I have been in the school biz for over a decade.  Wow.  That’s a long time!  And before that I was deep in the school game.  I went to grammar school, preparatory high school, university and two versions of graduate school (JD, MA).  I don’t list this all out to be self-important, but to underscore the fact that I am not a new teacher or lawyer who is shocked easily.  In fact, it can be argued that lawyers and teachers are exposed to so much they are some of the least shockable professions.  Again, not to stand on circumstance, but it takes a lot to shock me.  Now as an advocate, I unfortunately live in a realm of non-stop disappointment.  Don’t feel badly for me, though, with non-stop disappointment in the infrastructure of school, I also get to live in a world of amazing hope. Every day I get to witness both the shackles of bureaucracy and overwork and the magic of the human spirit, which makes those wins so much greater. The advocate life is for me, as I am well-equipped professionally and emotionally to deal with the rigors and upset of these broken systems and equally elated by the joys of success.

I wish the story would end there, with the mostly unsurprising disappointment in our beloved institutions and joy of success against administrative entanglement.  Unfortunately I have to tell you about the rare time where I am shocked.  Yes, I still get shocked at least once a month by the audacity of some mistreatment.  As a lawyer who litigated administrative and educational law cases for a number of years, shock doesn’t come for the illegal or clearly negligent things.  While those still happen and are incredibly unfortunate, they can be more easily solved.  The situations I hate the most and I find truly shocking are those that involve an element of gaslighting and obstruction for no apparent reason.  Where a school is being unfeeling and uncooperative for no apparent reason, I am shocked.

Katie, you still get shocked? YES! I do.  I get shocked, flabbergasted, gobsmacked, irritated, irate and end up saying:

Dudes (or dudettes as the situation implies), why are you doing this to this poor student?  Why are you forcing him or her to grow up and relentlessly fight before his/her time?