Wisconsin’s House of Representative in December 2005 passed a bi-partisan bill that was sponsored by Rep. Kitty Rhodes to provide $15,000 vouchers or scholarships to children with autism to go to private school or for treatment. Juxtaposed against this news is the ruling of the Florida Supreme Court on January 6, 2006 that struck down vouchers as being unconstitutional on religious and educational grounds.
I am certainly all in favor of children with autism receiving every possible benefit. Is a voucher/scholarship program that systematically sets up a parallel system for children with autism really consistent with IDEA ? Thirty years ago IDEA was set up to integrate children into public schools who were housed at separate facilities to the detriment of all concerned. Before we embark down a path that may lead to such a destination again, we need to reflect on the history and legislative findings of IDEA. In my experience the problem that children with autism (and many other children with special needs) face in school is a function of a lack of leadership, vision, teacher training, ongoing support and adequate funding. Systematically moving children with special needs out of schools will not solve these problems; it will simply make the students with special needs less visible and undercut IDEA.
On a case-by-case basis, I certainly have advocated for children to go to private schools or for home-based programs when the school is failing that child. Such individual cases do not support systematically moving children into parallel schools or treatment.
The People for the American Way who advocated against vouchers in the Florida case, present thoughtful analysis why vouchers are harmful to educational systems generally and to special education in particular. From my perspective we need to look at the history and policy underlying IDEA before we pursue a different vision for our children.
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