Now, I am all for unique education for youngsters with disabilities. I attended school at a time when such children had been either put into ?special? schools or thrown in with the general student population to sink or swim on their own. It was a terrible inequity. It finally was addressed in the 1970s with a law designed to correct such discrimination by giving these children the civil right to an equal chance to learn. The law covered youngsters from birth to age 22, guaranteeing them the appropriate to a totally free and ?appropriate? public education. It is the ambiguous word ?appropriate? written into the law that is creating a crisis for the California schools, according to Nanette Asimov, staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.
The article cited a situation of one California schools child with a disability. The assigned public middle school provided special college prep classes, every day support from a unique education expert, a laptop computer, additional time for tests, the opportunity to temporarily leave class if the child?s had an anxiety attack, and a unique advocate to smooth over any issues with teachers.
The parents hired a special consultant instead, who found option schooling opportunities ? all had been private schools and all were out-of-state. They settled on a boarding school in Maine, outside the major city, that had one-tenth of the enrollment of the California schools. The one factor this school did not give was a unique education program. The mother said that smaller classrooms and a smaller campus were far more crucial than a special education program. Since the possibility of anxiety attacks was mentioned in the article, no 1 can really judge the merit of this scenario except the child?s physician and/or psychologist.
After the child was placed into the private school, the parents then hired an attorney, who specializes in special education cases, to file papers with the court demanding the California schools pay four years of tuition and family travel costs between California and Maine. Tuition was ,000 annually. The California schools met the demands.
This is only one such case in the California schools, which may or may possibly not have been justified. The difficulty is that it is not the only case. In 2005, there had been three,763 California schools kids with disabilities that were the focus of formal complaints ? the vast majority of which came from parents. This is triple the number of only ten years ago, and the numbers are growing.
With a cost of nearly ,000 to go to a court hearing and the possibility of an pricey judgment, the California schools attempt to settle cases before they get that far. In 2005, ten percent of the California schools? instances went to a full hearing ? 386 in all. The remaining 90 percent had been resolved by means of confidential settlements. With 700,000 unique needs students presently in the California schools and already paying hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for private placements, the school system is headed for a financial crisis.
In 2004, the California schools received .1 billion for unique education from the government and local sources. It was still not sufficient to pay these additional settlement costs, and the California schools had to take .6 billion from the typical class budget. Twenty-eight percent of the special education expenditures that year came from the standard education spending budget.
California schools educators complain that parents who are able to afford an attorney are assured far more opportunities for their youngsters than those who can?t afford to do so, creating an inequity between the haves and have-nots. Additionally, special education teachers see advantages to special programs, such as horseback riding therapy, but acknowledge that such parent demands are not education related. California schools parents and educators are at odds.
Parents are making tuition payment demands of the California schools for such programs as private day schools, boarding schools, summer camps, horseback riding therapy, and aqua therapy. Additionally, the California schools are expected to pay for computers, airfare, car rental, hotel stays, meals, new clothing and tailoring for the youngsters, cell phone calls, stamps, gas and tolls, and future round-trip visits from time of enrollment until the youngsters graduate from high school.
In all, the California schools are paying billions of dollars every year for private placements and auxiliary costs. It is creating an inequity for children the civil rights law was passed to protect and a financial crisis for the California schools.
I have to admit that I wanted every single chance achievable for my child to live a happy and regular adult life. I had a special requirements child and spent many hours sitting in principals? offices and at the school board demanding that his wants be met. I was thankful that he received access to the offered offerings within the public school system.
In my view, nevertheless, it is not a question of right or wrong, justified expenditure or not. It is a question of the legislators going back and particularly defining the word ?appropriate?. Until then, the California schools are borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, which means much less opportunities all the way around.
For a lot more details please visit California School Report Cards and Private School Ratings in California
Source: http://www.belcampus.org/special-education-needs-causing-financial-crisis-in-california-schools.html
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