Several decades ago, schools put children with special needs either in “special” schools or threw them in with the general student population to sink or swim. It was a terrible inequity. It finally was addressed in the 1970s with a law designed to give these children the civil right to an equal opportunity to learn. The law covered children from birth to age 22, guaranteeing them the right to a free and “appropriate” public education. It is the ambiguous word “appropriate” written into the law that is creating a crisis for California schools, according to Nanette Asimov, staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.
The article cited a situation with one student who has a disability and attended a California school. The assigned public middle school offered special college prep classes, daily help from a special education expert, a laptop computer, extra time for tests, the opportunity to temporarily leave class if the child had an anxiety attack, and a special advocate to smooth over any problems with teachers.
But, the parents hired a special consultant instead. The consultant found alternative schooling opportunities—all were private schools and all were out-of-state. They settled on a boarding school in Maine that had one-tenth of the enrollment of the California school. After the child was placed into the private school, the parents hired an attorney, who specializes in special education
cases, to file papers with the court demanding the California schools pay four years of tuition and family travel costs between California and Maine. Tuition was $30,000 annually. The California schools met the demands.
This is only one such case in the California schools, which may or may not have been justified. The problem is that it is not the only case. In 2005, there were 3,763 California school children with disabilities that were the focus of formal complaints—the vast majority of which came from parents. This is triple the number of only ten years ago, and the numbers are growing.
With a cost of almost $40,000 to go to a court hearing and the possibility of an expensive judgment, the California schools attempt to settle cases before they get that far. In 2005, ten percent of California schools’ cases went to a full hearing—386 in all. The remaining 90 percent were resolved through confidential settlements. With 700,000 special needs students currently in the California schools and already paying hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for private placements, the school system is headed for a financial crisis.
In 2004, the California schools received $4.1 billion for special education from the government and local sources. It was still not enough to pay these extra settlement costs, and the California schools had to take $1.6 billion from the regular class budget. Twenty-eight percent of the special education expenditures that year came from the regular education budget.
Parents are making tuition payment demands of the California schools for such programs as private day schools, boarding schools, summer camps, horseback riding therapy, and aqua therapy. Additionally, the California schools are expected to pay for computers, airfare, car rentals, hotel stays, meals, new clothing and tailoring for the children, cell phone calls, stamps, gas and tolls, and future round-trip visits from time of enrollment until the children graduates from high school.
In all, the California schools are paying billions of dollars each year for private placements and auxiliary costs. It is creating an inequity for children the civil rights law was passed to protect and a financial crisis for the California schools.
Fixing this problem could involve going back and specifically defining the word “appropriate.” Until then, the California schools are borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, which means less opportunities all the way around, including for the students who are enrolled in the special needs courses in California's own high schools.