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I know of a private religious school in Nassau (not Catholic) that in addition to mainstream students, serves special education to the point that they actually take students sent to them from public schools (who themselves don't have the special ed facilities). They can serve their special ed students at less of a cost than public schools. Why? I would say that the private schools have no large layer of high paid bureaucracies, nor do they have "jumbo pensions" for teachers and administrators like the public schools do. Their personnel costs are less because they pay and provide benefits similar to how the private sector compensates personnel instead of how the public sector does it.
Look at the huge jump in autism diagnoses. Many of those kids were just labeled "learning disabled". Now they are autistic, and receiving intensive therapies like ABA.
So is this some kind of a "scam" that is being foisted on the taxpayers? Should they just be labelled "learning disabled" and given (or not given) services on that basis?
My son who is 10 has gotten resource reading since 2nd grade. We go thru the school district and it is horrendous the amount of begging we need to do just to get my son the help he needs. He is above average in most of his studies but just never got the sounds of the vowels. So we had to jump thru hoops to ensure that he gets what he is entitled to. A teacher comes in every day and pulls him out for 45 mins a day. He has made wonderful improvements in his reading and oT due to these teachers who are fantastic. He does have a label ; he is labeled learning disabled. But he is a responsible, mature, exciting child who gets 5's on his social science tests, mostly a 4 on other subjects except for ELA where he gets a 2-3.
I am willing to pay the extra tuition to ensure my children get a education that is well rounded, are shown respect, the teachers are dedicated ( 95% anyhow) and where certain behaviour is not accepted.
Most of the children who have problems in school ; i never see the parents at school functions, never see them at IEP meetings, never see them volunteer at school. its not ok just to write a check ; these children no matter where they go to school need parents who are interested in their well being. Thats where it begins most.
Catholic schools do provide services for special education. They have resource rooms and certified reading teachers. It is true that a severely handicapped child would not fare well in a Catholic school because they do not have the resources. But their are many specific schools for that (BOSCES is one). But many private schools have their fair share of ADD, those under the autistic umbrella, etc. Special ed services are hardly the reason our taxes are so high.
Not all Catholic elementary schools have reading services. My neighbor had to pull her daughter for a year and send her to public school for remediation. The next year she was placed back in Catholic school.
Not all Catholic elementary schools have reading services. My neighbor had to pull her daughter for a year and send her to public school for remediation. The next year she was placed back in Catholic school.
But what I am saying is that if you go thru the district, they can provide resource reading. I agree, not all districts provide it ; some provide speech when the child has a reading proble(?). But it can be provided. I am lucky that my son got it and is thriving. From what I understand his resource teacher has about 5 other children that she teaches.
Catholic schools (pretty much all non-special private schools) reject all children who they can't serve. They are not serving kids who can't be handled in a mainstream class. It is the special classes that cost so much money (sometimes in the range of $40K a year or more) and there has been an enormous growth in the past 10-15 years. Look at the huge jump in autism diagnoses. Many of those kids were just labeled "learning disabled". Now they are autistic, and receiving intensive therapies like ABA. The growth in special education services has caused a huge rise in costs for school districts.
Agreed. In our district special education costs are 15% of the budget.
Unfortunately most private schools don't have the money or resources to assist learning disabled children. It is too expensive for many services. That is usually the only drawback to Catholic schools if you have a LD child. It is great that there are a few schools that do have services, but they usually don't treat anything beyond minor reading disabilities because of funding.
I am a public school teacher and the amount spent on special ed is quite high (but needed for certain children) This is the only area that Catholic schools can't really compete. Otherwise, the education at Catholic schools is top notch.
Many Catholic and private schools have their own resource rooms in addition to district services that all students are entitled to. Catholic schools do provide an excellent education. It is especially ironic that Catholic and private schools are filled with public school superintendent's, principal's and teacher's children.
So is this some kind of a "scam" that is being foisted on the taxpayers? Should they just be labelled "learning disabled" and given (or not given) services on that basis?
It's not a scam at all. It's improved diagnosis, for the most part, and dumping autistic kids never helped them. But it costs a lot and we have to recognize that.
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