Comments on: The Special Ed DC Bubble

By: Monday morning updates : School Choice Virginia

Monday morning updates : School Choice Virginia — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:15:09 +0000

[...] Jay P. Greene’s Blog: The Special Ed DC Bubble [...]

By: Jay P. Greene

Jay P. Greene — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 02:59:25 +0000

That’s an excellent point, Michael. And it further demonstrates why we cannot rely on our immediate experiences, no matter where we live.

By: Michael Umphrey

Michael Umphrey — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 02:29:50 +0000

Yes, DC is not like everywhere else. It’s also true as you point out that New York is different than other places. And if you continued along those lines, you might also point out that big urban systems differ dramatically from rural ones. Schools that draw a working class population are very different from those in professional neighborhoods. And schools in evangelical Texas communities have quite different histories than those in Wisconsin muslim environs or those in California Hispanic Catholic country.

Which is why many educational decisions should be made at the local level, some at the state level, but almost none at the federal level. This would also have the advantage of being consistent with the Constitution.

By: Matthewladner

Matthewladner — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:19:50 +0000

It is also worth noting that, unlike what is going on in DC, special education vouchers have a maximum value attached to them. The worst thing that can happen financially is that the kid walks off with their money.

Schools for decades have been claiming that they don’t get enough money for special education, and that they have been shifting huge amounts of money from their general ed budgets.

So, either they were lying about that, or they shouldn’t complain about kids leaving with their inadequate funding. The funds shifted out of general ed can now either stay there or go to help the special education children still in the system.

McKay would be hugely beneficial to DCPS. The status-quo is that DCPS doesn’t do much of anything right, and properly serving special education kids seems far beyond their ability. A group of sophisticated attorneys are winning lawsuits for failure to provide FAPE, running up legal expenses for the district and getting Cadillac placements in the process.

McKay would short circuit this process- if you are unhappy, leave with your money. No legal battles, no $100,000 per year placements, happier parents.

It is a perverse misunderstanding of the DC situation to try to use it as proof against McKay. Memo to dome dwellers: the DC disaster was caused by federal law and an amazingly incompetent district. McKay is a much better system that would improve the situation.