Education Week - July 20, 2016 - 17

3/5-PAGE

Many of the state laws around
vouchers and choice programs
were built around model legislation
drafted by the American Legislative
Exchange Council, an organization
that advocates free markets and
limited government. Binding private schools or families to the same
rules that govern public schools is
second-guessing parents, said Inez
Feltscher, ALEC's education and
workforce director.
"Parents are choosing to waive
the IDEA protections because they
think the place their children are
going to be will better meet their
needs," Feltscher said. "I'm uncomfortable with trying to homogenize
all these options."
Some evidence indicates that parents are happy with their educational
options, even without federal protections. In 2013, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice surveyed
179 parents who participated in Arizona's educational-savings-account
program. All the respondents reported various levels of satisfaction
with the program, with 71 percent
saying they were "very satisfied."
None said they were dissatisfied.
The IDEA spells out school districts' responsibilities for children
with disabilities who are enrolled
both in public and private schools.
Districts are responsible for evaluating every child in their jurisdiction
to see if that child has a disability.
More than 90 percent of children
in special education attend a public
school. About 1 percent-a proportion that has held steady for the past
several years-are placed by their
parents in private school, according
to the U.S. Department of Education.
Generally, once a student is enrolled in private school, he or she
loses any individual right to special
education services, no matter who is
paying the tuition.
Private school students are not
completely barred from any publicly
provided special education support.
The district in which the private
school is located is responsible for
using a "proportionate share" of its
federal money to provide some services to private-school students. And
a private school may also provide
support for students with disabilities as part of its education program.
But there is no individual right for a
student to receive special education
as there would be if a child were enrolled in public school.
Dale McDonald, the director of
public policy and educational research for the National Catholic
Educational Association, said that
private schools don't get all the
money that public schools receive
for educating students with disabilities, even with a voucher. Education
money comes from local, state, and

Falling Short
Jonathan Zimring, an Atlantabased lawyer who represents parents in special education suits, says
that Georgia's voucher effectively
provides choice only to affluent families of children who have milder
disabilities. Students who have expensive special education needs, or
families who are not able to pay for
the balance of special education tuition themselves, are shut out.
"More money obviously solves the
issue of having a choice and access
for a broader group of families. As
you get closer to fully funded, the
broader the group of people who
could use the voucher," he said.
Ultimately, Kerrigan said that for
parents like her, the school choice
options weren't a choice at all-
they were necessary for her child's
well-being. Emma, who was present at the panel that presented the
COPAA report, said that the move
to a new school changed her life.
"On my first day at Lawrence, I felt
several different things. I felt scared,
nervous, and the feeling when you
are so happy you cannot control it.
I thought, finally, I will get to read,
write, learn, and feel safe," Emma
said in an address to the audience.
Kerrigan said she does not have
any hard feelings toward the district, but she wishes that alternatives were built into the system that
would have made private school unnecessary.
"I just don't understand why any
parent with a dyslexic child should
have to pay thousands and thousands and thousands for their child
to learn how to read," she said.
Coverage of issues related to creating
opportunities for all American students
and their families to choose a quality
school is supported by a grant from
the Walton Family Foundation, at
waltonk12.org. Education Week retains
sole editorial control over the content
of this coverage.

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Court Sides
With Student
On Title IX

Digital Directions

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Federal Decision Could Affe
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By evie Blad

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Model Legislation

federal sources, but vouchers are
usually just state funds. Without receiving the same financial support
as public schools, it's difficult for private schools to be held to the same
requirements, she said.
"Yes, we would like to provide
more," McDonald said. "If we had
more funding, it would go a long
way to providing greater inclusion."
One concern is that parents may
not be aware of the trade-offs that
they're making when they accept
a school choice option, said Rochanda Hiligh-Thomas, the director of legal services for Advocates
for Justice and Education, in Washington. She represents parents and
students in school discipline and
special education cases.
The District of Columbia has
the nation's only federally funded
voucher program, called the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. It is
not just for students with disabilities, though students with disabilities do use it, Hiligh-Thomas said.
"Those parents go in not knowing
that they're giving up rights," she
said. "If federal dollars are going
to be used in this way, the schools
who choose to accept them should be
required to provide what everyone
else has to provide."

t's decision to
A federal appeals cour
student who
side with a transgender
icted his restsued after his school restr
far-reaching imroom access could have
nd the country
plications for schools arou
ty on this dithat have lacked legal clari

Photos by Brandon Thibod

should not be required to give up
their civil rights to take them.
"All civil rights need to be upheld
in the state-approved construct; increased access to quality education
is necessary;the options must be affordable to all; the options must be
accessible to all; and, private schools
of choice must be held to the same
accountability requirements to
which public schools are held," the
report stated.

Dallas Museum of Art.
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By Leo Doran

emic year, AP Art
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pAge 10>

Cheating in N.Y.C., Ga.
Found to Hurt Students
By Sarah D. Sparks
tests is not only common,
Cheating on standardized
emic
effects on students' acad
it can also have long-term
outcomes.
ting to help students pass
Like social promotion, chea
those who are struggling
a high-stakes test can allow like moving to the next
les,
to get over procedural hurd
to
hurt them when they try
level in school, but it can
to
rial later on, according
move to more difficult mate
in New York and Georgia,
new research on students
file
-pro
high
nt
ed by rece
two states that were rock
cheating scandals.
sed widespread anomalies
expo
rts
repo
news
,
In 2011
, the
nts math and science tests
in New York State Rege
coreired at the end of many
standardized tests requ
alies
anom
The
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to graduate
subject classes for students
pAge 14>

visive issue.
d "a maj or
The deci sion was calle
Gay, Lesbian &
turning point" by the
ork, and it
Netw
n
catio
Stra ight Edu
for discussions
could help set the tone
sgender
tran
for
ns
about accommodatio
ol law experts
students nationwide, scho
said.
t judge in VirA federal district cour
not defer to the
ginia erred when he did
's interpreation
Educ
of
U.S. Department
n created under
tation that a regulatio
ents of
ndm
Ame
Title IX of the Education
identity, a three1972 applies to gender
Court
it
Circu
judge panel of the 4th U.S.
d, Va., said in a
of Appeals, in Richmon
2-1 decision last week.
panel sent the
The federal appellate
lower court to
original case back to the
a preliminary inreconsider its denial of
Gavin Grimm, a
junction that would allow
cester County,
high school student in Glou
oom at school.
restr
Va., to use the boy's
he now identiGrimm was born a girl but
pAge 15>

Vergara Reversal
Leaves Questions,
Equity Concerns
By Stephen Sawchuk

Iowa
Funding Showdown in

erves
s to Break Law to Tap Res
Cash-Strapped District Vow
By Daarel Burnette ii
political batFed up with years of
of Iowa's educatling over the fairness
ur Tate, the
tion funding formula, Arth
Davenport pubsuperintendent of the
r to balance his
lic schools, says in orde
illegally pull
books next year, he will
ict's reserves.
$2.7 million out of the distr
the state's
on
s
It's an amount he base
h leaves Davwhic
ula,
form
ing
1971 fund
d per student
enport $175 less to spen
districts.
compared to some other
how much
The state tightly controls
dipping into
districts can spend, and
unts without
emergency savings acco
tly forbidden. Ofstate permission is stric

his superintenficials say Tate could lose
state if he goes
dent's license given by the
d members,
boar
ict's
distr
the
ahead, and
the plan this
who unanimously approved
inally.
crim
ged
month, could be char
y," said Tate,
"I'm tired of the inequalit
15,500 stue
the head of a district whos
e, Hispanic,
dents are mostly low-incom
e's a high er
and black. "I thin k ther
at stake here.
philosophy and principle
worth the same,
Every student should be
ours are worth
and the state is saying
much less."
's deputy eduBut Jeff Berger, the state
nport's problems
cation director, said Dave
administrators
stem from the fact that its

(301) 280-3100 / reprints@epe.org

s of dolla rs
Desp ite the thou sand
pro and con,
spent on glossy PR, both
fornia case,
over the Vergara v. Cali
appeals
state
a
by
last week's decision
job protections
court to uphold teacher
r: the
facto
y
hinged on a far less flash
titutional law.
arcana of California cons
sides in
From the beginning, both
owledged that
the polarizing case ackn
up before the
it would probably end
those gears
state's supreme court, and
the plainwith
,
king
cran
are already
w there.
tiffs planning to seek revie
way any
h
whic
of
ss
But rega rdle
fallout from
future decision goes, the
e several
mad
the appeals decision has
things clear.
challegal
First, it is unlikely to stop
er-employlenges to California's teach
re lawsuits
ment laws, although futu
tack. Second,
could well take a different

pAge 20>

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pAge 13>
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