School Choice Ohio Blog

After the huge national struggle for students with special needs to be included in “mainstream” classrooms alongside typically-developing peers, some special education advocates struggle with programs like the Autism Scholarship. Some express frustration at programs that seem like moving backward to schools specifically for students with autism.

Students absolutely should have a “mainstream” school option. No question about that. But mainstreaming isn’t always the most appropriate option at a given point in a child’s education. As we read yesterday, some families find that schools for students with special needs fill an important void in the education landscape.

More than that, sometimes the scholarship is the key to help students successfully transition back into mainstream classrooms. Without the right skills and adaptive training, “mainstreaming” can be unsuccessful or counterproductive. With specialized training, students are often able to mainstream seamlessly, in ways that wouldn’t have been possible without early intervention the scholarship offers.

Nancy Naylor-Sarangan

“At this point in my daughter’s development, I know that she is not ready for a classroom, but I believe that by using the Autism scholarship we can get her to a place were she is ready to go into a classroom and succeed.”

Richard George Vah Jr.

“Our son still has some language delays, and social skills delays, but he can go to a regular kindergarten class where his sister goes if we so choose.  This is due to all the hours of hard work by him, my wife, our ABA team and all his therapists and teachers, almost all of which we were able to pay since we had the funds provided by the Autism Scholarship Program.”

Tim and Cathy Anderson

“These last few years have been a learning experience, and we have changed the types of intervention they have received; but the autism scholarship has given us that flexibility. They are now 7 years old and in a typical kindergarten at a private school with an aide and are doing very well. If it were not for the autism scholarship, we believe that our boys would not have gotten the appropriate services they needed and would not be where they are today.”

Christine Muczyk

“No two kids are the same, but with small classroom settings and enough teachers, the kids can start to come out of their shell and adapt to society so they can get into the mainstream school system.”

In what must be a huge frustration for special education teachers and aides, not to mention parents and students, The Columbus Dispatch reported yesterday on a state law that enables more school districts across Ohio to re-route special education funding away from special education.

As the Dispatch reported, the Ohio Department of Education has granted additional flexibility to districts in spending their special education dollars. Amazingly, the changes now mean that districts may be able to divert funds even if they aren’t making progress according to federal standards or educating students in the “least restrictive environment.”

Controls and tracking on how school districts spent funds generated to educate students with special needs were already sparse, but this gives districts explicit permission to use a portion of these funds on other things. Districts aren’t hesitating – $22 million are now being diverted statewide.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing is the constant refrain heard from school districts that special education is inadequately funded. If true, the diversion of additional funds that could have adequately funded educational services for students with special needs is unconscionable. If false, claims of inadequate funding go from being unconscionable to immoral.

Students must be funded based upon their educational needs, and the funds generated by the educational needs of students should be spent on providing services to those students. Sounds simple-but how could this be accomplished?

It is again time to revisit the idea of a voucher for students with special needs. A program of this type has been considered by the last three General Assemblies and with good reason. It puts the funds necessary to educate a child with special needs where it belongs-in that child’s educational program. You can learn more about the proposed voucher on our website.

A special needs voucher would give parents who are tired of financial shell games and who are frustrated at the services their child is receiving an option. This is an option most parents of special needs students in Ohio do not have.

While the transfer of funds designed for the education of students with special needs is frustrating, it is not the only evidence that the current system may not be working properly. In October, the Columbus Dispatch reported on a case challenging the way students with special needs were funded. That case took 18 years to make its way through the legal system (see our response here).

It is becoming increasingly clear that the status quo has to change. Placing the power in the hands of parents of students with special needs to choose where their child goes to school would do more than any regulation ever could to assure that school districts dedicate the resources necessary to provide these students with an appropriate education.

- Chad Aldis

Crayons, pencils (endless supply), notebooks (spiral, perforated, wide rule, single subject, five subject…the variations are endless as well as the want of each individual teacher), ink pens, tissues, etc.  This is the supply list that many parents are familiar with and when you add on to that school clothes, shoes, socks and other school necessities, even with good back to school shopping deals, somehow you still seem to be out the same amount of money if not more than last year.

Going back to school is fraught with anticipation and anxiety alike for both parents and students.  We want our children to excel and in most cases children want to excel also, but can quickly succumb to learning handicaps from which they may never recover.

As we pack lunches and ensure that every labeled item is in that spanking new backpack, parents and students alike harbor an unspoken hope for the year:  that students will enjoy learning. This not only means the ability to place your child in an environment that is safe and conducive to learning, it also means arming your child with the knowledge of why he or she is learning.  A learner’s bill of rights, if you will.

Curious as to whether someone was inspired to create such a bill of right’s for learners, I came across two that speak to the nature of learning and also why school choice is important. If children are to exercise these rights, the ability is often found in a parent’s ability to choose the best school that fits the individual needs of their child.

John Harris Loflin who is with the Democratic Education Consortium in Indiana has creatively combined a learner’s bill of rights with the music “Get Up, Stand Up” on YouTube.  He describes the ideal school as a place where children want to be and he believes that these rights are inalienable and fundamental human rights.

Very similar in nature to Loflin’s but more succinct and tangible are the bill of rights penned by Kirsten Olson in her newest book Wounded by School: Recapturing the Joy in Learning and Standing Up to Old School Culture.  Olson states:

1.       Every learner has the right to know why they are learning something, why it is important now, or may be important to them someday.

2.       Every learner has the right to engage in questioning or interrogating the idea of “importance” above.

3.       Every learner has the right to be confused and to express his confusion openly, honestly, and without shame.

4.       Every learner has the right to multiple paths to understanding a concept, an idea, a set of facts, or a series of constructs.

5.       Every learner has the right to understand his or her own mind, brain, wiring, and intellectual inclinations as completely as possible.

6.       Every learner has the right to interrogate and question the means through which his or her learning is assessed.

7.       Every learner is entitled to some privacy in their imagination and thoughts.

8.       Every learner has the right to take their own imagination and thinking seriously.

So, let us add on to our list of back to school supplies a learner’s bill of rights. After all, all the supplies in the world are just meaningless instruments if children do not understand what they are learning and why they are learning.

 — Tisha Brady

“MAGGIE had been four days at her aunt Moss’s giving the early June sunshine quite a new brightness in the care-dimmed eyes of that affectionate woman, and making an epoch for her cousins great and small, who were learning her words and actions by heart, as if she had been a transient avatar of perfect wisdom and beauty.”

                                    —-   The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot 

For students, parents and those who continually champion the fight of the developmentally disabled, the words and actions of Eunice Kennedy Shriver came from the heart which is the ultimate form of sincerity.   As we mourn her loss, it is only right that we celebrate her legacy of achievements and remember that the fight for children with special needs continues on.

Full of passion and vision to improve the lives of the developmentally disabled, Shriver taught and led by example.  Inspired by the plight of her sister Rosemary Kennedy who was mentally disabled, Eunice knew that although the developmentally disabled might have major difficulties with life activities, it did not mean that they could not live active and productive lives within society.

In 1963, Shriver started a special summer camp which led to the first Special Olympics in 1968.  From then on, the Special Olympics would garner national and international attention.  She gave parents and children hope.  She gave life to a movement that had previously been ignored.

Although much ground has been covered for children with disabilities, there is still much to be done.  This is especially true in the area of education.  Just this week there are articles focused on the plight of children with special needs.

The New York Times has an article about a new study which found that students with disabilities made up 18.8 percent of students who suffered corporal punishment at school during the 2006-2007 school year, although they constituted just 13.7 percent of the total nationwide student population.

Another article in Education Week looks at the National Assessment of Educational Progress proposal to set new and more uniform testing for English as second language learners and students with disabilities.  The ultimate goal is inclusion.

In Ohio, we can help to open additional paths to students with special needs by offering them educational options that recognize that students with disabilities need flexibility in learning.  One such option is Senate Bill 6 which would create a Special Education Scholarship that would allow parents the ability to find the best education that meets the unique needs of their child.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver knew that although institutions can help those with disabilities, it can also hinder the potential development of a being.  She knew that the real potential lies within the individual and every individual has the right to achieve.

 — Tisha Brady