Tell Legislators to Save Services for Pre-School Children with Disabilities
The Maine Legislature has voted to advance legislation (LR 2686) that would eliminate Child Development Services (CDS) positions for specialists that treat 3 to 5 year olds with disabilities. The bill would shift these services to local school districts, but without providing a clear funding source. Currently, 340 CDS employees represented by the Maine Service Employees Association (MSEA-SEIU 1989) provide services to young children who are developmentally delayed, have speech and language impairments, on the autism spectrum or have health impairments to help prepare them for K-12 schooling. CDS has offices in Arundel, Augusta, Brewer, Ellsworth, Lewiston, Oxford, Portland, Presque Isle, Rockland and Waterville.
This 11th hour proposal comes at a time when school districts are ill prepared to support preschool-age children with behavioral problems who need specialized instruction because so many schools are facing serious staffing shortages.
“This is a terrible proposal. I would be more inclined to entertain this idea if we had an established pre-school infrastructure, but not now,” said MSEA-SEIU member Colleen Brown of Whiting, an IEP team administrator with CDS. “This is not only setting school districts up for failure, but also our most vulnerable population of children. I’ve seen kids with these conditions get into pre-schools and have terrible first experiences and it adversely affects their entire school careers as a result.”Brown said most schools don’t have teachers with specialized training in this field and they don’t provide a physical space for an early childhood special educator. CDS staff specialize in an early intervention model that is much different from a kindergarten or other teaching certifications. She added that while the proponents of LR 2686 say that the schools can run the program with current education funding, it doesn’t provide funds for extra school space or additional transportation. A better plan would be to just fully fund the current CDS program.“The problem is that it was flat-funded for twelve years and unfortunately, like with every other business, the costs of providing services and the number of clients have increased, but the budget hasn't,” said Brown “They’ve been setting us up to fail because employees have been so underpaid and no one wants to stay working here if they can make more money elsewhere. This is something that I am very passionate about and I will not let this go through without a fight, I can tell you that.”
Stand with CDS workers and oppose this bill that creates uncertainty for Maine Children and Maine workers.