Schools are not like private corporations. Governor Romney’s
goal to privatize, voucherize, and let the market determine winners and losers
is simplistic. The reality is we do not have to wait to project that under his
system special education students will be losers. To be clear, I advocate on a
regular basis in appropriate cases for students to be tuitioned out to private
schools with their IEPs intact, even if that school is more restrictive because
it has what the child needs to receive a FAPE.
As a primary part of his education platform, Republican
presidential candidate Mitt Romney is proposing a pro-choice, pro-voucher
system that will allow parents to choose which schools their children can
attend. Romney is arguing that market
forces and competition will force improvements in public schools. Additionally, Romney is proposing to allow
federal Title I and IDEA funds (which will also likely be cut) to become
“portable” for low income and special needs students. These funds would follow the students to any
district or public charter school, private school where permitted by state law,
or toward tutoring or online courses. In theory, these proposals sound
wonderful. Who wouldn’t want their
children, both regular and special education, to go to the best possible
schools? These proposals, however, could
be disastrous for special education students.
