I have had so many parents of my students with learning disabilities to call me with their worries over their child going from middle school to high school. I tell them they will have to remain vigilant.

A child's Individual Education Plan or 504 Plan is a very legal document and must be followed. Some teachers are most sincerely interested in teaching all students and some are much less interested in whether or not all students are learning.

Perhaps if enough parents voiced their concerns that their child is failing because accomodations are not given as stated on that child's IEP or 504 Plan, someone would get the message and some changes would be made.

For me, as a parent, it meant meetings upon meetings in order for some of the school personnel to fully understand not only what my son's 504 plan meant, but truly, why he needed one.

We, at home with our children, see their hopes and dreams destroyed or nurtured while in school. We are up with them when they are crying into the night. We are there for all the times they wish they could die because they feel like such a loser. It is difficult for teachers and principals to know the real, deep needs of a child unless they have their own personal experiences.

Parents, therefore, must be proactive at all times. They are our children and they deserve the very best education they can get.