Submitted by Ms. L, Oct 2, 2007 13:23

As a former Special Educator I do sympathize with the challenges that parents of disabled children face when attempting to obtain a quality education for their child. However, we must remember that under current Federal Education Law as it pertains to students with disabilities and to all students for that matter, the school district is only required to provide a student with a "free and appropriate" education. No where in the Federal Statute does it state "free and optimal". By allowing parents to unilaterally place their children in the schools that they feel would "best" educate their child we would be setting a precedent which allows for the more "savvy" parents of disabled students to pick and choose expensive private schools for their children and then subsequently forward the bill to the school districts. These school districts which are often already wrought with poor funding would then in turn have to foot the bill, a bill I might add which is funded by the taxpayer. This will ultimately result in community school districts funneling out much needed dollars to support other programs instead of using this money to develop more intensive programs to meet the needs of the disabled students in their districts. By no means am I suggesting that the current public education system is perfect. Nor am I suggesting that it does not need significant improvement. However, instead of giving up on these systems and in turn funneling money out to other schools that may or may not work, we are not addressing the issue of improving the quality of special education services. Quality education matters to us all. And while perhaps it matters even more to a parent who has a special needs child, that parent is no different from any other parent in that all parents want the BEST education possible for their child. If we allow cases like this to prevail we will set a precedent which could have serious ramifications. It would beg the question, Why not let ALL parents pick and choose the BEST schools for their children and then send the bill to the School District ? Free and appropriate means just that. Before we say that a school program is not appropriate for the child, lets at least try it out.

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