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Special-Education Committee Gets Heat from Parents
By Aysha Hussain
March 26, 2007
Parents of Students With Disabilities Ignored, Report Says
New York public advocate Betsy Gotbaum is urgently calling on the Department of Education to improve how and when the Committees on Special Education (CSE) responds to parents of children with disabilities. Gotbaum began a query after receiving several complaints from parents stating their phone calls were going unanswered. Parents also complained that when they attempted to seek help, voicemail systems were often overfilled and contact information was usually outdated. According to a report detailing these complaints, nearly half of the 400 calls not returned by the CSE were actually made by investigators posing as parents. The report also found that CSE staff members were unable to handle non-English inquiries. Gotbaum is demanding that the Department of Education ensure that calls be returned within five business days by having live operators answer phones during business hours. Read more.
Young Black Pilot Takes Historic Flight
Barrington Irving, 23, never thought he had a chance at becoming a pilot until he came across a Jamaican-American pilot at his parents' bookstore. Irving, Jamaican-born and Miami-raised, hopes to become the first black pilot to fly around the globe completely alone. He has plans to arrive back at Florida's Opa-locka Executive Airport by late April in his self-made, single-engine Lancair Columbia 400. Read more.
Former Oprah Intern Crowned 2007 Miss USA
Donald Trump darling Tara Conner is finally being relieved of her duties as the 2006 Miss USA pageant winner. Will the newly crowned 2007 Miss USA, Rachel Smith, follow Conner in her partying ways? Smith, a journalism graduate from Tennessee, is a former intern on The Oprah Winfrey Show." Read more.
Harlem Boys Choir Founder Dies
Walter Turnbull, founder of the famous Boys Choir of Harlem whose performances ranged from the White House to the Vatican, died last week from health-related problems. Turnbull was 62 years old. He had suffered from a stroke months earlier and had been reeling from a scandal that took place within the confines of the choir. A 15-year-old choirboy had accused Frank Jones Jr., a counselor, of sexually abusing him six years ago. Turnbull was scolded for how he handled the allegations. Read more.
Can the NAACP Reinvent Itself for New Millennium?
Even though the 1909 lynchings of 69 blacks may be a problem of the past, there are several who feel the NAACP still has a long way to go in the fight to reinvent itself. With its leadership in limbo, the organization is still needed on issues such as voting rights, desegregation, job discrimination and police brutality. Leonard Pitts Jr., a writer for the Miami Herald, believes the group must find a way to advance its mission in the new millennium. Pitts says the organization needs to recognize its own mobility by taking better ownership of their mission.
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