Ask the Advocate: Cell Phones, Resource Minutes, ESY, STAR Test & Tough IEP Questions

What happens when a school tries to take away a diabetic student’s cell phone used for monitoring? Or when IEP goals are written at only the 20th percentile? Or when districts “table” evaluation requests for months?

In this Ask the Advocate episode, Karen Mayer Cunningham—The Special Education Boss®—answers rapid-fire questions from parents and teachers, bringing clarity, humor, and straight talk to situations families face every day.

✨ In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why every child with diabetes needs an IEP and what travel training goals can look like.
• The truth about teachers acting as “advocates” and what’s legal vs. risky.
• How to file systemic complaints when paraprofessionals are pulled and minutes aren’t met.
• Why a goal at 20% fluency is never okay—and what baselines and progress monitoring should include.
• ESY: why the expectation is to maintain gains, not start from scratch.
• STAR testing: why it’s more about money than education (and why “nobody cares” about your score).
• “Homebound as needed”: what it does—and does not—mean.
• PWN: when you should demand it (spoiler: almost always).
• Why LRE is not synonymous with gen ed—and how to reframe the conversation.
• What to do if a teacher withholds food from your child (and why it’s never acceptable).

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“When we get it right for the child, we get it right for everybody.” — Karen Mayer Cunningham