School Choice and Special Needs

by Benjamin Hoak

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Local lawmakers Owensboro’s state lawmakers said they had not yet read the bill draft and did not want to commit to supporting it. They did say, however, that they would consider it. Sen. David Boswell, D-Owensboro, said he “would not support a voucher program” but leans “more toward tuition tax credits” for parents who send their children to private schools. He said Lee’s bill “sounds like a very good idea,” though he and Lee don’t always agree on issues and he’d have to look at the bill’s language before deciding to support it. Boswell said that in the past, he has supported certain incentives for parochial school students, such as funds to ride public transportation. “Students need financial aid,” he said. “I’m certainly in support of offering some type of assistance to private schools. There are areas we can (do that) without destroying the spirit of public education funding.” “I’m a strong advocate for public education. At the same time, if we nail shut the doors of every private and parochial school, we wouldn’t be able to raise taxes fast enough to build schools,” he said. State Rep. Joe Bowen, R-Owensboro, said he has received emails about the school choice issue, but it’s not a dominant theme (Bowen was interviewed before his loss in the November election). “All politics are personal,” he said. “It’s how it affects you personally; if you’re in that situation, you want all the opportunities you can get. We have to be good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars. Education is 60 percent of the budget; we have to … find a good balance, common ground to the common good.” Bowen did praise Lee as a good legislator who brings thought to his bills. “He’s smart, articulate, certainly researches any legislation he brings forth. I trust his judgment on most issues. I have respect for Stan Lee,” he said. State Rep. Tommy Thompson, D-Owensboro, also said he had heard little about school choice, but that it would probably get more attention as the legislative session gets closer. “A lot of people don’t want to give up on our public schools, so to speak. Education resources are very limited. I think the concern is genuine, in terms of making sure we’re trying to do everything possible to help special needs children.” Thompson said he would like to have more information before he makes a decision on the bill. Specifically, he thinks it would be helpful to conduct a district-by-district survey showing how many special needs students are not getting the services they need and what kind of capacity each district has to meet special needs. His concern is that too many special needs students will flock to one district and put strain on it; on other hand, he said, he doesn’t want parents in rural districts to say, “This is great, (but) why provide the funding if there’s no place to receive the service?” “It’s a great idea,” he said. “I’d like to see us have more information. We need to do something about it (and) do it in a pragmatic, systemic, professional way.” Lee predicted that if his bill was approved by committee and made it to the House floor, there would be enough votes for the measure to pass. However Susan Weston, an education consultant who works with school councils, said the bill may have a hard time making it that far because Lee is a member of the minority party and doesn’t serve on the House Education Committee or in a leadership position. For now, Lee said he will try to get a hearing for his bill: “If there are positive attributes, let’s talk about them. If there are shortcomings, let’s talk about that too. Let’s do something good.”

Is this the answer for special needs students?

Would either the private school option or more funding for public schools actually improve the education that special needs students receive?

Cindy Baumert, an education advocate from Louisville who has been involved with the public schools’ special needs system for the past seven years, believes few children are being well-served. “The status of special education is terrible,” she said bluntly.

But she also doesn’t think Lee’s bill will improve it. That’s because in her view, the problems with the system are related to other aspects of federal legislation, including IDEA and the No Child Left Behind law.

For instance, Baumert said, special needs students used to be segregated from the general population with their own teachers. But they must now be integrated into regular classrooms, and special education teachers and regular teachers must collaborate.

The status of special education is terrible.
-- Cindy Baumert, Education Advocate

Often the teachers don’t really know how, Baumert said. “That’s not to say we don’t have excellent people working in the special education system,” she said. “It just needs a lot of attention. There’s just a severe lack of training.”

Many parents struggle as they try to understand the law and help their children, and Baumert said she understands how Lee’s bill would be attractive to them.

But “its effectiveness won’t be what it appears to be,” she argued. “The odds that the district around you is doing a better job than the one you’re in are pretty slim.”

In addition, private schools won’t be equipped to deal with the possible influx of special needs students, she said. And if they do take more students, they will still have to work with the public school district to help them implement IDEA, she said. Thus frustrated parents could end up dealing with the same personnel who were the source of their original problems.

Baumert would rather see a bill that would provide adequate technology for public schools that need it and would require training for parents and teachers, including an emphasis on how regular teachers and special education teachers should collaborate.

Debate over more choices

Lee and Waters argue, however, that increasing the flow of potential funding to private schools would increase their capacity. They noted there are already more than 400 private schools in Kentucky (there are 1,249 public schools in 175 districts), many of which serve special needs children.

“If this bill passes,” Waters said, “it will change the dynamics. Once funding can follow the child, more schools will be created to serve our special needs kids because the funding will be there.”

Lee said that after Florida began implementing a voucher program for special needs students, the number of non-public schools participating in the program increased from 100 schools in 2000 to 751 in 2006. (Florida’s wider school voucher program has been declared unconstitutional.)

On the other hand, Susan Weston, a consultant on education issues and the former executive director of the Kentucky Association of School Councils, said she’s not sure that a careful business analysis would support the prediction of many more private schools in Kentucky serving special needs students.

“Building a new school building is a huge expense,” she said. She’s afraid advocates are either overselling how many options parents will have or overestimating the budget effects of the bill. (Waters estimates that schools will save $5,100 for every child that gets a scholarship under this bill.)

Still, “I think for a small set of kids this (bill) will make a positive difference,” she said. “Some parents are on the brink of being able to pay tuition.”

The KEA argues that school choice currently exists, according to its president, Frances Steenburgen. If parents think their children’s needs are not being met, they can use their due process rights to set up a hearing (or even file suit) to determine whether a school district is meeting their child’s needs, she said.

…for a small set of kids this (bill) will make a positive difference.
-- Susan Weston, Consultant and former Executive Director, Kentucky Association of School Councils

“The whole issue is the needs of the student, not parental preference or convenience,” she said. “Meaningful involvement of parents is essential, but it’s still the professional knowledge of educators that plays a major role.”

Owensboro

All of which leads to the situation in the Owensboro area, where students don’t seem to be facing much of a dilemma, according to local superintendents and principals.

“We don’t hear a lot about it (school choice) because we exercise a lot of choice in this school district,” said Larry Vick, superintendent of Owensboro Public Schools. He said because the law permits local school boards to control how many students can transfer into their school district, the Owensboro and Daviess County districts, as well as some of the surrounding districts, have open enrollment policies among themselves. If students are in good standing at one school, they’re welcome to transfer to another, provided they pay a small amount of tuition, Vick said.

“We do get quite a few requests for tuition and transfers into our district (because of) our special needs kids,” said Daviess County Public Schools Superintendent Tom Shelton. “We have an exemplary program; there are a lot of people who want in. It’s simply based on classroom sizes; we don’t allow transfers or tuition that cause staffing issues.”

Shelton also pointed to the River Region Cooperative, a special education cooperative formed by the Daviess County and Owensboro districts and other surrounding districts. The cooperative offers highly trained special education consultants who provide extra support and services where they’re needed.

... the Owensboro and Daviess County districts, as well as some of the surrounding districts, have open enrollment policies among themselves.

“We have a tremendous special needs program,” Vick said. “We think we’re doing our dead level best to meet the needs of all of our kids.”

Vick also said he would not support sending public resources to private schools for any reason. “We think we have an adequate program for all our kids,” he said. “If you’ve got a public school system, (and) someone wants to go to a different one, maybe you need to improve yours. We want to have the kind of school system people want to attend. If the program is not adequate in public schools, it’s their responsibility as legislators to give us the resources to have better programs.”

Public-private school interaction

Owensboro Catholic Schools is the largest private school system in Daviess County, with four schools and about 1,300 students. While the Catholic school system does employ a differential learning specialist who teaches at the elementary schools and is involved in consultations, Superintendent Jim Mattingly said, “Getting deeply involved in special education is beyond our resources at the current time.”

“I believe the parents feel comfortable in their ability to choose what is best for their children,” he said.

Tim Hoak, principal at Heritage Christian School, the largest non-Catholic private school in Daviess County (193 students from preschool to eighth grade), agreed. Heritage teachers work with special needs students on a limited basis, but “sometimes there are needs we can’t meet,” he said. Some Heritage students have even transferred to Daviess County schools when extensive special needs have surfaced, he said.

Hoak said Heritage, which is located in the county school district, has an excellent working relationship with Daviess County Public School staff. “We sometimes even coordinate with the public schools if a child needs services they can’t get here, but are offered at Country Heights (Elementary School in the Daviess County district),” he said. Students will go to Country Heights for an hour or two of instruction and then return to Heritage. “The county schools are fine with that, they’re happy to work with us,” he said. “They’ve been great to work with.”

Ken Roberts, director of special education for Daviess County Public Schools, said most of the federal funds for Daviess County’s special needs students goes towards speech therapy. Throughout the year, special education consultants such as Krystal Goins, one of three consultants with the county school system, work with private schools on their special needs referrals. Goins can screen children and recommend further testing for them; if a student needs a service plan (the private school equivalent of the public school Individual Education Plan, which is required by IDEA), Goins can help the schools decide how best to meet that plan.

If a private school cannot meet all of the plan’s requirements, the student can go to a county school for specific instruction. In some cases, the parents, administrators, teachers and consultants involved may decide a student should attend public school full-time to receive the individualized instruction he or she needs.

Goins said she has open communication with the private schools she works with (Heritage, Mary Carrico, Whitesville Trinity and the Owensboro Catholic Elementary K-3 campus). “So far this school year, I’ve probably worked with at least 10 private school parents or students,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed working with private schools. We don’t want it to be difficult for parents. We’re there to help; we understand that nobody is as emotionally attached to your kid as you are.”

Vicki Warren, a retired special education teacher from Owensboro Public Schools, now serves as the differentiated learning specialist for Owensboro Catholic Schools. She doesn’t run a full special education program, but the Catholic system employs a speech therapist and teachers meet as many needs as they can. Because of Warren’s background, she can help determine what students need and whether or not she needs to call in help from the public schools (some of Owensboro Catholic schools are located in the city and some in the county). “If I call about something, Krystal (Goins) is great,” she said. “She’ll come and observe and help supply anything we might need. The city does the same thing.”

... if a (Heritage Christian School) child needs services they can’t get here, but are offered at Country Heights… Students will go to Country Heights for an hour or two of instruction and then return to Heritage.
-- Tim Hoak, Principal, Heritage Christian School

Rick Triplett, who runs the Triplett Montessori School in Owensboro, said he doesn’t deal often with the public schools’ special needs systems. The Montessori method of education emphasizes individual instruction, which is essentially what special education is, he said. He spent 10 years working in a public school system as a teacher and administrator, and estimates that his current school has about the same fraction of special needs children as the public schools do.

He said Lee’s bill probably won’t have much effect on private schools and only indirectly addresses their concerns. “On the one hand, we like to see any flexibility (options) that will help a child get an appropriate education,” he said. “On the other hand, we’re not thrilled with education being provided through the government.”

Majesty Academy is a small Christian school in Owensboro with 33 students. Marian Turley, vice-president of the board of the school, said Majesty can accommodate some special needs because they have a small student-to-teacher ratio, but the school doesn’t solicit special needs students. She said Lee’s bill probably wouldn’t affect Majesty, but “It’s a shame that parents who want their children to have private education have to pay for public education (with taxes) and for private education.”

 

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