The teacher's union is too powerful, and the School Board is failing to look after the needs of the students. Parents are afraid to rock the boat because they fear subtle retaliation from teachers and schools. The schools exist to educate students, not to provide employment for teachers. Until parents organize and exercise power, students will suffer.

Thank you Almanac for highlighting this issue. My daughter is 17 and has Down syndrome. She has faired okay relative to many special needs students with more severe needs, and only because we were able to provide an aide for her at home. My heart breaks for the families that have not been as fortunate -- the majority. I've been horrified over the past year that SUSD was not able to find an in-person solution for this relatively small group of students on their large campuses. It would have been absolutely possible to follow CDC social distance guidelines given the numbers, and not doing so is nothing short of neglect, and an incredible injustice. It's hard to put into words how this has impacted these families on a day-to-day basis. I wish union leaders could spend even one day in these parent's shoes, let alone an entire year. Most students are back at least 2 days a week at this point, but it is still not enough.

I agree that students with IEPs did not have their legal obligations met during this challenging time. A full year? I understand going virtual in the beginning, but to stay virtual for a full year is just plain criminal. The teachers union and its leadership need to be revamped now that they are an obstacle to schools providing education. Lawsuits wouldn't have been necessary if the schools made an effort to bring at-risk populations on campus. We just chose to go private. Anyone that can afford to will too. It's so unfortunate as everyone deserves an equal education.

I fully support these parents' efforts to get their kids the education they need and deserve. Most schools across our State have largely failed children over the past year plus. While all children should have the opportunity to have a meaningful in-person education, the children featured in this article rise to the top of our youth that most need the consistency and support that in-person schooling provides. These parents are incredible advocates for their kids, but that advocacy shouldn't have been required.

I have had the same problems with our children's IEPs (I have two - one in SUHSD one in middle school). My children with IEPs only started attending in person school the week of April 5th. They had no contact with any teacher prior to that time. We have been gaslighted by one teacher's reports our children do not have any needs and are on grade level and do not need help (and that academic goals in IEPs should be changed or removed). In some ways, their work is probably on grade level because my husband and I are supervising all of it at home. We are reluctant to call IEP meetings because of an inappropriate "amendment" added when we tried to change remote resources that were not working.