Walker
Resigns Post Amidst Special Ed Controversy |
By Lookout Staff
May 2 -- Deputy Superintendent Tim Walker, who is at the
center of a firestorm over special education settlement agreements,
has resigned his post under a settlement with the District approved
by the School Board Thursday.
Under the settlement, the District agreed to pay Walker $193,000
for all salary and benefits in the final year of his three year
contract. As a part of the settlement, Walker submitted his resignation
effective June 30.
“After over three years of dedicated service to the Santa
Monica-Malibu Unified School District, I find that it is time for
me to pursue other opportunities and part ways with an organization
that has been a very important piece of my life,” Walker wrote
in his resignation letter.
“I value the incredible employees of the District that I
have had the pleasure to work with,” he wrote. “They
are committed to making a difference in the lives of children every
day.”
Superintendent Dianne Talarico issued a statement Friday thanking
Walker “for his leadership, his compassion, and his commitment
to helping the teachers and children of our District.”
Talarico said she is developing a new organizational structure
she will announce “in the near future.”
Malibu parents came to Walker’s defense at Thursday’s
board meeting in the coastal city, attacking the board for its decision,
according to a report in the Malibu Times. Kathy Wisnicki,
the only Malibu resident on the seven-member board, abstained in
the 6 to 0 vote.
Special education parents in Santa Monica applauded the board’s
decision.
“I really am very, very happy that we can now move forward
and bring an end to the culture of marginalizing children who need
special education services and their parents,” said Tricia
Crane, a special education parent who led the reform effort.
The move comes nine days after Talarico asked the City Council
to withhold $530,000 in additional funding to local schools until
the District investigated allegations that some parents may have
been “coerced” into signing confidentially clauses in
their special education agreements and the School Board could approve
reforms. ("Council
Withholds School Funding at District’s Request," April
23, 2008)
City officials said they hope Thursday’s move sends a “positive”
signal.
“If this will help solve the problem and eliminate the confidentialities,
absolutely this is a good decision,” said Mayor Herb Katz.
“It’s a signal they’re doing something. I hope
it’s a positive one.”
Walker was brought in as Assistant Superintendent of Special Education
in 2005 by former superintendent John Deasy, who gave him the task
of curbing escalating special education costs.
The current controversy flared up in June of 2006, when special
ed parents publicly accused Walker of cutting “secret deals”
they said forced parents to sign away their learning disabled children’s
rights without realizing what they were doing. (“Special
Ed Parents Allege ‘Secret Deals,’ June 19, 2006)
During a board meeting, members of the Special Education District
Advisory Committee (SEDAC) lambasted Walker’s practice of
negotiating special education services with parents behind closed
doors, saying the policy circumvented the work of Individual Education
Program (IEP) teams called for by Federal law.
They also said the negotiations failed to leave a paper trail parents
need to hold the district accountable and coerced parents into settling
for less than their children were due.
Walker responded to SEDAC’s charges by describing a multi-tiered
approach to dispute resolution that he said followed guidelines
laid down by State law.
The controversy was fueled five months later when the District
included a similar confidentiality clause in a settlement agreement
with Winston Braham, the School District’s top financial officer,
leading to concern there was a “lack of transparency”
at District headquarters.
In May 2007, special ed parents took their case to the City Council,
which was poised to vote on whether to approve $530,000 in additional
funding for the District. (“Council
Deadlocks on School Funding Increase,” May 25, 2007)
At the meeting, parents complained of “secret deals”
that featured “gag orders” in exchange for extra District
services for students with special needs that went beyond what is
in the student’s individual education plan.
Although he council subsequently approved the funding, the issue
became a stumbling block in a pending vote on the more than $500,00
in additional funds slated for the upcoming school year.
A powerful force at District headquarters, Walker was briefly appointed
Interim Superintendent, in July 2006, also retaining his posts as
Assistant Superintendent of Special Education Services and of Educational
Services.
He assumed his current post as Deputy Superintendent when Talarico
was hired as superintendent later in July 2006.
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