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There are a lot of directions that this conversation can go, but here's my initial take: Oftentimes people will talk about how much "we" spend on public education for children in a particular district or even as an entire country. Rarely, however, do expenses like these come to light. For a variety of reasons, whenever one sees a per pupil expenditure number, it's best to realize that only a percentage of that is actually making it into the regular education classroom.
I think in a situation like this, the extra money needs to come from the state, not the individual school distrct.
From a purely practical point of view, I guess I agree. But from a more philosophical point of view, I'm not sure I agree with the idea that any student should receive so much public funding regardless of where it comes from. A regular education student in Akron probably costs the district around $8,000-$10,000 to educate, if even that much. I wish that we, as a country, could have a more honest conversation about the costs of special education and whether it makes sense or is fair to spend significantly more on students like the one in the article. And let's also be clear, while the student in the story is undoubtedly an outlier, the average special education student costs several times as much to educate than the average regular education student.
It's unbelievable to me that the law says that a special needs student should get the best possible education but that the average student has to settle for just good enough.
These are what are called unfunded mandates. The cost for special placement for ED or violent students with average cognitive abilities can run to $300K/year for a boarding situation.
It's unbelievable to me that the law says that a special needs student should get the best possible education but that the average student has to settle for just good enough.
The law does not say that. It says that a special education student should get a free appropriate public education (that is in no way the same as the best possible education). Students must be served in the least restrictive environment they can do well in.
Note that the situation in the OP is extremely rare. It happens when parents have the money to fight and sue school districts. In some cases, school districts do pay for private placements when they cannot accommodate a student in the regular school, but that is pretty unusual as well.
This is not unusual nor new nor unique to Ohio. If a student needs a residential school placement the district is required to pay for it. I worked for a public school district in Special Ed and the money the schools were required to spend was crazy. Parents today are savvy and come to IEP meetings with advocates and lawyers, the districts seldom win in court and even if they do they have to pay the legal expenses anyway.
This is not unusual nor new nor unique to Ohio. If a student needs a residential school placement the district is required to pay for it. I worked for a public school district in Special Ed and the money the schools were required to spend was crazy. Parents today are savvy and come to IEP meetings with advocates and lawyers, the districts seldom win in court and even if they do they have to pay the legal expenses anyway.
Just the presence of a lawyers sets many school districts scurrying to provide whatever the parent has demanded for their child and that can and has included buying computers for home use.
The school system where I live a few years ago refused to provide an IEP required aide for a blind student. Parents went to Court and received a $1M judgment for punitive damages. The reason for that was because the system had a history of ignoring IEPs and not providing services. There were usually 2 or 3 cases working through the Court system at any one time.
They went through a period where they wouldn't honor 504 plans, either. We had an issue with that early on with our youngest son (who just graduated). His 504 was for medical not behavior (ADD/HD).
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