More than 20 years ago, Jennifer was chairing an IEP meeting. During a break, a parent in tears asked her a question she still remembers: “Is my child ever going to leave special education?”
“So I carry that with me,” Jennifer says.
Where Jennifer Mak stands on special education
Jennifer Mak, candidate for Torrance Unified School Board, Trustee Area D, wants every family of a student with special needs to know where to get help, and every student to actually receive the support written into their plan.
- A support system for parents: a comprehensive system so families know where and how to look for help, and what resources and services are available to them.
- Plans that happen in the classroom: students receive the accommodations and modifications their IEP promises, and teachers get the support to provide them.
- Intervene early: when a need first appears, try accommodations and modifications in the classroom right away, and move to a formal assessment if they don’t work.
- Educate parents: door knocking has shown her that many parents don’t know what to ask for, or how.
What that means in practice
An IEP is a promise on paper. Every student in special education has an IEP (Individualized Education Program), a written plan that lists the support the student will get and the goals they are working toward. As a principal, Jennifer Mak chaired IEP meetings, then walked classrooms to see whether those plans were actually happening for each student, and to support the teachers carrying them out.
Accommodations and modifications, in plain terms:
- An accommodation changes how a student learns or shows what they know, like extra time on a test, a seat near the board, or directions read aloud.
- A modification changes what the student is expected to learn or do, like fewer problems or a shorter reading.
Intervening early. When a parent or teacher first notices a child may be struggling, Jennifer Mak’s approach is to act right away: try accommodations and modifications in the classroom first, see whether they work, and move to a formal assessment if they don’t. Before that step, she says, a school should look at the big picture and make sure it has tried every other kind of support.
Door knocking has shown her the need is real. Some parents of students with special needs, she says, “don’t know the what and they don’t know the how.” Her answer is to educate parents and to equip teachers to provide accommodations and modifications.
