School Choice and Special Needs

by Benjamin Hoak

What is school choice?

Every year when the 50 states receive “grades” for their public schools from the national publication EdWeek, Kentucky loses points for school choice and autonomy because it is one of only six states which doesn’t have a law allowing parents to send students to any public school of their choosing (local school districts have the option of allowing such transfers). Also, it’s one of only nine states without a law authorizing charter schools, which are publicly funded and overseen, but privately managed.

Generally, the reason given for the absence of a law allowing parents to choose among public school districts is that Kentucky has many small counties with only one district. And since transferring to a school in another county wouldn’t be practical in many parts of Kentucky, there hasn’t been pressure to change the law. Generally, multiple districts in larger counties such as Daviess work out an arrangement to handle transfers.

As for charter schools, they are generally seen as giving communities options to try educational approaches that do not conform to state or district mandates for public schools. The 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act authorized each public school to set its own curriculum and policies through a site-based decision-making council -- a type of “local control” that may have made a charter law seem less necessary.

Other forms of school choice include vouchers or tax credits or deductions for families who pay private-school tuition. Nationally, these are much more rare. Five states offer publicly funded vouchers, while six provide some form of tax credit or deduction for private school expenses. In addition, two cities, Milwaukee and Cleveland, offer tuition vouchers for private schools. The Florida Supreme Court recently struck down as unconstitutional a school voucher law for all parents; the state, however, is still operating a more narrowly focused program providing tuition scholarships for private schools for special needs students.

Does a school choice bill to be considered in the upcoming state legislature reflect a commendable effort to address deficiencies in public school special education, or are proponents overselling the benefits in order to open the door for private school vouchers?

The idea that parents should have more publicly funded educational options for their children – popularly known as school choice – has long been hotly debated around the country, but has failed to get much attention in Kentucky.

That changed earlier this year, when a bill was filed for consideration by the 2007 General Assembly that would allow parents of children with special needs to use tax dollars to pay for their children’s education at any school they choose, including private and parochial schools. (Special needs generally refer to physical, mental, emotional or learning disabilities.)

Political lines already are being drawn on the bill, filed by state Rep. Stan Lee, R-Lexington. Critics say it would be a first step toward school vouchers for all Kentucky students, draining tax dollars from public schools.

Supporters don’t deny that they hope the bill opens the door for vouchers for all, but also argue that it addresses an issue of great concern to many Kentucky families. Lee himself said he has “no designs on anything beyond that.”

Both sides agree that Kentucky’s current system of educating students with special needs has significant deficiencies that need addressing. Among other things, they say, Lee’s bill will draw attention to this important subject.

The Public Life Advocate examined the arguments for and against the bill and how it might affect students with special needs in Daviess and surrounding counties. Generally, local school officials say the bill might not make a lot of difference, because public and private schools already collaborate to serve special needs students.

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