School Choice, Vouchers, and Students with Disabilities Class Presentation February 7th, 2007

Talk Overview Central Questions Placement as choice Choice policy Voucher programs IDEA and School Choice “Meta Moments”

Central Questions How do school choice policies affect service delivery for students with disabilities? Are voucher programs effective for students with disabilities?

Definitions What do we mean by “placement”? What can a school choice policy look like? What is a voucher program? Relationship between choice and vouchers. Meta-Moment

What do you think? An education monopoly motivates governments to provide schools that are just good enough to avoid large scale rebellion. (Buckingham) Meta-Moment

Placement as Choice Placement Options –Inclusion –Special Day Class (pull out) –Separate setting (program or school) When can this be a private school? –State is still very involved in placement and monitoring “Forced” vs. “Voluntary.Unilateral” placement? Implications –Financial –IDEA accommodations and services –IDEA due process

School Choice Why the push for choice options? –Parent satisfaction –Student achievement Why is it supposed to work? –Engaged parents –Private schools are better (Rothstein et al?) –Free market models pressure to improve

Why the Controversy? Constitution: Neutral regarding religion Parent control and whose money it is (Buckingham article) Is this a democratic institution? A free-market institution? (Larry Cuban) Is it accessible by all or only to a few? Funding vs. Teaching Control and Responsibility Else?

Prevalence of School Choice District policies State policies (Vermont and Maine) City voucher programs Accountability choice: NCLB –AYP –Language about FAPE is vague –School Safety

Choice: School Safety Usually includes some of the following elements: incidents where police officers are called to the campus, assaults on faculty or students, use of a weapon, robbery, rape, murder, and kidnapping: A ‘persistently dangerous school’ is a public school in which the conditions during the past two school years continually exposed its students to injury from violent criminal offenses and it is an elementary, middle or secondary public school in which a total of five or more violent criminal offenses were committed per 1000 students (0.5 or more per 100 students) in two consecutive school years. North Carolina State Board of Education: erous/ erous/

Florida’s Mc Kay Model Scholarships to private schools Only children with established IEPs are eligible : 18,000 students and 824 schools Worth the amount the institution charges to serve a student with the particular disability, or what the state average is for instruction. Range from $5,000 - $21,000. Average $7,000. Total spent: $119 million last year. 62% were religiously affiliated Very little outcome data available

US DOE Letter to Bowen (2001) "if the FDE (Florida Department of Education) and its local school districts have made FAPE available to eligible children with disabilities in a public school but their parents elect to place them in private schools through the Scholarship Program, then such children are considered 'private school children with disabilities' enrolled by their parents. Under IDEA, such parentally placed private school students with disabilities have no individual entitlement to a free appropriate public education including special education and related services in connection with those placements." Letter to Bowen 35 IDELR 129 (ED, March 2001)

How do school choice policies affect service delivery for students with disabilities? Six Core Principles of IDEA Zero Reject Non-discriminatory Evaluation Individualized and Appropriate Services Least Restrictive Environment Due Process Parent and Student participation Meta Moment

Are voucher programs effective for students with disabilities? Money that can be taken to private schools Tend to be targeted to low income areas Tax credits are another mechanism, sometimes called “universal vouchers” Accountability and Vouchers: NCLB –Supplemental Educational Services (SES) –What we know about SES for Students with disabilities

Current Prevalence City Specific: Cleveland Milwaukee Targeted to low-income areas States: Maine and Vermont, Florida* Federal: Washington DC

Putting it Together DesignFunding Services

Design Factors that Matter Maximum enrollment/funding of program Alternatives available Admission (some programs randomly assign applicants) Transportation: is it available? Are schools able to provide information about instruction, accommodations, teacher aids, transportation, etc., before decision is made?** Amount of voucher vs. cost of school

Financial Implications Student-Based Funding and Impact on Schools Cost of Special Education – do you create a special program for students with disabilities? Voucher coverage of cost. What funding level is meaningful? Only wealthy can take advantage, or if school has scholarships Does reduction in funds indirectly limit what district can provide to students with disabilities?

Instructional Implications Private school focus: how does this affect instruction student receives? Need for choice school to be able to implement IEP. How do you document this? Are schools accountable for student incoming IEP as per IDEA? Does this include accommodations? Are schools accountable for student achievement as per NCLB?

Doing What Works We have very little information on rigorous, controlled studies -- Meta Moment Main reports from the Government Accounting Office (GAO) Outcomes looked at: –Student achievement –Parent satisfaction

What do we need to know about school choice and vouchers for students with disabilities? Think about… –Funding implications –Instruction –IEP development and implementation –Student outcomes –Effects on schools –Parents –Other?

How do we know it? You as the Scholar-Practitioner! Design an study! What question do you think is important to study? Who would you study? What data would you collect? How could you do this in the field?