Scholarships for disabled are a hit (GA, voucher program)

[ulysses]

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/2007/07/11/voucher_0711_2DOT.html

More than 3,200 families have applied for a new Georgia scholarship to send their special-needs children to other public or private schools this fall. But state officials say that with only about 120 private schools willing to accept the tuition voucher, many might be turned away.

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Families may opt out of the program after they discover how much private school tuition the scholarships will cover. That amount — based on state funding used for the child's education in the public school — could run as high as $15,300, Gagne said.

Department officials put a special calculator on their Web site Tuesday allowing parents to see the estimated aid for their child. Duluth mother Donna Scowden wants to send her daughter, Angela, to The Cottage School in Roswell, which works with learning disabled students. But Scowden learned Tuesday she could get about $5,700 from the scholarship — well short of the $9,000 lawmakers touted as the average award and the school's $18,750 tuition.

More at the link. The article doesn't mention that private school participating in the scholarship program are under no requirement to reevaluate special needs kids on the three-year timeline required by IDEA, serve them in the least restrictive environment, or even provide any kind of special education services at all.