I didn't realize to what extent there's already a Federal voucher program in place -- for example, 4% of Washington DC kids are currently in private schools at public expense.  I knew that this program was available for kids with, say, autism, but it sounds like more and more parents are pushing the envelope -- rightly so -- if their kid can't, for example, read by the 4th grade. 

But a growing number of families are no longer willing to let bygones be bygones. They have hired special education lawyers and asserted their rights under the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, which allows disabled children whom the public schools have failed to receive private educations at public expense.

Federal disability law offers public school systems a stark choice: The schools can properly educate learning-disabled children — or they can fork over the money to let private schools do the job.

Given that 60% of ALL African American children nationwide can't read a simple children's book by the 4th grade, imagine if a substantial number of these parents started asserting theses rights.  What a great way to help a lot of kids -- and put pressure on the existing system!

 

My view is simple: if the government fails to provide a high-quality local school, then it has the obligation to provide parents a good alternative, be it another regular public school, a public charter school or -- egads! -- a voucher to let the parent pick a private school.

 

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June 19, 2006

Editorial Observer

How Schools Pay a (Very High) Price for Failing to Teach Reading Properly

By BRENT STAPLES

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/19/opinion/19mon4.html

Imagine yourself the parent of an otherwise bright and engaging child who has reached the fourth grade without learning to read. After battling the public school bureaucracy for what seems like a lifetime, you enroll your child in a specialized private school for struggling readers. Over the next few years, you watch in grateful amazement as a child once viewed as uneducable begins to read and experiences his first successes at school.

Most parents are so relieved to find help for their children that they never look back at the public schools that failed them. But a growing number of families are no longer willing to let bygones be bygones. They have hired special education lawyers and asserted their rights under the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, which allows disabled children whom the public schools have failed to receive private educations at public expense.

Federal disability law offers public school systems a stark choice: The schools can properly educate learning-disabled children — or they can fork over the money to let private schools do the job...