Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship for Students with

Disabilities Program

An Introduction to the Bill

HB3393Nelson.flv

Voucher Program Arguments

ProponentsLow income students receive more educational choiceChallenge public schools to improve through competitionBetter education due to absence of bureaucracyGive parents more influence over child’s education

OpponentsTake dollars away from public schoolsLack of accountability could lead to a misuse of fundsLimits low income students educational choiceLower the quality of education by removing the most informed parents and students thus increasing segregation in schools along socioeconomic lines

Introduction: Take a Stand!!!

Do you support a voucher program to help pay for private schools for children with disabilities?

Vote with your feet!!! – Strongly Agree, Simply Agree, Strongly Disagree, Simply Disagree.

Introduction: Rethink Position!!!

Would you support the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program Act if it would raise your Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) scores by eliminating the IEP subgroup?

Vote with your feet!!! – Strongly Agree, Simply Agree, Strongly Disagree, Simply Disagree.

Introduction – Ethical Questions

Potential ethical dilemmas will surface for the school administrator with the passage of HB 3393.

Ethic of Care - Who are the silenced voices?

History of Vouchers

Each state currently pays a pre-decided amount per student to the public school each student attends. Currently in Oklahoma, parents choosing an option other than the public school in their district may select

Home Schooling Private SchoolingTransfer Vouchers

Vouchers allow parents of disabled children to select a private school from an accredited list for their child to attend. The voucher allows the pre-decided amount per student from the state to be paid to a private school.

1872

French Government Recommended

Vouchers

1955U.S. EconomistMilton FriedmenRecommended

Vouchers

1956Virginia Legislature

Passed “tuition grants”

1960Virginia Legislature

Passed“scholarships”

1960’s

Presidents Lyndon Johnson & Richard Nixon

Supported vouchers

1971Nixon’s Panel on Non-Public

Education Of the Commission of School

Finance Proposed

Parochiaid

1971Supreme Court RuledLemon -v- Kurtzman

A three prong test for state money to go to private schools

1) The purpose is secular.2) Its main effect is to neither advance nor inhibit religion.3) It does not excessively entangle the state with religion.

1983 1985 1986

The Reagan administration tried

to get vouchers passed through

Congress.

1988

14 states pass school choice laws

1990 1991 1992

President Bush tried to get political

support forVouchers.

Former President Clinton

Supported school choice

Former President George W. Bush

Supported School Choice & Vouchers Believed the money should follow the kid Believed all institutions that received money should be held accountable.

President Barack Obama

Supports School ChoiceAgainst Vouchers

Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship for Studentswith Disabilities Program

Act

HB 3393

The Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program is established to provide a scholarship to a private school of choice for students with an IEP.

The Program will begin Aug. 26, 2010.

The scholarship will be equal to the local and state revenue for the school district or the tuition at the private school, whichever is less

Approx. $7,683.00 per child

Requirements of Program Participation

Student must have a current IEP.

Student must have been enrolled in an Oklahoma public school the previous year.

The parent must notify the school district 60 days in advance.

The parent agrees to endorse the payment check each quarter.

The parent agrees to participate in school as required

The student agrees to attend school and abide by code of conduct.

What is Required of Schools?

Schools who intend to participate must notify the SDE by July 1st.

Have been open at least one year

Meet accreditation guidelines Demonstrate fiscal soundness Comply with antidiscrimination

provisions Abide by health & safety laws

Schools must have…

Be academically accountable to parents

Follow rules set forth by the SDE

Participating schools must…

“Employ or contract with teachers who hold baccalaureate or higher degrees, or have at least three years of teaching experience in public or private schools, or have special skills, knowledge, or expertise that qualifies them to provide instruction in subjects taught.”

Participating schools must…

Who Has Gone Before Oklahoma?

Wisconsin Milwaukee Parental Choice Program 1985.

2006 – Enrollment cap at 22,500 (Lips, 2007).

Florida John M. McKay Scholarships

for Students with Disabilities. Enacted for the 2000 – 2001

school year. “Student participation in the McKay Scholarship Program has continued to grow.” (Lips, 2007)

Feeling the Florida Heat?Student Participation in the McKay Scholarship Program

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http://www.floridaschoolchoice.org/Information/McKay/files/Fast_Facts_McKay.pdf

Georgia Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act passed in 2007. Senate bill 10 was approved with a vote of 91 to 84. (Lips, 2007)

Georgia 4,100 students were projected to

receive scholarships in 2007. There is no data, or accountability

as to how many are receiving scholarships now.

Georgia Council of Administrators of Special Education (GCASE) strongly opposed Senate Bill 10.

http://www.g-case.org/pdf_docs/GCASEPosition-SB10.pdf

Ohio Special Education Scholarship Program 2005.

http://www.ncsl.org/IssuesResearch/Education/SchoolChoiceVouchers/tabid/12942/Default.aspx

Utah Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship Program 2005.

Parent Choice in Education Act 2007.

http://www.ncsl.org/IssuesResearch/Education/SchoolChoiceVouchers/tabid/12942/Default.aspx

Is Current Law Adequate?

Forest Grove School Dist. v. T. A. - 08-305 (2009)

School Districts win (62.5%) of private placement cases

McKay Scholarship for Students – 6.7%

"Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Children with Disabilities" - No Cap

Will Costs Rise? The voucher is for $7,500 per year According to Edmond Public Schools Chief

Financial Officer David Fraser, in 2007-08 the district spent $17.7 million for the direct support of special education, which was 15.4 percent of the total budget. This was $6,587 per child for 2,687 children requiring mild to severe special educational needs.

During the same time the cost to educate the regular school population was $5,764 per pupil.http://www.edmondsun.com/local/x519248155/Special-needs-student-scholarships-under-review July 2009

Will Enrollments Rise? When state’s shift away from paying for each incidence of disability to a “census” approach, the growth of special education slows (Buck, Green, 2010)

Private Special Education Placements

2003-04

Oklahoma ranks 20th with .12 percent of Total Enrollment

Will Sufficient Services Be Provided?

Florida’s McKay 30.2% of voucher participants said they received all services required under federal law from their public school (Greene, Forester, 2003)

A large survey that “almost 90% of McKay respondents…were satisfied or very satisfied with the school their child attends, whereas only 71.4% of public school respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the school their child attends.” (Weidner & Herrington, 2006)

Will Some Students Be Left Behind?

As the number of private schools increased that accepted McKay funding increased the standardized test scores of disabled students who remained in public school significantly increased.

Virtually all disabled students in public schools take the state mandated test.

Are Private Schools Accountable?

National Education Association Statement: “Vouchers students are not included in state assessments, so taxpayers have no way of knowing how the voucher funds have been spend, and how students have fared.”

NEA Resolution A-24. Voucher Plans and Tuition Tax Credits.

Questions and Concerns Regarding Special

Education Vouchers

Buck, S., & Greene, J. P. (2010, Winter). School choice campaign: The case for special education vouchers. Education Next, 10(1). Retrieved from http://educationnext.org/ the-case-for-special-education-vouchers/

Bush, G. (Director) (2003, July 1). Education Reform & Parental Options. Education Reform. Lecture conducted from Kipp Academy, Washington, D.C..

Finn, C.E., Rotherham, A.J., & Hokanson, C.R.(2001).  Rethinking special education for a new century.  Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and Progressive Policy Institute. Download available at http://www.edexcellence.net/issues/results.cfm?withall=rethinking+special+education&search_btn.x=0&search_btn.y=0 

Greene, J. P., & Winters, M. A. (2007, Spring). Debunking a special education myth. Education Next, 7(2). Retrieved from http://educationnext.org/ debunking-a-special-education-myth/

References

References Lick, D. (2007, April 25). Education Notebook: Georgia

lawmakers approve vouchers for students with disabilities. Retrieved June 23, 2010 from http://georgiastate.edu

Molnar, A. (n.d.). EPSL | Education Policy Studies Laboratory - Arizona State University. EPSL | Education Policy Studies Laboratory - Arizona State University. Retrieved June 24, 2010, from http://epsl.asu.edu 

Obama, B. (Director) (2008, August 1). Obama at the National Urban League. Presidental Speech. Lecture conducted from Urban League, Orlando .

Turnbull, H.R., Stowe, M.J., & Huerta, N.E. (2007).  Free appropriate public education:  The law and children with disabilities.  Denver, CO: Love Publishing

References Weidner, V. R., & Herrington, C. D. (2006, January). Are Parents

Informed Consumers: Evidence From the Florida McKay Scholarship Program . Peabody Journal of Education, 81(1), 27 - 56 . doi:10.1207/ S15327930pje8101_3

Wright P.W.D., & Wright, P.D. (2007).  Special education law (2nd ed.).  Hartfield, VA:  Harbor House Law Press.