If You Attend This Meeting, You Can Shake Hands with an Intrepid Warrior

If terrorists, heaven forbid, come to Culver City, you will want Amanda Copeland on your team.

For 3 years, this mother of a special needs pre-school child has been trying to gain a full-scale public airing of her ugly, debilitating, intimidation-scarred and never-ending battle with the School District.

I do not know if she is correct in her claims about this complicated case. What she has earned, though, is her day in the public thoroughfare to relate her side.

A Journey Begins

One very dark day last spring, readers of this newspaper briefly were introduced to the case of Ms. Copeland.

“Mother of Special Ed Student Seeks the Ouster of School District Lawyer,” read the headline that immediately — I can hardly exaggerate the time frame — acted like a struck match dropped into a gasoline tank.

What happened in the first minutes after the story was posted probably is not a fit subject for discussion in polite company.

It Was Not Avon Calling

My telephone rang, urgently, practically before I stood up from my desk to stretch. This was the first in a series of breathless calls.

I never have seen a scenario to match it.

Ms. Copeland explained that she is “in a dramatic struggle for my child’s education, therapy and well-being.”

A Mom’s Complaint

The springboard for the story — reviewing the contents of a recent letter she wrote to School District Supt. Dr. Myrna Rivera Cote — was what Ms. Copeland called “the scope and complexity of the relationships and legal issues between parents and school districts” regarding disabled children.

In public forum settings last April, the exasperated mother addressed her complaints to the City Council — where she was received with a dull thud — and to the School Board. She could have worn a winter coat both times to ward off the chill.

Not necessarily a woman of few words, she is a woman of no wasted words. No frills. No shrubbery.

She aims, carefully, then fires — and that is Ms. Copeland’s third admirable quality.

“I know the School District scared you off of helping this family and the community at-large dealing with special ed,” she begins.

I told you she knows how to seize your attention and not let your focus stray.

“We are gathering a support group for parents of special needs children in Culver City. An announcement (of our first meeting) would help immensely.”

Here, then, is the text of Ms. Copeland’s flyer:

Parent Support Group for

As our headline says, if you participate in this meeting, you will be able to meet and shake hands with a true warrior.