Florida Capitol a month previously on March 18th, 2013 to testify before the Florida Senate on why we thought this Bill is an absolute must to have in place to protect parents rights to help our children receive a "world class education"? That is what is advertised throughout our public school district, on their phone lines when we are put on hold and on the District website. A world class education is for those without disabilities I think is what they really mean.

In this video, Mariah had just spoken before me, the same exact speech she read to the Florida Senate Education Committee a month before on March 18th, 2013. I will post her first school board speech when I have a copy of it. This was Mariah's second time public speaking and she did fabulous job! She has told me she loves speaking in front of a people! So through it all, we both have become Public Speakers. Mariah and I both have now had parts of our Senate Education Committee testimony from the the Florida Capitol speech aired on National Public Radion-NPR. Mariah telling the Florida Senate that she wants a REAL HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA and that she wants to one day go to College. Her cute voice and her very first public speech has been aired and heard across the Country. I believe she speaks for many with Down syndrome and special needs education in general. 

Mariah you are on your way to becoming a National Speaker, getting on NPR is a start! I am so proud of my daughter for rising to the challenge of getting up and speaking before the public and having your voice heard! You speak for many like you! 

Please comment if things like this are or have been happening to your child's education, I would love to hear from my readers. Share my story too!