Stinging Back Over Tom F.

I am glad the folks over at NSBA's BoardBuzz have a good sense of humor over my criticisms of their commentary of the Tom F. case. They 'stung' back today with a response to yesterday's blog. My only responses to their comment is that district's do not have to pay for an out of district placement if they meet the relatively low standard of Rowley, and unilateralism on the part of schools, more often than not, leads to conflict (and yes, some parents are at fault in this regard). Most parents undeniably chose this risky and tough road only as a last not a first resort.

Comments

[mjstowe]

I have to also add that BoardBuzz's characterization of the decision seems simply incorrect at times.

From their post--"parents now can avoid collaborating with their school districts as required by the Individual with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) AND still collect public dollars for private schooling."

This doesn't seem correct to me. Parents can't refuse all collaboration with the school and rely on this decision to allow them to claim reimbursement. It doesn't mean the school doesn't get the first opportunity to offer an appropriate education program (and therefore avoid having to pay for any private placement).

My understanding is that the decision only relates to whether the parent must try out an education plan offered by the school--even if it is not appropriate --to be eligible to claim reimbursement for private school placement.

These are not two ways of 'framing' the issue--they are different issues.

BoardBuzz seems to go off the deep end when a decision goes the way of private education, whether parents are paying or not.
The sky is not falling and there will be no mass exodus of students into private placements --even here in NYS (way outside of NYC). Calm down NSBA.

[Margo/Mom]

Boardbuzz uses the example of a single school district that would be bankrupted if they had to pay $60,000 tuition for a child to receive special education services outside the district. Do they think that a single school district can be the most cost-efficient provider for the needs of all special needs students? Provision of services outside the district would look like a win-win in that case.

I think the previous poster is right. They have mis-defined the issue as public vs private. It really is not. It's also interesting to see them championing collaboration.

[mjstowe]

Agree completely. No mass exodus. Not public vs. private.