Debbie, Joyce, and Sherri went down to Osage Beach to protest DESE choosing Lee's Summit to present their autism program.
The temperature was 102 and the heat index was something like 115. It was a very long day. We sat out in the sun with our 3 foot by 10 foot banner that stated, "Lee's Summit R-7 and Mo Dept of Education are leaving our autistic children behind." We had about 10 people stop and talk to us. Most were parents of children with autism. One was a special education director from another school district. He wanted to know what changes we would like to see made.
We felt that it was productive. We calculated the number of cars that went by every minute. There were 55 per minute. Many cars honked and waved. We also received a lot of thumbs up. We did receive one thumbs down, but it was a car coming from Tan Tar A and we must assume that he was a school administrator.
We feel that we got our message out and it was worth the six hours sitting in the heat and sun. We would like to do something similar in Jefferson City and would like to have a LOT more people come out for that. We understand that everyone is busy and their lives are complicated, but numbers speak and it will take more than the three of us to make a stand. At some point, everyone involved will just start believing that there are only three people that are unhappy.
So, please consider coming out and making a stand with us. Our children's lives depend on it.