Most disabled children using vouchers don't get special classes (Florida)

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Mon, Dec. 08, 2003

Most disabled children using vouchers don't get special classes
Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - About 77 percent of private schools taking vouchers to educate disabled students don't offer special classes for disabled children, a newspaper found.

Of the 641 private schools taking McKay vouchers meant for children with disabilities, 496 reported on state Department of Education forms that they did not have classes "specifically designed to meet the needs of children with exceptionalities," The Palm Beach Post reported in its Monday editions.

McKay vouchers, used by about 12,200 students, are worth between $5,000 and $21,300, depending on the severity of a student's disability. But there are no laws requiring schools to offer special attention or therapy to students with disabilities.

Unlike public schools, private institutions are exempt from state oversight on curriculum development and don't have to write education plans disabled students. (snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/7441583.htm

[cthrumatrix]

1. this from the state that has 12th grade as "optional"....nice Jeb

[Malva Zebrina]

2. so what are they doing with the money then?

the complaint next will be that they cannot afford to build ramps or whatever else it takes to educate a disabled kid. In a sense, the money for the disabled is going to the kids who are not disabled. This was predictable. When tax payer money is given to a private school, the consitutionality of it is questionable but that little item is, it seems, being forgotten. I am not sure how it came about that 12,000 students are given vouchers to begin with as I have not been following that situation in Florida. Twelve thousand kids receiving vouchers sounds like a large population. Second with virtually no oversight required of "private" schools receiving public money, the door is open to all sorts of corruption. Article says parents call to complain and are "surprised" there is no oversight. Who are they thinking will be the, or would be the "whistleblower"? or the advocate--the same person that oversees the public education curriculum? Ironic--first complain about the public schools, take the kid out , then expect the public school system to protect their kid, who is now on the dole in a private school on the public taxpayer money--most likely receiving a religious education also on the taxpayer money-- The schools that take vouchers are NOT under much oversight at all. That is certainly predictably possible that they will fudge or prop up everything if they need to in order to stay in business. Smaller classes better? Apparently not for the disabled--how about the enabled?--maybe--how can anyone tell?

[soup]

3. Makes no sense to me.

Not quite sure what to make of this. Maybe it's because I just woke up, or maybe because I'm the grandmother of a child who has special education needs.

From the article:

"I get calls all the time from parents who say their child's speech or writing isn't improving in the private school, and that's because the school doesn't have a strategist working individually with their child," said Debbie Tanguay, a special education resource teacher in the Palm Beach County School District who works with parents taking McKay vouchers. "The parents are always surprised."

"The parents are always surprised?!"-
Shame on them for sending their child there to begin with. The only way I could see the blame placed elsewhere is if the parents were completely lied to about the school and the programs offered.

Just read the article again to make sure I wasn't missing something and see the name 'Foundation Academy'. Ringing alarms, but can't quite remember why. I'll go look.

[Malva Zebrina]

8. whoa there

My point is that parents are not aware of the rules at all. I would expect that to be their responsibility. Their expectations were not satisfied because they were unaware of the legal status of a private school. They are willing to take advantage of the tax payer money to satisfy their own wish that their child, for whatever reason, not participate in the public school system and avail themself of the private school. Fine so far. That is their choice and I am not criticizing that. It just strikes me odd that they thought the same oversight given the public school, which is required to provide for the education of the disabled, is expected to be given to the private school, which is NOT required to do anything at all for the disabled kids. There is NO oversight in the private school. If the parents of disabled kids or any of the kids going to a private school on tax payer money, think that there should be oversight, then the protection and jealously guarded privacy enjoyed, by the private school, needs to be changed to the same standards of oversight required of public schools. Think that will happen? and if so, under what circumstances?

[ClintonTyree]

4. Florida.............

where anything past the eighth grade is considered "higher education". My neighbor is having fits, she sooooo badly wants to move out of this state to a state that values education and actually funds it. Her two small children will be entering school next year and she wants to move now, but she's worried that she won't be able to find a job elsewhere.
The schools here are the pits, trailers masquerading as classrooms, budget cuts out the wazoo. But they have FOOTBALL, my god they couldn't do without their FOOTBALL. They'll spend ANYTHING to keep their precious FOOTBALL teams going.
To say that Florida's educational priorities are off the charts is an understatement.

[seasat]

5. But Jebbie has oversight, he made them fill out a questionnaire.

:eyes:

The governor of my state is an idealogical neocon idiot. We've had problems with this voucher program for years. They had schools pop up to siphon off state dollars that were so bad that the parents complained to the state and put their kids back into public school. The state continued to send the voucher schools the tuitition even after the kids had returned to public school. The group that pulled this scam did it in several schools they founded. We had one that started in a condemned mansion and to eventually be shut down due to dangers to the kids. Despite all these probally 10s of millions of dollars of waste on vouchers, Jebbie says that we can't afford recently constitutionally mandated class size amendment that the voters overwhelmingly approved. Yet, if you read the article, the private schools use that as an exscuse for why they charge so much and don't need special education teachers or special education classes. They say small class size is more important than the special education curriculum.:mad:

[soup]

6. Noticed that.

A not so subtle slam on the success of smaller class size?

Do you happen to remember the name of the group running the schools that were shut down? I don't see anything on the Foundation Academy in Jacksonville, but for some reason, 'Foundation Schools' is setting off alarms.

Did find the particular school's listing, and it's nonreligious, co-educational, with a 'regular' curriculum:

https://www.opportunityschools.org/Info/McKay/mckay_school_private.asp?disid=16&sid=5386

[seasat]

10. Hey Soup,

My wife is a teacher in Fl so I've followed this issue closely. The orginal group to first come to light were the Rockers (LINK). The rundown mansion incident were the "Excellence" schools (LINK). Another voucher issue that is hilarious is that Jebbie sent money (about $230,000.00) through the corporate tax credit voucher program to Sami Al Arian's private school after Al Arian had been accused of using that same school to train and recruit Palestinian Terrorists.

[soup]

14. the Rockers-

what a piece of work they are, hey?

Thanks for the links. Your mentioning the corporate tax credit voucher program made me realize why the words 'Foundation and School' were setting off alarms - The Silver Archer Foundation being investigated for missing voucher money. (So, it wasn't even connected to the McKay scholarships - My mind obviously needs a new filing system.):crazy:

Give your wife an extra hug and a thank you for me. Her chosen profession is really taking some big (and mostly uncalled-for) hits right now.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. Since Jeb has destroyed the public school system

I have no qualms about taking the money for my gifted dyslexic son. My son was in the public school system twice, for kindergarten and for 3-4 grade. For 3rd-4th grade he was in a charter school for reading disabled students. Both experiences were disasters. In my county there are no programs for gifted/LD students.

In 1st grade, I switched my son to an alternative private school. There are two classes, K-2 & 3-5 grade with about 12 kids in each. There are always at least 2 adults in the room most of the time. Last year we went back for fourth grade with a MacKay scholarship.

The rational for these scholarships is that it is up to the parent to educate their child as they think is best. In my case, I am lucky to have an excellent private school that can and is willing to accommodate children with special needs. Also, my son is lucky to have a mother who happens to have a degree in early childhood education, to advocate for him and make sure he gets the additional services that he needs. However, this is true for any parent with a special needs child, whether they are in the public school system or not.

As for the money, there is virtually no oversight or accountability for how it is spent at this point. The attitude of the state is that is up to us to spend it how we wish and if there is any left over at the end of the year the school gets to keep it has a bonus.

In the case of the MacKay scholarships many students are benefiting from this program and they are better off than they would be in Jeb's public schools. However, because of the lack of oversight, it is a program that is easy to abuse and there will always be a few people who figure out how to rip off the system.

So if and when the Jeb's public schools can accommodate the needs of my child, I would consider trying again. Until then I will take the money and run. But in the meantime, I have no qualms for accounting for how I spend this money and even giving any extra funds back at the end of the year. So please, fix the system but don't punish the kids who really are benefiting from this program.

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Both of my kids needed special assistance from the public school

system. One child had a speech impediment and the other a reading disability. They were diagnosed and special programs were customized for their needs. As a result, they both excelled and were mainstreamed. I'm a mother who is very thankful to the public school system for providing a service to my children, which I didn't have the background to provide myself. My heart goes out to any mom who is lured away from the public schools because of a false promise that private schools are better.

[Malva Zebrina]

11. why do you think the public school system has deteriorated so?

I wonder :If a private school can accomodate a dyslexic child, why can't a public school? Your point about a parent being concerned and able to manipulate the system to her own child's advantage is well taken and I am glad that you did find a niche for your child to be helped reach his/her highest potential.

But I am trying to discuss and look at all the views. Those dyslexic kids, or others with parents who are not educated enough, or below the IQ line,are also contributers to the monetary upkeep , though, to the private school system that is helping the kids of the parents who are educated enough to demand it, but they do not have the advantage of higher education or knowledge or perhaps the self esteem that comes with higher education and simply trust the public school system to do right for their child. I know that is not your problem and do not expect you to be concerned about the whole picture as your energies are directed toward doing the best you can for your own child. But, someone has to be concerned I think about where it is going. Society as a whole benefits from the education it gives all of it's children. It sure looks broken now and a total mess. It does sound like a survival of the fittest parents jungle out there as well as a self fulfilling prophecy to keep the parental handicapped children from reaching their highest potential.

The purpose of a public school education was to see to it that all children received an education that allowed them to be able to navigate their life toward happiness and be productive members of society --all children have potential and to ignore that is like ignoring a broken girder on a bridge. Education is infrastructure and an investment in a way. That system has been very broken because I think that conservative Republicans like Bush, purposefully try to break it's back. It is obvious in the Kennedy education bill that was touted as wonderful only to receive no money to speak of at all. The system is being starved. Teacher unions are weak and about to be broken, and parents steering their children to better pastures because the system is starved for funding and gets worse. IT looks like though, the lesson to be learned, especially when I read article like this, is that privatized or funding the education of kids whose parents want better and are able to get it with diverting tax payer money, is woefully inadequate also. Separate but equal comes to mind.

[NashVegas]

12. Purpose of Public Education

The purpose of a public school education was to see to it that all children received an education that allowed them to be able to navigate their life toward happiness and be productive members of society

Think so? Think again.

from the "Everything you know is wrong" quiz:

18. Which of these quotes regarding education is not real?

1. "School produces mental perversion and absolute stupidity." --Vincent Youmans, world-famous American physician and academic (1867)
2. The creation of the compulsory public schooling system was ordered by "certain industrialists and the innovative who were altering the nature of the industrial process." --James Bryant Conant, President of Harvard University from 1933 to 1953 (1949)
3. "We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or men of science." --Rockefeller's General Education Board (1906)
4. Education is "the development of critical reasoning and the acquiring of basic facts relating to science, history, the arts, and similar areas." --Education Department (1968)

[Malva Zebrina]

13. Oh, was I wrong?

Interesting. I am confused by your challenge not knowing a thing about everything you know is wrong, but I will ask you what your solution is and what your views are re the education of all children in this country, if you care to answer.

Here is also a URL I came upon trying to find the origings of the public school systems. My opinion was that the notion of the community school originated in the eighteenth century with the New England Puritans-and upward--the community and the one room schoolroom took turns housing the teacher and paying her with cords of wood-and that is what I think of as the first "public"' schhools.


This opinion seems very negative and it looks as though , from the URL, it is from a supproter of home schooling. Actually I cannot figure out what it's political bent is--socialist, libertarian or ?

http://www.libertyhaven.com/politicsandcurrentevents/educationhomeschoolingorchildren/originspublic.shtml

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. Because the republican controlled government

would rather spending $87 billion dollars rebuilding Iraq, rather than rebuilding our public school system.

I do believe that Bu$h & Co are purposely dumbing down America. It is much easier to control the masses if the masses don't think a lot. Educate them enough to get a minimum wage service industry job, give them enough TV to keep them distracted and then you will have plenty of cheap labor to keep the beast going.

Has a lifelong liberal, you will find no bigger advocate of the concept that everyone deserves a quality, free public education. Everyone in the society is better off when their citizens are healthy, happy and well educated. I was the study coordinator for the Infant Health & Development Project. I know from first hand experience the benefits of providing a quality education to at-risk children. Our project proved that if you spend the money when these kids are young, they are more likely to be successful adults who benefit the society.

Unfortunately, the Bu$h boys are the most anti-intellectual people that have ever been in control of this country. They are doing everything they can to bankrupt and destroy all aspects of society and education just happens to be just one component that is under attack.

In the meantime, I am going to make damn sure my kid gets a real education. Fortunately, I can afford to pay for a high quality private education and will do so again if I have to. Too bad, there are millions of other kids who aren't so lucky.