War, toxic media culture underscore need for peace journalism in Yemen
Imagine a highly polarized media environment where media focus exclusively on the alleged misdeeds and even atrocities committed by the other side. Media stoke hatred by dehumanizing the other side. In this environment, there is no middle ground, only biased reporting and propaganda, leaving the public with a distorted picture of reality.

No, this is not the United States.

This is the media environment in Yemen, as described in an article by The Atlantic Council. Yemen is saddled not only with this toxic media culture, but with an especially brutal war that has, according to Human Rights Watch, sparked the “world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with 14 million people at risk of starvation and repeated outbreaks of deadly diseases like cholera.” (Human Rights Watch)

Against this backdrop, I conducted a peace journalism seminar last Thursday and Friday for 13 journalists from Mukalla in Southern Yemen, an area which has not been spared the ravages of war. According to one of the seminar’s organizers, in Mukalla,  “a half million people live in extreme poverty, and in the city streets beggars are searching for food in garbage, while sewage has floated in open drains, causing environmental pollution and spreading many diseases.”

In a normal year, due to the ongoing war, the seminar would have been conducted in person in a neighboring country like Oman or UAE. But we know 2020 is anything but normal, and thus, the seminar was held via Zoom.

I presented information about the fundamentals of peace journalism. The principles of giving voice to the voiceless and rejecting ‘us vs. them’ narratives were especially salient for the participants. We discussed if peace journalism is widely practiced in Yemen. According to the journalist participants, it is not. We also reviewed the Atlantic Council’s assessment of Yemeni media, and they agreed with the journalist who told the Atlantic Council that “polarization in Yemeni media has never been this high. The problem is that there is no room for a middle ground. On one hand, Houthis (one of the warring parties) allow press only if it is biased in favor of them, as does the Yemeni exiled-government. All that you have in Yemen now is propaganda and each side can support you, only if you abide by their propaganda.”

Asked to present tips on how Yemeni media could practice peace journalism, the participants shared ideas like listening to all parties; double checking sources; including discussions of peace; interviewing “everyone”; concentrating on truth and not rumors; and developing more training in peace journalism techniques. The participants also agreed that they have a vital role to play when it comes to curating social media for their audiences--to “check sources, look for the truth, and listen to all parties,” in the words of one participant.

The seminar closed with break-out session conversations about Peace Radio, a new community radio station dedicated to peace and peace programming that will begin broadcasting later this year in Southern Yemen. The journalists were excited about the potential of Peace Radio, believing it will help in changing perceptions about the conflict. The participants said Peace Radio will  be an especially useful platform for giving voice to all parties in the conflict, and for giving a voice to the voiceless, especially women.

I closed the seminar by pledging my support and advice as Peace Radio moves forward. I’m hopeful that when the fog of Covid-19 finally lifts, I’ll get a chance to meet my Yemeni colleagues in person.

 

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Why can't banks take 'haircut' of petty dues of farmers?

Lakshminarayan is a farmer from Shimoga in Karnataka. He had taken a loan of Rs 35,000 from a local branch of Canara Bank. About a month ago, he received a threatening call from the bank asking him to pay back the pending dues or they will be forced to initiate action for recovering the amount. Panicked, he decided to rush to the bank, and knowing no bus was available at that time, he walked for 15 kms in a hilly terrain to finally reach the bank.

At the bank, he was told to pay Rs 3.46 of the pending loan amount.

This story is a grim reminder of the double standards the banks have in place when it comes to treating their customers. While the poor often receive inhuman treatment, which forces many of them to either land in jail or to commit suicide, the rich are treated with kid gloves and are allowed to easily get away with the bank itself taking the blow. Take the case of State Bank of India (SBI). According to a news report, the bank had written-off Rs 1.23-lakh crore of corporate bad loans in the past eight years. Despite we being told that technically speaking a bank write-off is not a loan waiver and the recovery process continues, all that the bank has been able to recover in these eight years is Rs 8,969-crores which come to a little over 7 per cent of the outstanding credit.

The biggest defaulters in this particular case being Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd with a outstanding loan of Rs 7,705-crore and Videocon Industries Ltd with pending dues of Rs 3,411-crore. As per an RTI reply, both the companies had failed to pay back even a single penny. In fact, out of the 56 borrowers, the list that was made available, the recovery from 36 companies was zero. For a balance of Rs 3.46 a farmer was asked to come to the bank and pay it up, but what happened to the 36 companies from whom SBI failed to recover even a penny?

Another news report, based on an RTI reply, had revealed that only 10 per cent of the bank loans written-off in four years, between 2015-16 and 2018-19 have been recovered. Out of a total of Rs 4,32,584 written-off in these four years, public sector banks could recover only Rs 45,659-crore. If 7 to 10 per cent of the total amount that is eventually what the banks are able to recover, the question that arises is why are banks trying to give an impression as if the write-offs of corporate debt is in any way different from the farm loan waiver? Using the ‘technical’ difference between a write-off and waiver banks have always maintained that writing-off bad loans does not mean that the recovery proceedings have stopped is in reality a very clever smoke-screen that is enacted to cover up the massive corporate defaults.

Strangely, this ‘technical’ cover up became a banking tradition over a period of time. But prior to that the RBI had in a circular issued to banks advised them to refrain from the practice. “Banks are required to extinguish all available means of recovery before writing off any account fully or partly. It is observed that some banks are resorting to technical write-off of accounts, which reduces incentives to recover. Banks resorting to partial and technical write-offs should not show the remaining part of the loan as standard asset.” Probably to cover its own lapses, banks have routinely been claiming that the write-off is simply a shift of the accounts from one ledger to another while the recovery goes on. But many banking experts believe that when bad loans are written-off banks actually remove the assets from the balance sheets knowing well they have lost all hope from recovering anything. 

This brings up a question. Why the banks should not be asked to first clear all options of recovery before announcing a write-off? Why deliberately create confusion in the minds of the people (as well as policy makers) by presenting a misleading picture of bank profits position by pushing the losses in a separate ledger? This is a mischievous practice and needs to be discontinued. I think the RBI needs to come heavily against the banks for this deliberate cover-up. But instead, banks are exerting pressure to set up a bad bank that takes care of the bad loans. Which means instead of addressing the fundamental reasons behind the malaise of increasing bad loans, banks are wanting another cover-up. Setting up a bad bank, in my opinion, is a bad idea.

In April, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) informed that Rs 68,067-crore which were due from 50 wilful defaulters over the years has been written-off by nationalised banks. Many absconding businessmen, including the diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, are among them. Wilful defaulters are those who have the ability to pay back but don’t do so. Many banking experts have called for launching criminal proceedings against them, but it hasn’t been ever done. All India Banking Employees Association general secretary C H Venkatachalam was earlier quoted in media reports, saying: “It is known that bulk of these bad loans are attributable to big businesses and the affluent. Many cases of default are found to be deliberate, wilful and on account of diversion of funds. Unfortunately bank loan default is still a civil offence and hence criminal proceedings are not being instituted against them.”

Launching criminal proceedings against the wilful defaulters should be first step to stop banks being duped heavily by the rich and powerful. I wonder why the farmers continue to be penalised for petty loan defaults, while the rich get away so easily. If banks can take ‘haircut’ for thousands of crores of company defaults, I wonder why the banks can’t in general, and in this case Canara Bank in particular, take a ‘haircut’ of Rs 3.46? Why make a poor farmer travel all the way, spend a day’s hard labour, for just depositing a petty amount? When will the banks become a little sensible? #

Games Banks Play. Orissa Post. July 24, 2020
https://www.orissapost.com/games-banks-play/

कर्ज वसूली में दोहरा मानदंड, बता रहे हैं देविंदर शर्मा. Amar Ujala, July 23, 2020
https://www.amarujala.com/columns/opinion/double-standards-in-debt-collection-by-banks

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Is peace journalism possible during a war?
Is peace journalism possible in the middle of a war?

This will be the first of many questions I’ll be asking reporters from Mukalla, Yemen tomorrow and Friday during our Introduction to Peace Journalism seminar, to be presented on Zoom. I’ve seen peace journalism succeed in many post conflict situations, but am curious to hear the journalists’ viewpoint on the role of PJ in building peace during an ongoing war.

For the uninitiated, there has been a brutal war raging in Yemen for the last five years. (See this BBC primer for details). The war has led to arguably the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. According to Human Rights Watch, “The UN considers Yemen to be the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with 14 million people at risk of starvation and repeated outbreaks of deadly diseases like cholera. This crisis is linked to the armed conflict. The Saudi-led coalition's restrictions on imports have worsened the dire humanitarian situation.” 

In Mukalla in Southern Yemen, one of the seminar’s organizers described his city as one where “a half million people live in extreme poverty, and in the city streets beggars are searching for food in garbage, while sewage has floated in open drains, causing environmental pollution and spreading many diseases.” At least there is currently no fighting in the Mukalla region.

Against this discouraging backdrop, can peace journalism make a difference? I’ll have a better answer in a few days.

UPDATE
As I was posting this, I got a message from my Yemeni seminar organizer that is a reminder of yet another problem in the country—poor Internet. My friend writes,  “We are fine but unfortunately ,due to  the depression (storm) off the eastern coast of Yemen, the (communications) cable (for the) AL Mahra Governorate was cut off, which led to the suspension of internet service…I hope that this sudden and urgent matter does not delay the training date .Now 14 of 16 participants  all of them do not have the internet, including me, so I called  my friend in India to send this  message.”

I will keep you all posted.

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A Rethinking in Economics is Urgently Needed.

This biased economic thinking has to change. While farm loan waiver is despised at, corporate bad debt write-off is believed to lead to economic growth ! 

Former US Labour Secretary Robert Reich tweeted the other day: “America’s richest 1 per cent now owns half the value of the US stock market. The richest 10 per cent own 92 percent. So when Trump says the stock market is the economy, know who he’s really talking about.” Well, Trump is not the only head of a State, who believes that a booming stock market is a reflection of the state of the economy, the list of such leaders is pretty long. This shows how effectively credit rating agencies have drilled the idea into our minds.

Even on a day when India’s Finance Minister rises to present the annual budget all eyes are on the stock markets. When in Sept last, Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures to build up domestic demand at times of a slowdown; she presented a tax concession bonanza of Rs 1.45-lakh crore to the industry, reducing the basic corporate tax rate to 22 per cent, the celebrations next day were observed on the stock markets. Shares jumped by as much as 5 per cent, the highest in 10 years as some media reports indicated. If only the same amount had been allocated for providing more money into the hands of the poor, stock markets would have remained subdued but perhaps more demand could have been generated thereby refuelling the economy.

Even now, when globally the pandemic has left economies bleeding, the stock markets are on a Bull Run prompting Nobel laureate Paul Krugman to say there is something terribly going wrong. This is also evident from the fact that the top 614 of America’s billionaires increased their wealth by over $ 584 billion between Mar 18 and June 17 while more than 45.5 million Americans joined the unemployment queue in the same period. While, much of the wealth increase is related to the Wall Street, economic bailouts and stimulus packages have helped transfer more money into the pockets of the stinking rich. On top of it, is the ‘printing’ of surplus money in the form of Quantitative Easing (QE). According to Fitch Ratings, global QE asset purchases are expected to touch $ 6 trillion in 2020. By bolstering the financial and property markets, this helps the rich become richer. But rarely have I seen the universities deliberating on the need to make QE work for the people. Why does it invariably fail to become part of the economics curricula or be a part of media debates is beyond my understanding?

In India, while the industry is lobbying hard to seek further tax concessions to the tune of Rs 2.50-lakh crore by bringing the corporate tax slab to a low of 15 per cent, an Oxfam study had earlier pointed to a creation of 117 million jobs if the richest 1 per cent globally were to be made to pay an additional tax of just 0.5 per cent over the next ten years. If we look at it economically, this makes terrific sense. To promote inclusive and sustainable growth, UNCSD tells us that creating employment and decent job opportunities will ultimately drive progress. But then why mainline economists have invariably failed to demand imposition of a slightly higher corporate tax if it could lead to such huge employment opportunities, still continues to baffle me.

In the past 30 years, says Bernie Sanders, the wealth of top 1 percent has gone up by $ 22.65 trillion, while the wealth of bottom 50 percent has gone down by $776 billion. “This growing wealth inequality is morally obscene,” he regretted. Inequality is not only related to wealth accumulation, but also stems for an ideological bias. In India, a former Chief Economic Advisor had once said that writing-off corporate bad loans leads to economic growth. The question that wasn’t asked is how come when both the corporate and farmers draw loans from the same banks, writing-off of corporate bad debt leads to economic growth whereas farm loan waiver upsets the national balance sheet? Similarly, why should nations continue to blindly pursue the outdated economic theory that workforce from agriculture needs to be shifted to the urban centres, primarily to ensure that companies don’t have to pay higher wages? Is it not a reflection of an ideological position?

Similarly, why is that any additional investment in agriculture, public health and education is seen as a drag on the economy? For instance, why is it that a sledge hammer blow of a pandemic made the government realise the importance of public health. “The public sector has an inescapable obligation towards health. The private sector alone cannot fulfil it. Of course, there will be public-private partnerships. Over the next five years, the Centre alone should be able to at least spend 2.1 per cent of the GDP on health,” N K Singh, chairman of the 15^th Finance Commission recently said. Whatever the reason, even in normal times the emphasis on public health should not have diminished. But if only the reports of the finance commission for instance were deliberated and hotly debated in the class rooms will the future economists not get a peep into how our financial policies lays the framework for declining public sector investments in social sectors, and also lead to the kind of stark socio-economic inequalities.

Still, the bigger lesson is that if Britain can spend 9.6 per cent of its GDP on public health, why should India not try to catch up with at least 6 per cent to begin with? Why should public sector investment in agriculture continue to hover around 0.4 per cent of the GDP (between 2011-12 and 2017-18) when the sector employs roughly 50 per cent population? Why should the poor continue to live on the margins while the rich are routinely provided with massive bank write-offs, tax cuts and subsidies packed in the name of incentives for growth? Why should we have socialism for the rich, and leave poor to the market forces? Why should growth economics come in conflict with nature?     

These are not difficult questions, but need a rethinking in economics. #

Incentives for the rich, raw deal for the poor. The Tribune. July 13, 2020

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/incentives-for-the-rich-raw-deal-for-the-poor-112198?fbclid=IwAR2Ih8KFiZ2oQluyebEEYjktGfixk19VaH28aXx-8lBEjcfdA0qMAncAV-g 

READ MORE - A Rethinking in Economics is Urgently Needed.

School Suspension Or Expulsion For Bullying

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995

Do you remember the school bully?  Or, maybe you have seen movie depictions such as the red haired youth with his raccoon fur hat who terrorizes the main character, Ralphie, in A Christmas Story.  Bullying can occur anywhere in schools: in the classroom, in the bathroom, in the office, behind a building, on a field trip, on the way to or from school -- wherever students interact.  Bullying conduct, or actions that someone says are bullying, may result in a student being suspended or expelled. 

Per California Education Code section 48900(r), students who bully can be removed from school. Bullying is defined generally as:

[A]ny severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or by means of an electronic act ...that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one ore more of the following [on a "reasonable pupil"]: 

1)  Places the student in fear of harm (for themselves or their property).

2)  Has a "substantially detrimental effect" to the student's physical or mental health.

3)  Causes substantial interference with the student's academic performance.

4)  Causes substantial interference with the student participating in or benefiting from "the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school. [information summarized not quoted]

When implemented, the legislature did attempt to limit the application of this statute to require "substantial" interference in three out of four of the categories.  However, they did not provide a definition as far as what amounts to "substantial interference," nor explain what a "substantially detrimental effect" to a reasonable student might be.  

The overbroadness of this statute means that practically anything can come under the "bullying" heading as many things kids do could put almost anyone "in fear of harm." 

Unfortunately, when disciplining students, schools require a low level of proof that an offense has occurred.  He who speaks first is believed.  And it does not help matters that expulsion hearings are usually in front of a panel of hand-picked District employees who will hear and decide on the matter.

The many ways actual and perceived bullying can manifest in school would be a good topic to go over with kids, so they can avoid a suspension or expulsion, as well as report bullying if seen to start the mandated investigation of process so they can help prevent it.  If you find your child being punished for "bullying," don't fear: with a thorough review of the legal codes and evidence, you just may show no bullying actually occurred. 

Best,

Michelle Ball

Education Law Attorney 

LAW OFFICE OF MICHELLE BALL 

717 K Street, Suite 228 

Sacramento, CA 95814 

Phone: 916-444-9064 

Email:help@edlaw4students.com 

Fax: 916-444-1209

Website, Blog, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook

Please see my disclaimer on the bottom of my blog page. This is legal information, not legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed by this posting, etc. etc.!  This blog may not be reproduced without permission from the author and proper attribution of authorship. This blog may not reflect the current state of the law.

Originally published on August 27, 2012, updated July 15, 2020

[This communication may be considered a communication/solicitation for services]

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Virtual PJ seminars to serve Yemen, Sudan, and KC
As it became clear that Covid-19 was pretty much going to cancel or postpone everything, I was seized with the awful thought that, at least until the end of the pandemic, I would be unable to continue my peace journalism work.

I was disabused of this notion in about 15 minutes.

While it’s true that I’ve had a bucket full of postponements, it’s equally true that I continue to work on peace journalism projects remotely. For example:

Yemen peace journalism seminars—I will be giving a series of two peace journalism seminars to journalists from Mukalla, Yemen in late July. I’m working with the Peace Journalism Platform there as well as a group of journalists who are in the process of launching a community radio station simply called, Peace Radio. I expect about 20 participants on Zoom. As you know, Yemen has been devastated by war since 2015. I’m hoping that our PJ project may in some small way contribute to a more peaceful country.

Sudan peace journalism project—The project, done in conjunction with the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, will begin with a three day virtual workshop in early August. I’ll be going over the basics of PJ, including coverage of refugees and terrorism, both important topics in Sudan. It’s hoped this Zoom seminar will be followed up by one or several face to face workshops in Khartoum. Of course, that depends on Covid.

Kansas City Media Literacy Project—I received a Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund Rapid Response award from the U.S. Department of State to fund a project titled, “Media Literacy for Students: Lessons from Covid-19.”

The project will take place in the greater Kansas City area. It will utilize virtual seminars and projects to educate and inform students about our society’s information challenges as illustrated by disinformation about Covid-19, civil rights protests, and other current issues. The first virtual seminars will be held in September 2020, followed by the creation of a student-produced magazine and podcast discussing and analyzing media. The project will culminate with a Zoom media literacy summit in January, 2021.

Stay tuned to this space for details about each event.

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Do You Want Your Kids To Go Back To In-Person Education This Fall? Call, Write, Email, Contact Your District And School To Express Your Opinion

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995

Have you been on edge not knowing if your kids will actually get an in-person education this fall due to the Coronavirus fears?  The not knowing is difficult.  Parents need to get back to work, but how can they work if their kids are at home?  And, are kids REALLY being educated if they are getting a couple hours of classes a week online?  What are they doing the rest of the day?  What can we do and what must we do if we want schools to reopen?  It's time to communicate. 

Although there are some charter home schools already set up for great distance learning which anyone can sign up for, most parents want their kids in a physical school, even now.  Yet the education of our kids has largely been thrown to the side of the road and crushed by Coronavirus.  Now kids are not getting enough education or interaction, and are isolated and alone.

The California Constitution makes education an essential right, as outlined in Article IX which states:

Section 1

A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, the Legislature shall encourage by all suitable means the promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral, and agricultural improvement.

Section 5

The Legislature shall provide for a system of common schools by which a free school shall be kept up and supported in each district at least six months in every year, after the first year in which a school has been established.

For months we have been waiting to see what would be decided by the authorities, and if school would reopen.  Would our right to an education, as outlined in the California Constitution, be returned?  It depends on where you live and who is in charge.

I have heard from parents who have received the glorious notification that their kids have a school to go back to (if they want to send them), such as in Placer County, or in Lodi, California.  I have also spoken to parents who were told no physical school was to begin, like in Los Angeles and San Diego.  These parents scratch their heads and say that this is impossible as they have young kids who cannot be left home, and that they are not equipped to teach them.  

One family I know has a First Responder parent who has to work and who cannot watch the children, let alone educate them.  This same family informed me that their District said that they had not been contacted by parents on the issue of reopening and as a result had concluded parents were indifferent to whether schools reopened for in-person education or not.  Hardly!  Parents care!  Surveys have found that the majority of parents want their kids to return to full time face-to-face school, or at least want the choice whether they do or they don't.

Ultimately, parents ALWAYS had the choice of whether to send their kids to in-person school or not, ever prior to Coronavirus.  Parents can enroll their kids in independent study, put them in a free charter school, create a private home school, or have students attend classes in the community part time with a home/class hybrid.  We did not need Coronavirus to have these options.  Parents do not need to be forced to keep their kids home- they can decide themselves, so long as the options are available to them.  Even if schools simply reopened, all parents could still keep their kids home to pursue alternative education options if they so desired, regardless.

If parents want kids to return or at least to have the option to return, it may be time to politely and reasonably contact the local school districts, the principals, our teachers, our congresspeople, the Governor, the State Superintendent of Education, the local newspaper and anyone else who may have a say in this, and let them know.  Perhaps with enough voices, we can get the hesitant school districts to just get the job done already, after months of knowing this day was coming- to get distancing in place, to get the masks and hand sanitizer dispersed, staggered breaks set up, and get our kids back to life and learning.  It is likely a large chunk of parents won't return their kids regardless, which means less crowding anyway for the rest of the kids.

Parents have more power than they think, but only if they exercise their right to be heard and express themselves.  If schools and government officials are only hearing from teachers unions and government officials on this, kids may be at home until they are 18 and even into college with the way things are going.  Kids will always get sick, whether it's from Coronavirus, the flu, or some other bug out there, but the harm from isolation and internet all day also poses a threat to our kids and their future.  How are other countries doing this, but the USA cannot?  We can do it also.

It's time for some grass roots parent-driven advocacy.  There are millions of parents in this state and I would say that is enough to make an impression on school officials if the respectful noise is loud enough.

Best,

Michelle Ball

Education Law Attorney 

LAW OFFICE OF MICHELLE BALL 

717 K Street, Suite 228 

Sacramento, CA 95814 

Phone: 916-444-9064 

Email:help@edlaw4students.com 

Fax: 916-444-1209

Website, Blog, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook

Please see my disclaimer on the bottom of my blog page. This is legal information, not legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed by this posting, etc. etc.!  This blog may not be reproduced without permission from the author and proper attribution of authorship. This blog may not reflect the current state of the law.

READ MORE - Do You Want Your Kids To Go Back To In-Person Education This Fall? Call, Write, Email, Contact Your District And School To Express Your Opinion

Special Education After Coronavirus- Steps To Take To Try To Recoup Services And Regain Lost Skills

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995

As the months of Coronavirus destruction of life as we know it roll on, it is clear that not only have lives  been destroyed, but also that the educational lives of our children have been crushed.  This is especially true for special needs kids, who have been shoved home and largely forgotten about as far as the level of support they may need to access and advance in their education.  With the fall approaching, and some schools reopening for physical classes, or a hybrid model of in-class instruction and online school, it is time to think about how to recover from the near-destruction of special education services this past time period.

Although no one has the answers on Coronavirus, what will happen, what may happen, and what parents may be entitled to in the future after a denial of their legally-mandated special education services, there are a few things that parents may want to do:

1)  Review their child's IEP (Individualized Education Program) and/or 504 Plan document and list out all the services the child should have been receiving and the dates those services stopped.

For example, if a student was to be receiving 30 minutes per week of speech and language services, this should be noted down.  Did they also lose out on a specialized classroom, or behavior instruction?  Put it all down.  Note when the service should have continued through (e.g. May 31, 2020) and when it actually stopped (e.g. March 15, 2020).

2)  List out all the services that were missed.  

On the speech and language example, if a student had no speech and language from March 15 through May 31, 2020, the student should have received approximately 11 sessions of speech and language, for a total of 5.5 hours of service. 

3) Figure out what services were actually provided, albeit via distance learning.

4) List out all the goals that the student was working on for all areas and see if there are any updates on their progress on the goals from service providers or the school.  Some schools provide zero quarterly updates, and some provide periodic updates listing the status of the goals.  Parents need to know what the goals in place are and where the student is on accomplishing their goals, if possible.  It may be tough to really determine where a student is on a goal, however, if they have not been in school.  Parents can only do their best.

5)  Gather all the work the student did, as well as all email or other communication between the family and school or providers about the child during the Coronavirus exclusion, and get them into date order so it can be clearly seen what was represented would be provided, or not provided, and what was actually provided.

6)  Pull up the child's report card and lists of assignments for each class, showing points awarded and points possible during the last semester and see what the student was assigned, what they actually turned in and the points they received.  Do the points they received evidence the student was at the level they are supposed to be?  Often lists of points tell a story about the student, their weak and strong areas, and their trouble spots.

These actions should give parents a good understanding of what was supposed to be provided, what was actually provided, and where the student may be as far as learning and goals.  

There is a question on special education and what parents and students will be entitled to when they return to school or if schools will just get out of their obligations due to Coronavirus.  It is uncertain, but needs to be approached by parents if they want to have a chance to recoup.  Things will go faster for parents if schools will physically reopen versus remaining on virtual learning, simply due to the mechanics of services being delivered.  

Parents should attempt to determine what may be needed to bring the student up to where they would have been had school been in session.  Services to accomplish this goal should then be sought.  This is hard to quantify, but parents may want to bring the literal hours missed to the school first (e.g. they missed 5.5 hours of speech) as a starting point.  However, school districts don't necessarily have to provide hour for hour make-up time.  

Ultimately, what may be required if the schools don't get out of this obligation due to a health emergency, are services to bring the student up to where they would have been had this debacle not occured.  This is hard to evaluate and it is possible outside experts may have to be brought in to determine this (e.g. a licensed speech and language therapist).  Services provided to make up loss may be in a smaller or larger amount than what should have been provided had schools remained open.  Services are really based on what the student needs to be brought whole again.  These services are sometimes called "compensatory" services, as they compensate a family for lost education.

In its "Fact Sheet:Addressing the Risk of COVID-19 in SchoolsWhile Protecting the Civil Rights of Students" released March 16, 2020, the United States Department of Education wrote in discussing the special ed issues from Coronavirus: 

The Department understands that there may be exceptional circumstances that could affect how a particular service is provided. If a student does not receive services after an extended period of time, the student’s IEP Team, or appropriate personnel under Section 504, must make an individualized determination whether and to what extent compensatory services are needed consistent with the respective applicable requirements, including to make up for any skills that may have been lost.  

[emphasis added]

This appears to confirm an affirmative obligation of schools to act to provide compensatory services to students who lost skills during this time.  Offering compensatory services has started happening outside California, for example in Louisiana where the state is taking a proactive approach.  I am not sure that California schools will take on this issue or offer compensatory services without being asked by parents first. 

How hard the districts fight or if they are able to wiggle out of compensatory services is yet to be seen.

Regardless, parents need to start looking at this and take action if they want to help their children regain any skills lost during the Coronavirus school shutdown.  

Best,

Michelle Ball

Education Law Attorney 

LAW OFFICE OF MICHELLE BALL 

717 K Street, Suite 228 

Sacramento, CA 95814 

Phone: 916-444-9064 

Email:help@edlaw4students.com 

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