Why do Democrats Hate Autistic Children?
December 19, 2006 Uncategorized
That’s the question Sen. Shapiro hopes to hear ringing across the state during the upcoming session.
Because they can’t get vouchers passed any other way, Shapiro is proposing a smaller school choice program that will only apply to autistic children. That’ll be a fun vote to try and explain away should it actually reach the floor. In opposition, Richard Kouri of TSTA takes the role of Ebeneezer Scrooge:
Voucher supporters and opponents both agree that any move to allow vouchers for one disability or disease could open the door to other groups to push for similar options.
“Public tax dollars should go to fund public schools, not private schools,” said Richard Kouri, a spokesman for the Texas State Teachers Association. “Our belief is that once you start moving public tax dollars to private schools, whatever the initial reason, future arguments become arguments around expanding that existing program.”
The slippery slope argument certainly applies here, since once you’ve written the program into law, you’ll see an endless number of advocacy groups come out of the woodwork supporting an expansion to their kiddos - whether they be children with MR, children with physical disabilities, or whatever. And you can also bet you’ll see Leininger helping those groups however he can.
Comments (18)
Yes, but the slippery slope argument can be used in any situation and is so old and tired it should be put out of its misery. If that’s the best argument against something, then the opponents should go home.
I never said it was the best argument - you said that. Here’s the best argument:
“Public tax dollars should go to fund public schools, not private schools.”
if there aren’t programs in the public schools for these kids, we should be asking WHY not trying to figure out some way to decrease funding to public schools.
If you’re too high-functioning on standardized tests, you can’t get tested for your special ed needs. If you don’t have good grades, you can’t get recommended for gifted. So, if you’re really bright, but you can’t produce the workload due to nontypical neurological manifestations such as those sometimes found on the autism spectrum, you’re just out of luck, and the public schools have nothing for you.
Public schools have shown they can dumb down the system or make a cookie-cutter system, but they can’t zero in on small populations of special needs — too much classroom space, too many teachers, and too much administrative time.
I’m not sure I can explain slippery slopes and camels’ noses to a child with autism, who doesn’t understand those language nuances, but you can bet he understands what fair is.
SA - then let’s rethink things at the public school level. This idea rings of nothing more than an excuse. Intradistrict transfers are law, if I’m not mistaken. If the school your kid attends doesn’t have a good program, transfer to one that does. If notneexists in the system, make it exist.
This is so simple I can’t believe we’re actually discussing it from this angle.
My understand [from the radio] is that school performance measurements make it uncertain whether the voucher system is the coup that we are led to believe.
Best wishes
mcblogger — public schools do mass public education, but the more specialized the need, the less effective the public schools are. They move large quantities of children through a large machine, but they aren’t flexible. It is, in my view, more efficient to spend those education dollars on education providers already specializing in certain needs.
Public school systems will create a football team that a child with autism can never benefit from, but they won’t spend the dollars to create a classroom with enough staff and resources to educate the district’s autistic students properly. Public education is one-size-fits-all, with a few badly done exceptions that most administrators hate dealing with.
It is simple, like you say. Allow experts to spend the money, not disinterested administrators who’d rather put another coat of wax on the gym floor.
why do republicans hate autistic kids so much that they cut their health insurance?
SA - Oh, that’s just so much pap. School districts work very hard within their budgets to provide for special needs students. The problem is, the programs (and the schools as a whole) are perenially underfunded. There is no spin on this, the problem is a lack of funds, not administration.
Experts?!?! Let the school districts hire them. Oh, wait… they already do. You’d be suprised at the level of specialization that exists in the public schools.
No, the only reason this is being done is to open the door to bad public policy. It’s the legislative equivalent of using a child for a sheild and Shapiro is a coward for doing it.
Doggie asks a great question… why DID the R’s cut the insurance programs if they care so much about these kids?
Funny thing about blogs and perceptions. I am not a Republican. Just a parent tired of begging my very wealthy school district for a few minutes of counselors’ time to address my child’s needs.
What you call a shield I call a carve-out for a particular population who could benefit quickly. The alterrnative is to wait for a public system, and TEA, and a bunch of committees to deliver a dilluted education package bound by more standardized testing and irrelevant performance measures.
As for your question about why R’s cut CHIP, I don’t know. I puzzled over Wohlgemuth’s HB 2292 four years like most reasonable persons did.
You go ahead tell us what the law is for intradistrict transfers, and what we ought to be doing in the school districts; I’ll show you what your ideas look like in practice. There are some very good people, experts even, in the schools. They are typically bound by some very bad rules and very disinterested supervisors.
I guess if I were a loyal party man ready to attack every bill filed by the opposition, I might sympathize with your need to defend that status quo with regard to public education. I’d rather be reasonable and discuss how to deliver education than how to protect the education system.
Public schools are legally required to provide special services to autistic students; private schools are not. If vouchers are to be allowed for this population (or any special population, for that matter), parameters will need to be put on which schools students can attend with the voucher. Many private schools will be ill-/non-equipped with staff and special equipment to service this special population (or any).
Anonymous — There are private schools designed for this population, and those are the schools to which the voucher money should be directed, if this bill is to mean anything.
Public schools certainly are required to provide these services, but they don’t do it well. There is a silver lining for the education bureaucrats, however. There will be plenty of opportunities for travel, per diems, and exercises of regulatory authority as state inspectors rush to protect the parents of children with autism from private education ventures that might be doing some good in spite of their separation from the TEA machinery.
SA - R or D, bad policy is bad policy. You sound more and more like a disgruntled parent and further proof that you can not satisfy all of the people, all of the time. If you’re not getting the service you feel you deserve, then talk to the board directly and get someone involved. If someone is a road block, they need to be removed. If a program needs to be created, help get it created. I have family and friends who work for districts all over this state and NONE of what you say is even close to what they relayed on this.
I have no question that the public schools need to be more innovative in providing solutions for a more diverse population. However, we aren’t going to find those solutions with vouchers. We need to remake the public schools and drive out those who refuse to innovate.
I’m not unsympathetic, just not sure how much of this is real and how much is a problem you could get around.
As for towing a party line, you should read my blog a little more closely. I rip on everyone who puts out bad policy. I don’t care if they are a democrat or a republican. Republicans are just the biggest offenders these days.
One question… if you’re hoping to use a voucher, how much do you think you’re going to get? Will it be enough to cover tuition at the private school? The programs I’ve seen so far haven’t done that.
Funny - vouchers, umh, Pell grants, veteran benefits, etc. - all seem to be public money. However, the government does not mind when that money goes to private colleges (Harvard, Rice, Baylor). Why do liberals not trust parents to make good decisions regarding their children’s education? Shouldn’t the outcome (educating children) be the important thing? Not just the protecting teachers unions and educrats?
It has nothing to do with liberal vs. Conservative. Why do all republicans want to reduce the debate to nothing more than labels?
The reality is that college is different from K-12 and the state has a responsibility to make sure that every child receive’s the best education possible. Vouchers suck money out of that endeavor do the detriment of those who can not afford, even with vouchers, to send their kids to private school.
The problem is with your attitude. Why the hell aren’t you asking your Rep and Senator to provide funding for excellent schools? Why are you willing to settle for so little? Why aren’t you fighting tooth and nail to make the system better, rather than advocating it’s destruction?
Your plan is a prescription for turning this country into a third world nation.
The simple answer is this…
“Pell Grants are authorized and funded to help students from low-income families attend college, because this country recognizes the benefit of providing incentives to attend college, as well as the need to provide financial assistance. Because elementary and secondary education is compulsory, no incentives are needed to encourage enrollment, and because it is provided free of charge, no financial assistance is needed to attend either. “
McBlogger wrote: “You sound more and more like a disgruntled parent and further proof that you can not satisfy all of the people, all of the time. If you’re not getting the service you feel you deserve, then talk to the board directly and get someone involved. If someone is a road block, they need to be removed.”
Thank you for the helpful hints. And looking up the Pell Grant information online for “parent,” well, that’s a stroke of genius. Amazing what kind of policy solutions one can whip up at the keyboard. You’re like the 21st century version of two old farts playing dominoes and sipping whiskey, solving the world’s problems — and equally as inane and ineffective.
No prob… you’re more than welcome.
Instead of funding private schools (for children who are unable to get free appropriate public education) we are funding PRIVATE LAW FIRMS to battle against the children’s rights and needs.
Public funds should be spent to educate ALL CHILDREN, not just those who are welcome in public school. The public school mantra that “public schools educate all children” is simply false. They often damage children who have special needs.
Dianna Pharr
http://www.keepeanesinformed.com