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Dan, to the contrary, the parents I have advised in this manner for two decades report good results in getting school districts to back away from illegal restri

Dan, to the contrary, the parents I have advised in this manner for two decades report good results in getting school districts to back away from illegal restrictions on family decisions once the parents show that they know how to ask about the law. Simply asking for a citation when a government official tells you what to do is enormously helpful. (It may be especially helpful here in Minnesota, where for more than twenty years we have had public school open enrollment and a reasonably easy-going homeschooling statute, thus giving parents the power to shop for a school that fits each child in the family.) A local friend of mine has a piece of advice that shows her understanding of the world from being a programmer for a large insurance company rather than a lawyer. As she asked for school accommodations for her four children (now all grown up and in higher education or private employment), when told she couldn't get what her children needed, she would say, "Who do I talk to to get an exception?" She understood very well that schools are bureaucratic organizations, and that all bureaucratic organizations have some higher bureaucrat who can make exceptions to rules. (I think she learned that at the insurance company where she does her programming.) I now add her phrase to my parent talks to supplement the more lawyer-like phrase that I mentioned in my first comment in this thread.

DanBC 14y ago
> when told she couldn't get what her children needed, she would say, "Who do I talk to to get an exception?" She understood very well that schools are bureaucratic organizations, and that all bureaucratic organizations have some higher bureaucrat who can make exceptions to rules. That's excellent advice, and it's something I quite often. "I don't know your system, and so I don't know who to ask or what questions to ask. What do you suggest?" turns unhelpful conversations into productive discussion. In the UK there has been some problem with photographing your children at school events. Schools claim compliance with a variety of laws, but the reality is they just don't want people taking photographs. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jun/23/photos-children-school-ban http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jun/23/photos-ch...) (http://dpnow.com/7640.html http://dpnow.com/7640.html) > But only recently news emerged of a parent who, in 2007, was threatened with arrest by police as he arrived at his daughter's school if he proceeded to break the school's ban on photography at a nativity play. The same school in Leicestershire still has the ban in place, although photographs can be taken after the performance is completed. This follows a weird restriction on photography in public in general in the UK. Youtube has many videos of people being told by police to stop taking photographs in public. This has been such a problem that one police service had to issue updated guidance. (http://www.met.police.uk/about/photography.htm http://www.met.police.uk/about/photography.htm)

DanBC 14y ago

> when told she couldn't get what her children needed, she would say, "Who do I talk to to get an exception?" She understood very well that schools are bureaucratic organizations, and that all bureaucratic organizations have some higher bureaucrat who can make exceptions to rules. That's excellent advice, and it's something I quite often. "I don't know your system, and so I don't know who to ask or what questions to ask. What do you suggest?" turns unhelpful conversations into productive discussion. In the UK there has been some problem with photographing your children at school events. Schools claim compliance with a variety of laws, but the reality is they just don't want people taking photographs. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jun/23/photos-children-school-ban http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jun/23/photos-ch...) (http://dpnow.com/7640.html http://dpnow.com/7640.html) > But only recently news emerged of a parent who, in 2007, was threatened with arrest by police as he arrived at his daughter's school if he proceeded to break the school's ban on photography at a nativity play. The same school in Leicestershire still has the ban in place, although photographs can be taken after the performance is completed. This follows a weird restriction on photography in public in general in the UK. Youtube has many videos of people being told by police to stop taking photographs in public. This has been such a problem that one police service had to issue updated guidance. (http://www.met.police.uk/about/photography.htm http://www.met.police.uk/about/photography.htm)