It is shameful anytime craven politicians victimize children.  When those children have special needs, it is almost beyond belief.  But I have learned that when it comes to the strategies that Anti-Public School Politicians are willing to use to further their agenda, there is no such thing as too low.  Consider their current “justification” for enacting school vouchers… Saving poor children with special needs from “failing” public schools.  There are a number of reasons why this is despicable, I’m just going to cover the big two. 

First of all, a significant reason why schools often struggle to meet the needs of students with special needs is due to a lack of funding.  Funding that has been reduced year after year by the same Anti-Public School Politicians that point to school vouchers as the best solution to fix the problem that they created.  Without naming names, my local school district, which was known state-wide for the quality of services it provided to students with special needs was told by a state politician that they were overfunded. In his opinion, the state did not need to fund great service for Students with Special Needs, good was good enough.  This same politician is leading the Special Education School Voucher Charge… For the children. 

Second, there is no need to create a school voucher program for meeting the education need of students with special needs. Why is the case? There already is a process in place that addresses this. Every Special Education Student has an Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) Committee that meets at least annually to consider the academic needs of the student. If the ARD Committee determines that the needs of the child cannot be meet in a public education setting, the ARD can recommend a private school placement.  If the ARD Committee make a private placement decision, the public school district is compelled to pay the ENTIRE cost of the placement.  Though this is not a common occurrence, it does happen. And just to be clear, the majority of members of an ARD Committee are the employees of the public school.       

Which brings me to my closing question. How does the Anti-Public School Politician get up in the morning and look himself in his face? Maybe he lives in a house with no mirrors so he does not have to. 

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

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