Sarah Palin was just outside of Pittsburgh this morning and spoke to an audience of invite-only guests about how a McCain/Palin administration would influence families with special needs children (her first policy-oriented speech so far). She apparently didn't get the memo that a Pittsburgh-based writer (yours truly) is writing a book about Special Education and, thus, didn't put said writer on the invitation list. I'll get over it. Maybe. But, clearly my phantom-book-that-might-take-yeeears-longer-than-this- MFA-program-to-finish is beside the point...Palin promises to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and redirect wasteful earmark spending to special needs funding. The Washington Post noted that Palin's charge is inconsistent with McCain's past record in which he voted against fully funding IDEA among most other Special Education programs. Salon.com pointed out that Palin's promise to fully fund IDEA contradicts McCain's latest and vigorously stated response to the current economic crisis: an "across-the-board spending freeze". Um, I'm confused. Read the entire 20 minute talk here.
The New York Times also covered Palin's talk and included that her special needs funding would be exempt from McCain's spending freeze and that disabled students would be allowed (using state money) to choose to attend the private/parochial school of their choice when "our public school system fails..." Others, including the current case law, argue that we must allow the public school system to attempt to educate these students, and if that education is deemed inappropriate the public-school-in-question must pay for student to attend private school. Approx. 7 million students receive special education services, and according to Palin's plan, all of them could switch over to private/parochial schools if the public schools "fail". Palin, I hate to break it to you, but our public schools have failed - all students. What happens when "regular" education students and parents demand to switch to a private school? Are we promoting the abandonment and eradication of the public school system instead of fixing it? What are private schools doing better than public schools in terms of educating special needs students? Why don't we adopt those strategies in our public schools and keep our children there? I have so many questions. I think I'll hold my breath until Nov. 4 to decide whether or not I need to air them and demand clearer answers...
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2 comments:
Hi Katie! I like your blog - it sounds like you have some interesting projects going on! I just wanted to add my two cents about paying for special education students to enroll in private schools. This is a growing problem in DC as more and more students choose to litigate against the school board for failing to receive SPED services. At this point, DCPS is now settling many of the cases before they hit the court room because they concede the horrible deficiencies. It then costs DC $70,000 a year per student to send them elsewhere for services (either to a private school, or to a public school in VA). That's because DCPS is also required to pay for transportation costs to those schools. Where is the tipping point? When does it becomes vastly cheaper (something the GOP is into, right?) to fix the SPED system in the existing school district than send so many children away? Sure school choice will start to work if it has a price tag that is double the cost of private college tuition. Talk about wasteful spending!
You are going to write a really thorough and insightful book. And I can't wait to read it one day...Hope school is going well, my friend. We should catch up during the break, compare notes. I'm loving your blog. So focused. I envy that.
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