SpecialEdPost ? NY Debate over Taxpayer-Funded Private Sped ...

By Lizzie Hedrick and Lisa Buchman

Private special education schools would see a massive payday if the governor of New York signs legislation currently sitting on ?his desk.

School districts are begging Gov. Cuomo to veto a bill proposing changes in the way special education placements are made because they say it will place financial and administrative burdens on schools.

Under the bill schools would need to take a student?s home life and cultural environment into account when making placement decisions. The measure would also speed up the process and require districts to reimburse parents for tuition payments made by parents to private schools not approved by the state within 30 days.

?It?s essentially a voucher system we have no control over,? said Jere Hochman, superintendent of Bedford Central Schools, at a recent school board meeting.

A group of 16 Westchester-Putnam school boards have approved resolutions formally opposing the bill, which Gov. Cuomo has not signed into law.

Hochman said the change could cause public funds to be channeled to private schools because parents of students who are now fully included in public schools parents might opt for the private special education program that complies with the interpretation of considering ?home environment and family background.? The language could encourage more placements of students with low-incidence disabilities whose education can be in six figures, he added.

Assemblyman Tom Abinanti (D-Greenburgh) said he opposed the bill. ?I think some of the ideas were right, but the way it?s written is all wrong,? he said.

?I think the concept of the public paying for segregated schools is contrary to the principles of American public education,? he said.

Abinanti objects to the second part of the bill as well because he said it allows parents to negotiate with school boards about where students will be placed, ?bypassing the CSE [Committee on Special Education] guidelines,? he said.

Read the rest of this piece at?Officials Divided on Proposed Change to Special Ed Laws.

Tags: American public education, Bedford Central Schools, bill, Committee on Special Education, cultural environment, governor of New York, home life, Jere Hochman, placement decisions, private special education program, reimburse parents for tuition, segregated schools, special education schools, Tom Abinanti, voucher system

Source: http://specialedpost.com/2012/07/19/ny-debate-over-taxpayer-funded-private-sped-schools-rages-on/

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