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Voucher Program Arguments
ProponentsLow income students receive more educational choiceChallenge public schools to improve through competitionBetter education due to absence of bureaucracyGive parents more influence over child’s education
OpponentsTake dollars away from public schoolsLack of accountability could lead to a misuse of fundsLimits low income students educational choiceLower the quality of education by removing the most informed parents and students thus increasing segregation in schools along socioeconomic lines
Introduction: Take a Stand!!!
Do you support a voucher program to help pay for private schools for children with disabilities?
Vote with your feet!!! – Strongly Agree, Simply Agree, Strongly Disagree, Simply Disagree.
Introduction: Rethink Position!!!
Would you support the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program Act if it would raise your Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) scores by eliminating the IEP subgroup?
Vote with your feet!!! – Strongly Agree, Simply Agree, Strongly Disagree, Simply Disagree.
Introduction – Ethical Questions
Potential ethical dilemmas will surface for the school administrator with the passage of HB 3393.
Ethic of Care - Who are the silenced voices?
Each state currently pays a pre-decided amount per student to the public school each student attends. Currently in Oklahoma, parents choosing an option other than the public school in their district may select
Home Schooling Private SchoolingTransfer Vouchers
Vouchers allow parents of disabled children to select a private school from an accredited list for their child to attend. The voucher allows the pre-decided amount per student from the state to be paid to a private school.
1971Supreme Court RuledLemon -v- Kurtzman
A three prong test for state money to go to private schools
1) The purpose is secular.2) Its main effect is to neither advance nor inhibit religion.3) It does not excessively entangle the state with religion.
Former President George W. Bush
Supported School Choice & Vouchers Believed the money should follow the kid Believed all institutions that received money should be held accountable.
The Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program is established to provide a scholarship to a private school of choice for students with an IEP.
The Program will begin Aug. 26, 2010.
The scholarship will be equal to the local and state revenue for the school district or the tuition at the private school, whichever is less
Approx. $7,683.00 per child
Requirements of Program Participation
Student must have a current IEP.
Student must have been enrolled in an Oklahoma public school the previous year.
The parent must notify the school district 60 days in advance.
The parent agrees to endorse the payment check each quarter.
The parent agrees to participate in school as required
Have been open at least one year
Meet accreditation guidelines Demonstrate fiscal soundness Comply with antidiscrimination
provisions Abide by health & safety laws
Schools must have…
Be academically accountable to parents
Follow rules set forth by the SDE
Participating schools must…
“Employ or contract with teachers who hold baccalaureate or higher degrees, or have at least three years of teaching experience in public or private schools, or have special skills, knowledge, or expertise that qualifies them to provide instruction in subjects taught.”
Participating schools must…
Florida John M. McKay Scholarships
for Students with Disabilities. Enacted for the 2000 – 2001
school year. “Student participation in the McKay Scholarship Program has continued to grow.” (Lips, 2007)
Feeling the Florida Heat?Student Participation in the McKay Scholarship Program
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15000
20000
25000
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http://www.floridaschoolchoice.org/Information/McKay/files/Fast_Facts_McKay.pdf
Georgia Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act passed in 2007. Senate bill 10 was approved with a vote of 91 to 84. (Lips, 2007)
Georgia 4,100 students were projected to
receive scholarships in 2007. There is no data, or accountability
as to how many are receiving scholarships now.
Georgia Council of Administrators of Special Education (GCASE) strongly opposed Senate Bill 10.
http://www.g-case.org/pdf_docs/GCASEPosition-SB10.pdf
Ohio Special Education Scholarship Program 2005.
http://www.ncsl.org/IssuesResearch/Education/SchoolChoiceVouchers/tabid/12942/Default.aspx
Utah Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship Program 2005.
Parent Choice in Education Act 2007.
http://www.ncsl.org/IssuesResearch/Education/SchoolChoiceVouchers/tabid/12942/Default.aspx
Is Current Law Adequate?
Forest Grove School Dist. v. T. A. - 08-305 (2009)
School Districts win (62.5%) of private placement cases
McKay Scholarship for Students – 6.7%
"Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Children with Disabilities" - No Cap
Will Costs Rise? The voucher is for $7,500 per year According to Edmond Public Schools Chief
Financial Officer David Fraser, in 2007-08 the district spent $17.7 million for the direct support of special education, which was 15.4 percent of the total budget. This was $6,587 per child for 2,687 children requiring mild to severe special educational needs.
During the same time the cost to educate the regular school population was $5,764 per pupil.http://www.edmondsun.com/local/x519248155/Special-needs-student-scholarships-under-review July 2009
Will Enrollments Rise? When state’s shift away from paying for each incidence of disability to a “census” approach, the growth of special education slows (Buck, Green, 2010)
Private Special Education Placements
2003-04
Oklahoma ranks 20th with .12 percent of Total Enrollment
Will Sufficient Services Be Provided?
Florida’s McKay 30.2% of voucher participants said they received all services required under federal law from their public school (Greene, Forester, 2003)
A large survey that “almost 90% of McKay respondents…were satisfied or very satisfied with the school their child attends, whereas only 71.4% of public school respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the school their child attends.” (Weidner & Herrington, 2006)
Will Some Students Be Left Behind?
As the number of private schools increased that accepted McKay funding increased the standardized test scores of disabled students who remained in public school significantly increased.
Virtually all disabled students in public schools take the state mandated test.
Are Private Schools Accountable?
National Education Association Statement: “Vouchers students are not included in state assessments, so taxpayers have no way of knowing how the voucher funds have been spend, and how students have fared.”
NEA Resolution A-24. Voucher Plans and Tuition Tax Credits.
Buck, S., & Greene, J. P. (2010, Winter). School choice campaign: The case for special education vouchers. Education Next, 10(1). Retrieved from http://educationnext.org/ the-case-for-special-education-vouchers/
Bush, G. (Director) (2003, July 1). Education Reform & Parental Options. Education Reform. Lecture conducted from Kipp Academy, Washington, D.C..
Finn, C.E., Rotherham, A.J., & Hokanson, C.R.(2001). Rethinking special education for a new century. Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and Progressive Policy Institute. Download available at http://www.edexcellence.net/issues/results.cfm?withall=rethinking+special+education&search_btn.x=0&search_btn.y=0
Greene, J. P., & Winters, M. A. (2007, Spring). Debunking a special education myth. Education Next, 7(2). Retrieved from http://educationnext.org/ debunking-a-special-education-myth/
References
References Lick, D. (2007, April 25). Education Notebook: Georgia
lawmakers approve vouchers for students with disabilities. Retrieved June 23, 2010 from http://georgiastate.edu
Molnar, A. (n.d.). EPSL | Education Policy Studies Laboratory - Arizona State University. EPSL | Education Policy Studies Laboratory - Arizona State University. Retrieved June 24, 2010, from http://epsl.asu.edu
Obama, B. (Director) (2008, August 1). Obama at the National Urban League. Presidental Speech. Lecture conducted from Urban League, Orlando .
Turnbull, H.R., Stowe, M.J., & Huerta, N.E. (2007). Free appropriate public education: The law and children with disabilities. Denver, CO: Love Publishing
References Weidner, V. R., & Herrington, C. D. (2006, January). Are Parents
Informed Consumers: Evidence From the Florida McKay Scholarship Program . Peabody Journal of Education, 81(1), 27 - 56 . doi:10.1207/ S15327930pje8101_3
Wright P.W.D., & Wright, P.D. (2007). Special education law (2nd ed.). Hartfield, VA: Harbor House Law Press.