Seek in Lazarum.com
 |
Disability Search Engine: |
Special Education Needs... in California...
disabilities. I attended school at a time when such children
were 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 opportunity to learn. The
law covered children from birth to age 22, guaranteeing them the
right to a 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 offered
special college prep classes, daily help from a special
education expert, a laptop computer, extra time for tests, the
opportunity to temporarily leave class if the child's had an
anxiety attack, and a special advocate to smooth over any
problems with teachers.
The parents hired a special consultant instead, who found
alternative schooling opportunities -- all were private schools
and all were out-of-state. They settled on a boarding school in
Maine, outside the main city, that had one-tenth of the
enrollment of the California schools. The one thing this school
did not offer was a special education program. The mother said
that smaller classrooms and a smaller campus were more important
than a special education program. Since the possibility of
anxiety attacks was mentioned in the article, no one can truly
judge the merit of this situation 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 $30,000 annually. The
California schools met the demands.
This is only one such case in the California schools, which may
or may not have been justified. The problem is that it is not
the only case. In 2005, there were 3,763 California schools
children 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 almost $40,000 to go to a court hearing and the
possibility of an expensive judgment, the California schools
attempt to settle cases before they get that far. In 2005, ten
percent of the California schools' cases went to a full hearing
-- 386 in all. The remaining 90 percent were resolved through
confidential settlements. With 700,000 special needs students
currently in the California schools and already paying hundreds
of thousands of dollars each year for private placements, the
school system is headed for a financial crisis.
In 2004, the California schools received $4.1 billion for
special education from the government and local sources. It was
still not enough to pay these extra settlement costs, and the
California schools had to take $1.6 billion from the regular
class budget. Twenty-eight percent of the special education
expenditures that year came from the regular education budget.
California schools educators complain that parents who are able
to afford an attorney are assured more opportunities for their
children than those who cannot afford to do so, creating an
inequity between the haves and have-nots. Additionally, special
education teachers see benefits 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 children, cell phone calls,
stamps, gas and tolls, and future round-trip visits from time of
enrollment until the children graduate from high school.
In all, the California schools are paying billions of dollars
each 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 opportunity possible for my
child to live a happy and normal adult life. I had a special
needs child and spent many hours sitting in principals' offices
and at the school board demanding that his needs be met. I was
thankful that he received access to the available offerings
within the public school system.
In my view, however, it is not a question of right or wrong,
justified expenditure or not. It is a question of the
legislators going back and specifically defining the word
"appropriate". Until then, the California schools are borrowing
from Peter to pay Paul, which means less opportunities all the
way around.
About the author:
Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing
free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12
schools. Patricia has a nose for research and writes stimulating
news and views on school issues. For more on California schools
visit
http://www.schoolsk-12.com/California/index.html
Published by: Patricia Hawke
Lázarum is a specialized search engine developed to provide an easy access
to disability information published on the web. With a single click it will seek
in Google, Yahoo, Msn, Altavista and in Our Directory for You.