[QUOTE=Renob]
There are schools that specialize in offering services to these folks, you know. In fact, since the inception of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is has been legal for a judge to order schools to pay for the placement of a child with a disability in a private school if the public school can’t offer a proper education. That is essentially a voucher.
That’s the great thing about the market – people are willing to offer you services tailored to meet your needs. The usual way to get that in a public school is to take them to court.
[/quote]
I certainly hope that I know about this since:
- My first teaching job was at an NPS
- I have a master’s degree in special education
And to be pedantic, it wasn’t IDEA that started this. It was PL 93-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children Act) that started special education as we know it today. IDEA was PL 101-476 which was the re-authorization of EAHCA and renamed it to make it person-first instead of disability-first language and to change “handicap” to “disability”
And it is not a private school that the students go to, it is a non-public school that works with students with disabilities exclusively. I guaranty that if a special education student goes to a regular private school and is successful, the district would be back in court and the judge would excuse them from having to pay tuition. And if you care to dicuss it, in many cases the level of education at these NPS schools is typically below that of public school with the teachers often inexperienced and uncertified.
[QUOTE=Renob]
And how, exactly, do you make failing schools “work”? They have been trying to fix DC’s schools since the 1950s and they are worse than ever. To think that there is some magical thing that can easily be done to “fix” public schools is ridiculous. To hold the children of these schools hostage while administrators try some new things that, given the history of school reform, won’t work is pretty cruel to these kids. Why not let them escape these failing schools?
[/QUOTE]
Before we can answer that, we should try to answer the following questions:
Why is it that private schools are successful and public schools are not?
Why can’t public schools do the exact same things the private schools do?
If they can’t, why not?
There are many solutions but here is one to get us started.
Starting in first grade and every grade thereafter, students are tested on the standards that they are expected to master. A minimal passing score is required to advance to the next grade and cannot be failure cannot be overruled by teacher or principal. Students have multiple opportunities to take the test and some allowances are made for special education students and second-language learners. Appeals are allowed, but must be based on student competency in the standard (e.g. student had “test anxiety” but has work during the school year showing their knowledge would be a basis for an appeal).
Here’s another one:
Modularize elementary school in the two hardest areas. Rather than assuming that all 20-30 students are at similar levels in all subjects, break up the schedule like in high-school so that students can move through the English/language arts & mathematics at their own pace. Of course each year they would have to meet a minimal standard (see above). Social studies and science would still be grade-based and music/art/PE/etc. would be as it normally is (butpreferably a significant part of the students’ education). This could be done using the pull-out method (see NMAP recommendations for the mathematics side).
), etc. In other words, voucher-usage is not based on socio-economic level (e.g. poor people would use vouchers if available) but those families who actively pursue educational opportunities already.
), etc. In other words, voucher-usage is not based on socio-economic level (e.g. poor people would use vouchers if available) but those families who actively pursue educational opportunities already.