Smith keeping eye out for special ed
By Holly Edwards
Staff Writer
Before she sparked a class-action lawsuit that led to sweeping reforms in education, Chanda Smith was a struggling teenager repeatedly denied admission to special education classes despite flunking 10th grade twice.
Ignored by her teachers and persecuted by classmates who viewed her as "dumb," Smith fell into a deep depression.
"I was very shy, and I just wanted to stay secluded from everyone," Smith recalled in an interview last week. "I couldn't understand why the teachers saw I needed help and they didn't want to do anything. Finally I just decided to give up. I didn't even want to live anymore."
Today, almost 10 years after the landmark lawsuit that bears her name was filed, Smith is a 26-year-old mother of three pursuing her dream of becoming a special education teacher.
She is determined to make sure other children with physical or mental disabilities don't suffer the same painful experiences she did.
"Going through all that just made me stronger and more determined to help special ed kids," said Smith, who shares an apartment in downtown Los Angeles with her fiance and three children.
"I still hear people tell parents that their child can't learn, and I know they can. Every child can achieve things if you take the time to work with them with patience and love."
Though Smith still struggles with her verbal skills -- she reads at a sixth-grade level and spells at a second-grade level -- she said she can achieve any goal she chooses.
Smith is enrolled in evening classes in education at Los Angeles Trade Technical College and plans to obtain her teacher's aide certificate next year. She said she will then pursue a degree to become a special education teacher.
By day, Smith works at the Pediatric and Family Center, where she is a teacher's assistant who works with mentally handicapped children ages 3 and under.
"It might take me a little longer, but now I know I can do anything I want. By dedicating my life to children
with special needs, I hope I can help other kids find their own potential."
For Smith, it was the support of her mother, Eliza Thompson, that ultimately pulled her through the difficult years in high school.
"She was always making me big cakes and getting me out of the house for picnics and stuff," Smith said of her mother. "Finally I just started looking at my life differently. I decided that even though I'm a special ed student, I could get something better for myself. I knew my family loved me, so I started having more hope."
A strong-willed woman with her own bad memories of special education programs, Thompson said she was placed in a class of severely mentally handicapped students in elementary school simply because she was a slow reader.
Growing up in a close-knit community in rural South Carolina, Thompson said she was teased by her peers for being in a special education class and dreaded going to school.
When she saw her daughter growing more and more isolated and ashamed in similar circumstances, Thompson said all of her painful childhood memories came rushing back and she decided to take action.
"When I saw the pain in Chanda, I flashed back to all that sadness and embarrassment big time, and I just broke down and cried," recalled Thompson, 43, who lives in a downtown apartment. "I decided I couldn't let that happen to Chanda, and it made me determined to do anything I had to do to fight."
Before filing the lawsuit, Thompson said she repeatedly asked Smith's teachers at Manual Arts High School to retest her daughter for learning disabilities.
Smith said she was studying intently but was unable to understand much of what was discussed in the classroom.
"It was frustrating because I was doing everything I knew how to do, and I was still flunking," Smith recalled.
"My mom would go in there and ask them to help me, but the teachers just said I wasn't trying hard enough."
In 1993, when Smith's teachers wanted to hold her back for a third time in 10th grade, Thompson turned her outrage into action.
With the help of attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, Smith filed a class action lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District signed by thousands of special education students.
As a result of the suit, the district admitted three years later that many of its special education programs were illegal and inadequate. School officials then agreed to sign the Chanda Smith Consent Decree, a
court-mandated order that requires them to comply with all state and federal special education laws.
The district went back to court last year in an attempt to regain control of its special education programs, claiming the decree had pushed the cost of educating the district's 83,000 special education students to over $1 billion.
A Los Angeles federal judge rejected the district's arguments, saying school officials knew what they were getting into when they agreed to abide by the consent decree.
Nancy Franklin, special education coordinator for LAUSD, said the district has tried hard to mainstream more of its special education students because of the consent degree.
"We are making sure kids are placed in the least restrictive environment and support is brought to them," Franklin said.
According to Franklin, 48,000 special education kids have been integrated into general education classes. Of the 35,000 students who attend special day classes, 30,000 are attending them at regular schools. Only 3,600 special education students are going to specialized schools, district officials said. While the decree wrested authority over special education from the school district and placed it in the hands of two independent administrators, it also handed more authority to parent committees.
School officials said they hoped to negotiate with parents to develop plans to revamp special education
programs but have been unable to reach agreements.
After the decree was signed, Smith said she was diagnosed with a learning disability that hinders her ability to process information. The district then paid for her to attend a school for special needs students, Alton School in Cypress.
Smith graduated from the high school in 1998 at the age of 21.
Six years after the decree was put into place, Smith and Thompson said they see small improvements in special education programs in the city. Students with special needs are identified more quickly, they say, and teachers are better trained to educate them.
However, they believe much more needs to be done to educate parents about the importance of early
intervention for children with physical or mental handicaps. And, they said, the district's effort to eliminate many of the decree's requirements show that school officials do not value special education programs.
"They would still rather sweep us all under the rug because it takes time and costs money to educate special ed kids," said Thompson. "They can spend millions of dollars to make sure administrators have their own bathrooms, but what are they doing to help children with special needs learn?"
Never one to sit idly by in the face of a problem, Thompson is now forming a nonprofit organization with her church, Hope Community Church in Los Angeles, called the Chanda Smith Education Alliance.
While the organization will be aimed at improving education for all children, Thompson said there will be an emphasis on helping children with special needs.
"My goal is to bring the family and the school system together, so everyone is involved with what's going with a child," Thompson said. "There are a lot of beaten-down parents who don't know what to do about their child's education."
Smith said her 7-year-old son, Keith, showed signs of a learning disorder before he entered kindergarten. After a few years of tutoring and special help, Smith said her son was able to catch up with his peers and is no longer in a special education class.
Her 5-year-old daughter, Patience, is also showing signs of being a slow reader, and Smith said she is now looking into getting her special help.
Smith's third child, Nicolas, was born Aug. 13.
"When Keith was 1 year old, I knew something was wrong, and that's the way it should be," she said. "If parents are able to identify a problem when their child's young, they can do something about it before their child falls too far behind, and that can make all the difference in a child's life."
Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Daily News
Los Angeles Newspaper Group
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The Chanda Smith Education Alliance is a nonprofit organization aimed at providing support and tutoring for struggling students, and literacy programs for adults who are unable to read. The alliance is seeking volunteers to serve as tutors and donations of office equipment.
For further information, call Eliza Thompson at (323) 758-6671 or e-mail her at ChandaSmithEdAlliance@ParentsDemand.com.