Public Funds to Private Schools Will Leave Students with Disabilities Behind
Our guest authors are the National Center for Learning Disabilities, The Arc of the United States, the Council for Exceptional Children, and the Center for Learner Equity.
Just 50 years ago, in 1975, Congress enacted the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in order to ensure that students with disabilities have the opportunity to a free and appropriate education, like all children deserve. Thanks to generations of advocates the US House and US Senate passed IDEA and President Gerald Ford signed it into law.
Last week the US House Ways & Means Committee marked up a budget reconciliation bill that will include a $20 billion proposal diverting public funds to private schools via the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA). While the bill includes new language about so-called “protections” for students with disabilities, it is insufficient in providing meaningful, enforceable protections for students with disabilities and their families. As the nation’s leading student advocacy organizations, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, along with the Council for Exceptional Children, the Center for Learner Equity, and The Arc of the United States, are staunchly opposed to this bill.
Consider this math: ECCA is estimated to fund private school tuition for about 1 million children for $5 billion a year (averaging $5000 per child). By contrast, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) currently serves 7.5 million children and receives $14.6 billion in federal funding a year, averaging less than $2000 per child. This funding level is about 10% of the average per-pupil expenditures. Instead of fully funding IDEA, a promise Congress has never fulfilled, this Congress chooses to fund vouchers, which ultimately benefit the wealthy instead of investing in educating students with disabilities, the overwhelming majority of whom attend public schools.
Further, we reject the many ways in which students with disabilities would still be discriminated against, losing rights under IDEA if this bill passes. Under this proposal, parents may not be fully aware that if they take the voucher, they will jeopardize the rights of their children under IDEA, including:
- The right to be educated in the least restrictive environment – a critical protection to ensure students with disabilities are not segregated from their nondisabled peers.
- Parental rights, including dispute resolution and due process, an imperative for families to resolve disagreements and ensure educational access.
- Student behavioral protections, manifestation determination – essential because disability and behavior are linked, and unmet needs can result in challenging behaviors.
The bill makes no mention of students’ protections under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act, which private religious schools are exempt from.
When the US House Ways & Means Committee marked up this bill last week intending to divert public funds to private schools that will be unaccountable to students with disabilities, we spoke out unequivocally and in a unified voice, in opposition.
Together, we call upon Congress to reject the $20 billion voucher provision which ultimately undercuts the access, opportunities, and rights of millions of children with disabilities.